Hey folks,
new scamp lovers here— we are uneducated in the rv battery department. All I know is my jeep has to be jumped every time now after leaving the scamp plugged into the tow vehicle overnight. An accident that I'm seeing now is gonna cost me! Took the jeep on a few hour drive (no scamp) to see if i could get it charged up again, but no dice. It's my understanding that the four prong that came on the jeep is not the right thing to charge a deep cycle marine rv battery as came with our scamp (which had been sitting dead for a while) as we drive. With the o'reilly adapter to seven prong it works great for making the lights and turn signals work on the road, but this set up will not charge the trailer battery as we drive right? Also Inside the scamp is a fancy 45AMP converter that has ability to do whats called a three cycle charge if my research is right, but is this for shore power charging only? or does it also have somethin to do with charging while driving?
If anyone could be so kind as to explain the basics to me and/or recommend a good new battery for the scamp I would greatly appreciate it! We want to do a good bit of dry camping, are interested in buying a new battery under 400$ for the scamp and also down the line do a solar panel when we get a little cashflow, so we'd like a battery that would be good for solar + dry camping for a couple nights with the furnace going! Any advice appreciated, many of the other answers regarding wiring have been helpful to read but more complex than i'm able to follow
Thanks!
With the Jeep flat 4 trailer connector the Scamp should not drain the Jeep's battery unless there are tail or stop lights on -- That's all it should be wired too. The Jeep won't charge the Scamp's battery with a flat-4 connector. The converter in the pic powers up the trailer's 12V system when plugged into park power (120VAC) and charges the Scamp's battery, and if the trailer and Jeep are connected with a flat-4 it won't charge the Jeeps battery.
So the crux of the problem sounds like the Scamp drains the Jeep's battery through a flat-4 connector without any tail or stop lights on, and that should normally be impossible -- At least that's the way I see it. I think it's time to have a qualified person take some amp measurements and see what's really going on.
On a side note, Mopar makes a factory 7-way harness for the Wrangler. I installed it myself, but you can have a shop do it as well.
So you have the 7-prong hookup, right? We opted to adapt my 13' Scamp to a 4-prong vs. adding the 7-prong to my Jeep. I don't have brakes and don't really need backup lights--I backed into a site once in the dark, just kept getting in and out of the Jeep to check where I was going. We use a battery charger to charge up the Scamp battery before any trip, and I haven't had any problems. I don't dry camp though, so that is an added dimension. I usually keep my Scamp plugged in to shore power the night before a trip to get the fridge nice and cold for the drive. Not sure if this info helps any, but a different perspective on the 4-prong vs 7-prong connection.
Rhonda Riebow
thank you Rhonda, I am considering doing it the way you have, and agree no real need for back up lights nor brakes for our 13 either. I was hoping to be able to charge the scamp battery while driving from the jeep alternator though, only added benefit i can see of the seven prong. But, on the other hand simplicity is good. And I have a battery charger now too. so who knows, maybe I will do it that way because the scamp trailer plug needs a replacing anyhow
Inquiring minds want to know.
I cant say I really found the problem, I had to throw down for a new battery for the jeep it was so discharged it was never gonna come back, so I'm told. In fact to complicate matters, my buddy put the scamp on their car for a trip and the 7-prong coming off the scamp melted, we think that it was briefly plugged in wrong like upsideown or not fully in there?? they have just had a brand new hitch and wiring installed on newer vw tiguan, which doesn't appear to be harmed on the car side.
Does anyone have thoughts if these two electrical dust ups could be related? Or is it (as I have a hunch it is) just a couple of noobies bein' noobies, learning lessons the expensive way :]
I wasnt there but I'm thinking that maybe my buddy had the scamp hooked to shore power still and plugged the 7 prong into the car but in a discombobulated way...
open to alternate theories /hoping to learn
devils in the details i guess!
I would take the Scamp to a reputable trailer or RV dealer and have it checked out. I take the Scamp camping on my own, and I am not mechanical at all. My husband set up the wiring on the Scamp, he is quite handy with everything. KISS is my speed! From what I have read on this forum, the trickle charge from the TV while on the road is not all that much anyway. Charging the battery the day before and plugging the Scamp into shore power the night before has always worked for me. I usually hitch up the Scamp and check the lights etc. the night before, unplug it and then plug the Scamp in to shore power to get the fridge cold. Then I can load up the fridge in the am, plug into the TV and get going. My fridge stays cold on the road. I usually load some frozen stuff in there to help.
Rhonda Riebow
thats the plan, were takin it to a shop. I like your order of operations for the day before, I screenshot it for future reference and sent to my buddy also. Thanks for the help, Y'all!