Jayco 8ft sportsman. Confused on battery setup/boondocking

[Wil20111]

Hi everyone, I’m completely new to truck campers. I picked up a late 90s jayco 8ft truck camper. The converter says power or batt but I am not seeing anywhere to hook up a couple of amg batteries to run things. The fridge also has the option to run off of propane, electric or 12v. Am I missing something or what would be the best way to wire a couple of batteries up? If this has been answered please direct me to the information. I have searched everywhere and cannot find the answers I’m looking for, thanks.

[mkirsch]

This is unfathomable to some, but there were many campers built that did not have battery boxes. Mine, a 2000 Palomino B1500 popup, being one of them.

These campers were designed to run off the vehicle battery through the 12V charge line of your 7-pin trailer plug.

On mine the converter is also the breaker box and fuse panel. The 12V from the truck comes into the converter and powers the 12V items when the converter isn't plugged in, and carries charge current back to the battery when it is plugged in. Find that wire, and that's where you connect your batteries in.

[StirCrazy]

Wil20111 wrote:
Hi everyone, I’m completely new to truck campers. I picked up a late 90s jayco 8ft truck camper. The converter says power or batt but I am not seeing anywhere to hook up a couple of amg batteries to run things. The fridge also has the option to run off of propane, electric or 12v. Am I missing something or what would be the best way to wire a couple of batteries up? If this has been answered please direct me to the information. I have searched everywhere and cannot find the answers I’m looking for, thanks.

I picked up a 91 slumberqueen and all it had for the battery was a tiny storage door that I can barley get a pac of linx levelers in haha. what I did was empty out the larger storage that is situated under the moulded batheroom sink (accessable from the outside) and build a platform and was able to put two 210AH GC2 batteries in there. I lost a bunch of storage but I think later I chage them up for lithium and Ill get it back. Personaly I would never run an older fridge off 12V as they can draw up to 16 amps. mine draws 12 amps.

Steve

[Grit_dog]

Does the camper not have a battery box/location/ any wiring?
If not, then it’s a bit of a project. But not too difficult if you can find a wiring diagram to follow and understand basic electrical principle.
If not, internet advice will be tough to follow

[joerg68]

@Wil20111 - to post a picture, try http://photoposting.is-great.net/ and follow instructions there. It is a workaround, but it will work...

[jimh406]

Just make sure you wire in parallel not series if you are using two 12V batteries, otherwise, you’ll be making a 24V circuit. You should have some battery cables somewhere. Look in all of the compartments.

[Wil20111]

d3500ram wrote:
I am sure others will chime in but...
One site that I turn to when I need to deal with RV electricity is the 12 Volt Side of Life... it is a great resource. Perhaps you might find it useful:

***Link Removed***

***Link Removed***

Also- for posting images, this site is a lot different in that aspect compared to other forums. Click on ***Link Removed*** to generate a string to paste into these forums.

Hi. Ok, I’ll check out those threads. Yeah, I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong because it keeps not letting me post of a picture of the converter.

[d3500ram]

I am sure others will chime in but...
One site that I turn to when I need to deal with RV electricity is the 12 Volt Side of Life... it is a great resource. Perhaps you might find it useful:

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1).

The 12 volt Side of Life Part 2.

Also- for posting images, this site is a lot different in that aspect compared to other forums. Click on THIS LINK to generate a string to paste into these forums.