battery charges?

[iwon2camp]

I am having a hard time understanding how the battery on the pup charges from the wiring harness on the TV.  If you
hook up a set of jumper cables to the battery on the pup and jump it I understand  . Just didn't think the wires from
the plug were heavy enough to feed the battery.  I guess it is a silly question for some but I just don't understand...
Also I have seen little solar chargers at harbor freight, wouldn't this be best if dry camping?


Thanks for the info

Jeff

[gec66]

Yes, the feed from the TV is enough to charge the battery if the wire is run at 10ga like it should be.  It is not a fast charge, so you might not completely charge an empty battery just driving several hours.  Others here are using solar chargers with success.  Of course the charge rate will vary depending on weather.

[Conductor]

Charging a battery via the connector on the rear of the tow vehicle is limited by what size of wire you use, and how long that wire is, in addition to how much current your alternator can put out. You can get a quick boost, but a full charge takes a very long time.

A 5 watt Harbor Freight panel helped me extend my outings, but I rarely go for more than three days, and I am usually solo. It was a noticeable help during a 5 day outing, but I was at 8500 feet in a wide open area during mid summer with lots of sunny skies. I also use all LED lights, and very little furnace. I added a 15 watt Harbor Freight panel, and now I am typically charged back up by mid day in summer time.

I don't care if I do not get fully charged each day, as long as I still have sufficient power when I pack up to go home. My tow vehicle adds to the solar panel charging during the drive home, and I am almost always back at full charge by the time I park the trailer in the storage lot. I have not hooked up to my generator or shore power in at least two years.


Your mileage may vary. What works for me, may not be sufficient for you. It all depends on your power usage.

[wavery]

I am having a hard time understanding how the battery on the pup charges from the wiring harness on the TV.  If you
hook up a set of jumper cables to the battery on the pup and jump it I understand  . Just didn't think the wires from
the plug were heavy enough to feed the battery.  I guess it is a silly question for some but I just don't understand...
Also I have seen little solar chargers at harbor freight, wouldn't this be best if dry camping?


Thanks for the info

Jeff

You are right. In some vehicles the wire from the battery back to the trailer is too small to do an effective job of charging.

Don't waste your $ on the HF panels. There are far better panels to be had at similar prices.

This $190 HF 45W panel is a toy compared to this $110 eBay 50W panel at less $. Add this 10A controller  for $18 and you have a far better system for $128. If you laid this solar panel next to the HF panel, you'd laugh yourself silly.

For a little more, you could have this 100W panel  (or buy 2 of the 50W for less) that would actually be a viable size set-up. We purchased 2, 80W panels from the same seller a couple years ago and we haven't even thought about battery charging since.

[austinado16]

The charge from TV works great.  You're pushing 14.2 volts from a 100+ amp alternator.

As stated above, you want large gauge wire all the way to the camper battery.  You also want that same gauge or larger for the camper's battery ground, and the ground wire at the TV's 7pin.  You can't pump current through small gauge wires, worse so, in the heat.

If you dry camp, get set up with LED printed circuit boards for your ceiling light bulbs and porch light bulb.

[Oz and Us]

I am having a hard time understanding how the battery on the pup charges from the wiring harness on the TV.

There's not a whole lot to understand ... if the charge line on your F150's Bargman connector is "hot" then you'll have + 12 vdc on Pin 4 ...



... so obviously when the trailer's Bargman is plugged into it that +12 vdc will then feed the trailer, for maintaining a charge on the trailer battery and powering the fridge if it's set to the 12 vdc mode.  I wouldn't count on this charge line feed to recharge a depleted deep cycle battery but to maintain an existing charge and prevent the battery from draining down as it's powering the fridge while you're towing it should work just fine.  As for the gauge of the charge line wire, assuming your F150 has a factory tow package, there's little point in worrying about it as it is what it is, as installed by Ford.

[ngatel]

The charge from TV works great.  You're pushing 14.2 volts from a 100+ amp alternator.

If you have the factory tow package and if the isolation relay has been installed. Usually the relay is not installed at the factory. I think the factory alternator with tow package is around 130 amps, 110 without.

[iwon2camp]

Oz... Thanks I got a better understanding... I'm a picture kind of guy .. I do have a factory tow package so I "assume " that I have the bigger alt.  Thanks everyone!! I though I was just going to put a charger on the battery....

Thanks

Jeff

[austinado16]

Just FYI, it's still a good idea to fully charge the battery before you leave, when you get back home, and then once a month in the off season.  An automatic/smart battery charger is the tool of choice for this.

[jls02]

I am having a hard time understanding how the battery on the pup charges from the wiring harness on the TV.

You and me both. I have wired the thing with solar but still have confusion when plugged into the Suburban. I think I had a bad connection that I found and we will find out next time out. The battery would die when towing with the fridge on. We had to switch to propane to keep the brake controller running. Time will tell if I fixed it 

[austinado16]

I am having a hard time understanding how the battery on the pup charges from the wiring harness on the TV.

You and me both. I have wired the thing with solar but still have confusion when plugged into the Suburban. I think I had a bad connection that I found and we will find out next time out. The battery would die when towing with the fridge on. We had to switch to propane to keep the brake controller running. Time will tell if I fixed it 

That (sort of) doesn't make any sense.  Simply use a voltage meter to test for voltage at pin #4 on the Suburban's 7pin round connector.  With the engine running, you should see alternator voltage at around 13.8-14.2 volts.  You either have it, or you don't, there's no mystery.

Continue with your testing:  Go to the camper battery, with camper on the hitch ball, and the camper's towing harness plugged into the Suburban.  Again, you should see that same alternator voltage at the camper's battery.

Additionally, as I mentioned above, it's very important to have large gauge ground wires, from the Suburban's 7pin to it's frame, from the camper's 7pin to it's tongue, and from the camper's battery negative terminal to the tongue/frame.  You can't push voltage if your grounds are small.

Regarding the brake controller and the camper's electric brakes;  they're all powered by the Suburban's battery and alternator, and not at all by the camper's battery.  The only time the camper's battery comes into play with the camper's electric brakes, is if the camper brakes completely free from the hitch while towing, and the break-away switch pin gets pulled.

[Tenttrailer]

You may not have the wire from the trailer battery to conector, or the fuse is bad or wire is open.   Check when the trailer batter is connected on trailer, check trailer side pin 7 to ground with your volt meter.  You should have very close to the same voltage as you read directly across the battery with the volt meter.

[teejaywhy]

Just FYI, it's still a good idea to fully charge the battery before you leave, when you get back home, and then once a month in the off season.  An automatic/smart battery charger is the tool of choice for this.

Agree with this.  The charge line from the tow vehicle is a good way to top off or maintain the battery charge while traveling and can allow you to run the fridge on DC power while enroute.

But not intended as a primary method for charging the battery.

[schibbey]

Hi Jeff, I have solar kits for sale if you are interested in a plug and go system. We have a 110W system on our pup and can dry camp for as long as we have water. Power is not an issue, without any power conservation we always come home with a fully charged battery!! Let me know if you interested!!

[Tenttrailer]

the other thing that nice if you TV charge line is working. Are for the 2:00 AM, for us it always has been 2:00 AM when furnace is not running because you battery voltage dropped to low, you can hook up the connector to the TV and run the motor for 20 about minutes and it will keep the df happy for the rest of the night.  Don't forget to disconnect the wire.

This has happen to us about 3 times in our 20+ years.  Battery and Propane management is the key if you want to sleep through the night.