Charging batteries while traveling

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Charging batteries while traveling

Postby windmillnut » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:20 pm

Are there any laws/safety concerns :roll: that would discourage me from mounting a portable generator on the tongue of a trailer to charge a battery bank. The generator would be run while traveling and not used while at the campsite.
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Postby diverguy » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:50 pm

i dont know about any laws, but i goto Talladega for the NASCAR race every year and see a ton of people doing it. here is my thought.
what type of vehicle are you towing with
i drive a '06 Yukon. and i know there are pros and cons going both ways on this but i read my owners manual and it actually says that one of the pins on a 7 pin connector is for charging a RV battery. so i bought an adaptor and wired my tow vehicle to charge my battery while driving. i put a switch inline with a fuse jsut so i dont over do it. i figure it is probably ok since i have a heavy duty alternator for this purpose from the factory. i actually left my camper lights on one night and ran the battery dead. hooked it up to the truck and well they came up. let it run for a while and the lights actually stayed up for a while. so i know it works. i put the batter on a charger for 24 hrs just to do a full recharge but the tow vehilce did do what it is supposed to.
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Postby Ira » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:35 pm

Would you really want to run a generator while driving 70mph?
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Postby Gage » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:49 pm

Just run a heavy wire from battery to battery with a 30a fuse at each battery (in case of short between batteries, it'll knock both fuses and not cause a fire). So simple. Save the generator for better use. Use the charging system you already have.
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Postby len19070 » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:12 pm

Gage is right. Use the charge system in your tow vehicle.
You will hear arguments that this is not the best way to charge a battery. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't...But it is "a way". It's the way the RV industry has been doing it for Decades. As long as you have your Tow Vehicle with you, even with no 110V, you can recharge your Battery.

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Postby Gaston » Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:40 pm

I added a 12v power port to the tongue of my trailer and made up a cord with a male 12 v plug at both ends. when I'm traveling and want to charge the trailer battery I plug the cord into the power port at the tongue of the trailer and in the rear of my PT Cruiser The port on the tongue also gives me another place to plug in a boom box or computer
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Postby Keith B » Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:39 am

Interesting... I have an 01 Suburban, so I'd "guess" that my wire harness also has a charging pin. Does anyone know if diodes are already installed to prevent back feeding? I just might do this for those "down times". I'm going to install a converter in the TD and it'll be plugged in at home, but I bet a battery could run down pretty easy in a weekend if you're not thrifty with it's use...of couse, I hope to spend some money on a REALLY good long life amp hour battery.
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Postby diverguy » Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:17 am

keith,
read through your owners maunal. that is where i found my information. i assume that my Yukon is already set up for everything since the manual states that that is what that pin is for. can tremember exactly which on but the manual states it is for charging an RV battery.
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Postby Mark & Andrea Jones » Thu Mar 22, 2007 12:01 pm

When we put the hitch on our 2004 Subaru Forester, we added a 7 pin & a 4 pin connecter so that we could also tow our utility trailer with the car. The pin of the 7 pin connecter that is designated for charging a trailer battery had to be connected to the car battery thru a fuse and an isolator (I think) so that it didn't cause problems with the car battery. Since the car wasn't set up to do that, we ran a wire directly to the engine compartment and mounted the isolater there with a wire directly to the battery. I think there was a fuse in there somewhere, too. We also added a switch in the glove box so that we could turn the charging capacity on/off as we wanted it. Now, it charges as we drive down the road.

The other good thing is that if someone wants to "borrow" our TD, they have to have a 7 pin connector on their car / truck. I just don't tell them that an adapter can be purchased for less than $50.

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Postby cuyeda » Thu Mar 22, 2007 6:54 pm

I have a dumb question... Which pin on the 7pin connector is for charging. I assume that it is the AUX (center) pin. How can I tell if my tow vehicle has an isolator built in-line. I want the trailer battery to charge, but not drain my car battery while the alternator is not running. An inline switch would alleviate this, but would rather not have to think about flipping a switch, just hook up and go.
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Postby UK-Corlett » Thu Mar 22, 2007 7:33 pm

Hi Cuyeda

Its all down to using relays.
A whole bunch of products exists to do all kinds of things.

There is a relay which only switched when the voltage gets to over 13.5V and drops out when it falls below 12.8V.
Your battery varies between 11.8 and 12.4 ish and the alternator generates 13.8V. So you only charge when the engine is running and your car battery is in good condition.

You should also look at using an intelligent isolation relay. This powers your trailer lights from a separate power line. It uses sensing technology to switch the power to the relevant trailer light. It also protects your ECU (electronic control unit) on the engine.

If you have a clever car that can sense when you have a bulb gone then drawing power for the trailer lights messes all that up.

My Jaguar actually switches on the return from the bulb and needed an even more special relay unit.

You can also wire in a relay which switches off your fog lamps if the trailer is hitched. So you do not blind your self with the red reflection off your own trailer.

For all your relay needs and lots to read www.rydertowing.co.uk
On this site you will see a practical guide, essential reading

The deails may be a bit UK orientated but thr technology is universal.

Clive

PS its complicated and needs reading and understanding, good luck
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Postby Gage » Thu Mar 22, 2007 8:09 pm

cuyeda wrote:I have a dumb question... Which pin on the 7pin connector is for charging. I assume that it is the AUX (center) pin. How can I tell if my tow vehicle has an isolator built in-line. I want the trailer battery to charge, but not drain my car battery while the alternator is not running. An inline switch would alleviate this, but would rather not have to think about flipping a switch, just hook up and go.

When is your alternator not running? And if it's not running, why do you want your trailer battery hooked to it. If you stop for gas or food, your not going to be stoped so long that the trailer battery is going to drain the tow battery and while at the camp ground your not going to be hooked up anyways. Seems like some people are worrying about things that they don't need to worry about.

Keep it simple as I have noted in an earlier posting on this thread.
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Postby len19070 » Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:07 pm

cuyeda wrote:I have a dumb question... Which pin on the 7 pin connector is for charging. I assume that it is the AUX (center) pin. How can I tell if my tow vehicle has an isolator built in-line. I want the trailer battery to charge, but not drain my car battery while the alternator is not running. An inline switch would alleviate this, but would rather not have to think about flipping a switch, just hook up and go.


Cliff
When you buy the 7 pin plug, all that I have seen (28 years as an RV Tech) have the rear of the pins labeled as to color.

The center line is the back-up lights. Not the charge line.

But the pin marked "Black" is the charge line, 180 degrees off that is the white pin=ground, at 3 and 9 o'clock are the turn signal pins, red= left, brown= right, next to the ground is the green pin=running lights.

For years vehicles never had isolators with no problems. I don't have one on mine now.

But here are 2 easy ways to isolate the batteries.

The first is to put a diode in the charge line. The diode acts as a "check valve" no back feed.

The other is to use a solenoid activated by an ignition line. Ignition off, batteries isolated. Ignition on, Batteries being charged.

This is really a great system. You NEVER have to worry about your battery being charged. As long as you drive to a campground, your charging.

Happy Trails

Len

BTW always fuse the charge line
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Postby dahoon » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:54 pm

It depends on the alternator that you have and you would need to check with a qualified automotive electrical rebuilder.

But, they make a battery isolator that directs the voltage from your alternator to the battery that is dicharged. Depending on your vehicle, some need a 12v exicter for the alternator to work, the isolator will cost you around $70-$80. They have simple wiring diagrams and you don't need to worry about your generator running while you travel down the road.

I would guess if you came across a patrolman having a bad day he would find something wrong with your generator running on your your tongue. Personally I wouldn't be doing it.

Get me the make of your vehicle and I will get you part numbers and were to buy the isolator.

Mike
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Postby Gage » Fri Mar 23, 2007 12:20 am

I've got a question that I just happen to think of and goes along with this thread. What keeps a one wire alternator from over charging your battery? I have one wire alternators on both my '56 & '59. (the only chevy parts on those two)
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