Your RV batteries may start to behave oddly after you’ve been camping for a time, or maybe even after a lengthy period of not camping.
If your automobile has a powerful enough engine, you can use it to begin your RV; but, most smaller engines don’t have enough power.
Jumpstarting an RV will be similar to jumpstarting a regular automobile if you have a truck or heavy motor vehicle.
When jumpstarting an RV, there are several risks you must avoid, particularly if all you have is a vehicle.
Knowing all the difficulties is important since jumpstarting a vehicle may be risky even if you know how to do it safely.
Why Is It Difficult to Use a Car to Jumpstart an RV?
Every battery has a maximum operational power that restricts how much power it can provide when used.
Even when you are revving the engine to make sure the greatest power is being given, the alternator in a vehicle has a limited capacity.
The lights on the dashboard always dim when you start the automobile because an engine always pulls the greatest power possible from the battery when it begins.
The battery and alternator in your automobile may not be able to provide the amount of electricity needed to start an RV.
This is why it might be challenging; if your car’s engine is too little, it won’t have a powerful enough battery to power the RV.
This might result in the vehicle battery being permanently damaged or the RV battery literally stealing all the power from your car.
What Risks Are Associated With Jumpstarting an RV With a Car?
You need to be aware of the risks associated with jumpstarting this technique before you begin connecting the cables to your RV and vehicle.
Doing this incorrectly has resulted in several individuals harming themselves and substantial damage to their automobiles.
All of the potentially harmful events that might occur while you are busy using your automobile to restart your RV are outlined below.
It should be highlighted that these are problems that can only occur when jumping a vehicle or an RV; they won’t occur when jumping a car ordinarily.
#1. Sudden Fall
The most probable scenario is that your alternator and vehicle battery won’t be able to provide enough power to start your RV.
The RV will take a tremendous amount of power from your automobile when you attempt to start it, which will result in an abrupt loss in power.
Your car’s engine will frequently totally shut down due to this rapid loss of power, leading to a failure of the whole system.
This results in damage to a number of engine parts and may completely flood the engine’s interior chambers, which leads to even more issues.
#2. Elemental Shorts
There will always be some sparking when attaching the wires to the battery terminals; this is quite normal.
The RV, on the other hand, may result in a surge back in power that shorts out your car’s wiring when you attempt to ignite an RV with your vehicle.
With contemporary vehicles and electronics, it is now uncommon to occur, but the possibility still exists and often results in thousands of dollars in damage.
When the RV fails to start and the power is no longer required, the automobile engine may not always be prepared for or able to handle a rapid rush of power coming back in from the RV.
#3. Long-Term Harm
When a vehicle battery is overworked, the damage may not always be apparent right away since it may rapidly make up for it.
The battery may begin to fail often or stop charging while you are traveling a few weeks or months after you revive the RV.
This may have happened because the battery surged during the jumpstart or because the RV’s attempt to start drained the battery of too much juice.
The battery in your automobile will often need to be completely replaced since there is typically no simple solution to repair this damage.
How Can an RV Battery Be Jumpstarted?
We need to concentrate on what vehicles may be utilized to restart your dead RV now that we understand why it might not be a good idea to use a regular automobile to do so.
Many folks have the equipment necessary to properly begin their RVs; they are simply not aware of it.
To guarantee that your RV can be started, we always advise carrying four tools, two of which will need a vehicle or another RV.
It is crucial to keep all of these in mind while traveling in an RV.
#1. Hefty Trucks
Bigger trucks, such as F250s and larger, are often able to pull and move loads as large as RVs.
To make sure they have something to drive about a city or place after they have finished setting up their sites, many RV owners pull them behind them.
These trucks all have bigger batteries and alternators than most other vehicles, even RVs, making it simple and comfortable to restart them.
The batteries are significantly more durable than typical automobile batteries since they are designed to be used to power whatever you may be doing close to the truck.
#2. Various RVs
The majority of people don’t bother using a vehicle since, naturally, other RVs will have batteries that can comfortably and effectively restart your RV.
When you go camping, there is often at least one other RV nearby that is ready to assist you in starting and moving your RV.
The majority of the time, RV owners are close-knit communities that are eager to help one another out to repair their vehicles.
Many RV owners are well-versed in every aspect of their vehicles and would gladly go out of their way to assist one another.
#3. Jumper Batteries
The majority of cars, including RVs and other bigger vehicles, may be jumpstarted using these specialist battery packs.
These will often be in the toolboxes of those who have converted or performed extensive maintenance on their RVs, enabling them to jump when necessary.
It should be noted that there are many battery jumper kinds, each with a particular voltage range.
While many larger jumpers can quickly and pleasantly recharge your full battery, most smaller jumpers can simply give your engine a brief jolt.
#4. A Drip Charger
However, if your RV battery has run out of power, they may recharge it.
We advise always keeping these connected to your RV batteries while it is parked.
These are often already installed in RVs and need to be connected into a power outlet to begin charging.
When a battery is fully dead, a trickle charger may be used to revive it by providing it with enough power to start the car.
A battery that has been totally discharged for many days may not be able to be recharged, so you’ll need to schedule this well.
Conclusion
If your car’s battery has sufficient power, it may be possible to restart your RV, although this is doubtful given how efficient today’s vehicles are.
However, there are a number of other options that you may utilize to restart your RV and enable it to travel comfortably on its own power.
