Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi all:

I have 2 - 12V Gel batteries (from my wife's wheelchair when we bought new ones) installed in parallel in my CT. I can toggle between shore power and battery power for my LED lights, Maxxair fan, and water pump. They work fine on either.

Because I don't have any 12V sockets in the CT, today I wired in a 3 gang 12V socket so I can charge our cell phones and tablets off the batteries when we're not plugged into shore power.

Got it all done - fused power from the batteries to the sockets, then ground to a known ground source.

I got my multimeter out and checked the batteries - 13.0V. I checked the newly-installed 12V sockets - 13.0V. I checked the ground to the batteries - 13.0V

I got my 12V cell phone charger from my van (which glows blue to indicate power) and inserted it into a socket and connected my phone. To my surprise - NOTHING. No blue light, no charge symbol on my phone.

I checked one of my van's 12V outlets and it read -12.7. Negative! So I reversed the leads to the newly-installed sockets in the CT, checked the reading and it was -13.0. Plugged in the charger and still nothing!

Okay, I am totally stumped!

So I got out a 12V single plug that I bought from a local auto parts store that has alligator clips on each end. I attached it to my batteries, plugged in my phone charge and STILL nothing! It can't be much simpler than alligator clips!!!

[edit] I even plugged in my 12V fridge and got nothing.

Obviously I am missing something but I have no idea what. I would be most grateful for some advice from our forum's 12V gurus!

Thanks in advance.

I'm guessing it's your charging cord. I'd grab one of these and a USB cord for your phone and give it a go.



Tony

Tony:

Thanks but that's exactly what I used.

And as I mentioned, I plugged my 12V fridge in and got nothing.

So I'm still stumped.

OK, so 12vdc sockets and lighter sockets look the same but are not. Things have changed since smoking has become taboo.
You probably already know this. I just recently learned. But lets regroup and take it one step at a time.
1. Van 12v socket is/was known to be good, correct? So verify it still works as it previously did. Plug in charger, verify light and that phone is charging. If yes for both, van is ok, charger is ok.
2.You said you tested new outlet for 12v, was that with meter leads? If so charger may not be compatible with new outlet.
That is to say something isn't making contact. Cigar lighters won't work in 12v sockets, but 12v plugs usually work in lighter sockets. Crazy, right?
3. Verify that fridge still works as it did, plugged into van? If so, it would seem the new outlet is to blame. Somehow the connection isn't being made. If that is the case, return new junk and try a different brand. They are like $20.00? So not worth headache or heartburn. On the other hand, that is exactly the type of thing that makes my OCD flare up.

Get back to us,
McDave

Does the outlet with alligator clips work connected directly to van battery? Have you checked the amps coming off the gel battery? If the alligator clips work directly on the van battery then I would think it is the gel battery or how you have them connected in parallel.

"Easy" one first:

McCubberley:

First of all, thanks for your reply!

Interestingly, the aligator clip socket did NOT work with either the charger or the fridge. I checked the aligator clip socket and there was 10.7V (battery was 12.7) which I assume was poor contact with one or both aligator clips. But in any case, even with power to the socket neither the phone charger nor the fridge worked.

McDave:

Thank you for your reply too!

1. The 3-gang 12V socket that I wired in yesterday was from our hightop conversion van. It was originally on the floor next to the drivers seat and was meant to power optional fridge/console between the front seats. When I bought the van, it did not come with the fridge/console, so the 3-gang plug just sat there unused. That's why I thought I could re-purpose it. To be honest I did not check it in its original location to see if it worked. I will do that when I post this and let you know what I find.

To answer yr question #1, the phone charger does glow BLUE (to indicate power) when plugged into passenger side dash mounted 12V socket in the van, so for me, phone charger is good.

2. I did test new 3-gang socket with MM leads and got 13.0V reading. I did disassemble the 3-gang socket to check the wiring i.e., which wire was ground, power, etc. before I installed in our CT. As I mentioned I'll put it back in van to make sure it works there, but I would think all sockets in the van would be the same and would work the same (perhaps I assume too much!).

Only cigar lighter is on driver's side of dash. I have used that socket to charge phone when pass. side 12V is charging something else (TPMS system).

3. Fridge works when plugged into any and all 12V sockets in van (4 of them in total).

So as you suggest, 3-gang socket may be the problem. I will put it back into the van and make sure it works there. If it doesn't I'll get a new one. If it does work, I will continue to be stumped.

I'll get back with results shortly.

Thanks agin!

Okay, so I put the 3-gang 12V socket back in the van and guess what?!

The fridge runs fine; the phone charger does NOT....not in any of the 3 sockets! But the phone charger does work in both dashboard 12V sockets.

As the whole idea of re-purposing the 3-gang plug was to charge our phones off the battery bank in our CT, I will buy a new 12V socket. I'll make sure the phone charger works so I can return it if it doesn't.

Thanks to McCubberley and McDave for offering their advice on what to check.

Cheers!

It is amazing what you think about as you fall asleep!

All of a sudden, I wondered if......the phone charger was NOT making GROUND contact?



So this morning I confirmed that indeed, GROUND was not being made.



A little bit of work and a small piece of 1/4" ply...



and now it works, and so does the fridge plug!



Thanks again McCubberley and McDave!

Cheers,

It is amazing what you think about as you fall asleep!

Thanks for updating the solution.

T

Glad you were able to find it! Sometimes the simple things sneak up on you!!!!!

Yup that'll do it everytime. Congrats, glad you got it solved.


Martin

I love everything about that. 'cept fer one thing. I can't shake this feeling that the "Center post" is usually the hot or + and the outer socket is ground or - neg. I could be wrong, but my gut says I'm right. It may not matter most of the time, but some electronics don't like reversed polarity. Might want to look into that.
Just a little something to keep you awake tonight. There's no rest for the wicked, you know. ... ...



McDave

ps. Remember when you checked the van and the meter read -13vdc? That was strange...

On any 12v male plug its the centre thats fused and its the positive, yes. Not sure how much it matters though

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

Thanks guys! And thanks dancam and McDave re the center post being +.

I think I might just switch the leads - you never know what the future holds re what might be plugged into one of those sockets one day.

Cheers,

Glad you solved it. Reading through my first guess was bad connection. No reason for a 3v drop with aligator clips otherwise. You can always use the teeth to clean oxides off.

Some new fancier designs have low voltage disconnects built in too