You use the battery on your Coleman Camper when you are "dry" camping. Dry camping is camping at a site where you cannot plug in your trailer to electric power. Batteries for a Coleman Camper use direct current (DC). Household electricity uses alternating current (AC). Set whether you are using AC or DC with a switch inside the power panel outside the trailer on the back side of the kitchen unit. When you are camping with electricity and plug in the trailer to the site, you are using AC. If the lights on your camper don't work when you toggle switch them on, check if the AC/DC switch on the camper power panel is set to the wrong setting.
When dry camping, if the switch is on DC and the lights don't turn on, one of three things is going on: your battery is out of charge, you inadvertently attached the battery cables to the wrong poles and have now blown the fuses (read the owner's manual to find out where they are inside for your model), or there is a short in the wiring in the trailer, for which you need to take it to a trailer repair shop.
Not all deep cell batteries are alike. Some last for two or three nights, and some will only last a through part of a single night. Getting the proper voltage deep cell marine battery will allow you to go on longer camping trips on a single charge. One strong deep cell battery will last longer than two weaker deep cell marine batteries.
Get a good battery charger. A battery charger plugs into regular electricity at your home and charges the battery before you leave. A gauge on the battery charger indicates how much of the battery is charged. Allow 12 to 24 hours to fully charge the battery before leaving on a camping trip.
When the plug on the trailer is plugged into the socket in the tow vehicle, the battery is also being charged. If you are going on a cross-country trip and doing a lot of dry camping, by the time you drive a day's drive, you may have added a day's charge. You can also charge the battery by camping at a campsite with electricity and using the battery charger.
Deep cell marine batteries are portable (they weigh between 50 and 70 lbs.), and have been taken from campers. Having a cover for the battery case with a strap to keep the cover on both hides the battery from immediate view, and increases the time and trouble to take it.
