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offgrid 
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
 Topic: New ownerPosted: 28 Mar 2019 at 3:09pm |
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Sure, you should be concerned depending on the tongue weight rating if your tow vehicle. Most of that 140 lbs will end up on the trailer tongue weight. I recommend that you weight your trailer and tongue as you plan to travel so you know what you have before you add more battery weight.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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noatakme
Newbie 
Joined: 14 Aug 2018 Location: Middletown PA Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 5:06pm |
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I have another new owner battery question. Does the tow vehicle charge the batteries while Driving? It seems as though it would be possible. When I hooked up the electric brake control there was a purple wire that is an extra power source I think. What would I use that for and where would I hook it up? The positive terminal of the battery I imagine.I have so many questions. I appreciate this group helping me out.
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Paul
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2595 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 5:28pm |
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Paul, the Bargeman connector has a wire set up to charge the battey(ies). All you have to do is plug it into the socket on your TV (assuming it is not damaged or filed with crud). The charge rateisn't as fast as the bulk charger in your WFCO converter, but it'll keep you going.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1454 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 6:34pm |
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Some tow vehicles deliver more amps to the Bargman than others. Some will deliver enough to charge the Pod battery, even if you have the fridge on 12v. Many won't. You could end up at your destination with hot food and a dead trailer battery. This is one reason a lot of people travel with the fridge on propane. TT, stepping back now
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2707 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 6:41pm |
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So it behooves you to know if and how much current your particular tow vehicle can provide to the trailer. Ours works fine, others have reported varying degrees of success.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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noatakme
Newbie
Joined: 14 Aug 2018 Location: Middletown PA Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 6:49pm |
Can I find that out with the battery off?
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Paul
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2707 |
Posted: 28 Mar 2019 at 8:26pm |
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 29 Mar 2019 at 8:59am |
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If you have a voltmeter you can check to be sure you have 12V to your trailer connector. That's pin 4 (you can find a good diagram on etrailer or other websites). That will tell you that you can charge while driving, but not how much current will flow.
There should be a circuit breaker or fuse installed in the trailer connector charging circuit somewhere near the two vehicle battery, that would tell you the max charge current you could potentially get. Those are usually around 30 amps, you will always get less than that. The fridge on 12V takes about 11A so you can see that it is a very significant load.
You won't be able to tell how much charge current will actually flow without your trailer battery installed. Even then, the current will vary greatly depending on the state of charge of the trailer and tow vehicle batteries. You are in reality connecting two 12V batteries in parallel through the trailer connector so current will try to flow until the two batteries are at the same voltage. There's not a lot you can do to change the charge rate from the tow vehicle anyway. It will be what it will be. So, once you've made sure you don't have a tongue weight issue, I'd suggest just installing your new trailer batteries and then see what happens while you're towing. Get a multimeter with a clamp on dc current probe (be sure its dc and ac, not just ac). Then you can check things under a variety of conditions. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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noatakme
Newbie
Joined: 14 Aug 2018 Location: Middletown PA Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 29 Mar 2019 at 9:07am |
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I see Summit racing sells a 165 amp alternator for my truck. I assume this would improve the charge? I think I have 105 amp now.
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Paul
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 29 Mar 2019 at 9:15am |
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You are going to be limited by the resistance of the wiring back to the trailer. Alternators are set up to keep the tow vehicle battery at 14.4V max, so if your current alternator already does that while your towing (which is likely) then changing to a higher capacity alternator won't help you.
If you wanted to route separate heavy cabling to the trailer battery from the tow vehicle (when I say heavy I'm taking about maybe 2/0 conductors) then yes the larger alt could improve things. But you are likely to find you're just fine with what you already have.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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New owner