To charge the batteries of your Couple Condo, you are provided with a cable to connect the car to a source of electricity. This is the most efficient and reliable source to fully charge the house batteries of your RV. It is advisable to plug in the van as much as you can, as it runs out of electricity quickly especially when running the AC!
Use the black cable stored in the back of the vehicle, on the right side in the storage compartment.
Plug the cable into the van outlet located on the driver’s side in the center of the vehicle:
- Lift outlets cover and plug in black cable.
30 AMP hookups at campgrounds are the best to charge the van, you can charge with less amp power, but it will significantly slow down charging times. - The plug cover should light up blue when plug is plugged in correctly.
- If your van doesn’t charge check if the connection from the campground is faulty or not turned on or if you plugged it in correctly.
The cable of your van is a 30 AMP cable that operates at a standard voltage of 120 volts. You will need to connect your cable to a 30 AMP outlet.
If you want to charge with 50AMP, you would need a specific cable (not provided by roadsurfer).
- Please note that campers cannot be charged at the stations for electric vehicles.
To prevent power surges, most North American power supplies at campsites have a breaker switch on them. Before setting up your shore power turn off that switch, then attach your 30AMP power cable to both your van and the outlet, and finally flip the power back on.
Check battery levels
In order to see how much power is left in your battery, check it on the One Place panel, by pressing the "Battery Level" button:
Watch this video for a more detailed explanation:
Please note the following:
- When stationary, do not charge any device in the driver's cab via USB. The starter battery will discharge and the engine may not start!
- 120V sockets: only work with an external power connection or the Generator (if applicable)
- USB ports and 12V sockets: work without an external power connection, with a charged camping battery (always keep it above 50% or 12V).
- With a full battery, you can be self-sufficient for 1-2 days without a power connection, depending on usage. Then you need to drive for a while to recharge the battery or connect your camper to an external power source.
- 🚗 Slow driving & short distances → hardly any battery charge
- 🛣️ Long drives on motorways → better charge, but takes several hours
- 🔋 The starter battery is charged first, then the camping battery.
- ⚠️ Driving alone is often not enough to fully charge the camping battery.
- 🔌 Recommendation: charge externally every 48 hours to avoid energy shortages (especially at night 💤).
- Don't forget to unplug the power cable before driving off!
Troubleshooting
If you experience trouble with the electricity in the living area, please check:
- If the battery main switch is turned on (next to the sliding door):
- Please be aware that the 120V sockets can only be used when connected to external power or when the generator is running! Without external power or generator, only 12V (USB and 12V sockets, lights) can be used.
- Also check the battery level of the secondary battery above the entrance door by pressing the button "Battery Level".
If you are connected to external power (120V) and experience problems, please check the breakers. You can find them under the back seat bank on the passenger side. Observe if the circuit breakers jumped out. They have to point to the right:
When the batteries of the Couple Condo are not loading while driving or running the engine, there is something we can do to get the volts up:
- Turn on the coach battery switch:
- Turn on the engine for about 30 seconds.
- Check if the indicator of the battery level is going up.
- If it is not going up, press & hold the emergency start button in the cockpit area of the car for at least 5 seconds:
- Turn on the engine and see the battery display is going up.
- Should the screens not show anything, it might be too cold outside for the batteries to charge. In this case, plug the van to a external power and press the emergency start button for another 5 seconds. Sometimes you also have to turn on the engine and press the emergency start button for 10 or even 20 seconds straight until the screen shows 13V or more.