Hello!
I'm seeking advise on a problem I'm having with my 13' Scamp that I bought a year ago.
I've camped twice already this year, and my battery does not seem to be getting charged while I'm on the road or when I'm hooked up to electricity at the campsite.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Jody
I'm currently in the middle of a cross country trip and am having the same problem with my 2016 scamp 16. Only thing that charges the battery is the solar panel.
Adam Michaels
Hi Art and Luann,
See reply below, same testing but you may already know some of those answers. Solar is normally wired straight to the battery and bypasses the converter so that would make sense. Most likely the 30A fuses on the converter. One is AC side and one is 12V side.
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First, things first Jody. I see you have a 2015 so you should still be under warranty and if the Scamp Converter comes with the battery charge module then it should fall under the warranty. There are two components for a battery to get charging when plugged into shore power, a converter which you should have and a charging module in the converter which I'm not certain if Scamp includes. Maybe someone who has recently gotten a Scamp will know the answer to this.
Second the tow vehicle should be recharging the battery while driving if you have a factory tow package or aftermarket that included a charging line to the 7 pin connector. You'll need a Multimeter for the next part. You need to test the charging line pin on the tow vehicle side with the multimeter to see if you are getting power to the back of the tow. The diagram below shows most examples of wiring at the connector. Generally, the charging line is one of the top two pins. If your tow vehicle only supplies power to the charging line when the ignition switch is on then you'll need to do that to test. This is the optimal setup and you should find that out first thing anyway. I.E. My truck only powers the charging line with ignition on, so when we're hot stopping at Wal-mart or some such I don't have to worry about unplugging the trailer overnight.
If you have power to the back of the tow on the charging pin, then the problem with charging the battery is in the trailer. Normally, I've found this is one of the fuses in the trailer. The first culprits are the two 30A fuses on the converter. One thing you don't mention is if your lights are working when uplugged, if not, and your converter does have the battery charge module my guess is the fuse is blown on the battery out side which is blocking flow to the battery when plugged in and when on tow.
Anyway, that should get you started looking at the problem and post back up additional questions and resolution.
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Thank you Greg!
I did replace the in-line fuse that is on the front battery.
I will check the fuse panel again for the converter link. The converter is suppose to recharge the front battery when I'm hooked up to electric power. Is there some kind of reset on the converter I should be looking for as well? Does the converter unit itself have some kind of fuse in it?
I do have the 7-pin connector to my tow vehicle, which I was told should power the refrigerator and charge the battery while on the road. I will get a multimeter to check this.
I hope this will resolve my issues.
Hello Greg,
This past weekend I was able to install my charged battery and check the fuses.
I checked the lights inside and they did not turn on.
I was able to locate the 30A fuse on the converter. It looked good to go. You mention that there is also an AC fuse on the converter? I was not able to locate it. It must be nearby the 30A, I would think. The converter is not easy to access as the space is tight, as is most things in the Scamp.
I backed up my Ford Escape and plugged the Scamp into it and now the lights are working. This seems odd. There must be something that is not right within the Scamp.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Jody
My guess is that it is a fuse between the battery and the converter. On older 13 Scamps, there is a 30A fuse on the positive battery line right at the battery and then there is usually another one just where the line comes in from the battery under the Passenger side front bench. Take your multimeter and keep tracing the positive line from the battery back to the converter. When the multimeter goes dead the problem is between your last check point and current one.
I would put a fresh 30a fuse at every location, even if the multimeter is showing the one that is there is good. I've encountered fuse wierdness before.
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I bought a 2006 Scamp maybe 3 or 4 weeks ago. I had the battery in it tested, and it was dead so I bought a new one. I've used battery a little bit here and there but not much. The last week or so I've been working inside the trailer and had it plugged into shore power with a floor fan running to dry out the floor.
I noticed yesterday that nothing that pulls power from the battery works anymore, so I'm assuming that my battery isn't getting charged when on shore power - it was just drawing from the new battery until it finally ran out yesterday.
I'm not much of an electrician and don't have a multimeter but I am picking one up to test things out.
My question is that I've seen all the discussion here about 30a fuses, and the ones at the battery and in the closet in my Scamp are both 20a.
Should those be 30a?
Almost for sure the 20 AMP fuses are correct.
Depending on the age of the Scamp and what the PO has done, you may find 30a or 20a. If you have 20a existing I'd replace with same.
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Ok - sounds good, thanks gentlemen. I'll start there and do some testing.
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