Battery charging
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=10785
Printed Date: 22 May 2025 at 4:56am
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Topic: Battery charging
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Subject: Battery charging
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 10:51am
| I don't have a generator. If I leave it plugged into my tow vehicle with it running, will it charge the battery and if so, how long for a full charge? It's an r-pod 180. Thanks! |
Replies:
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 1:01pm
|
It may, or may not charge that way. Depends on how your truck is set up. BUT even if it does, it will charge fairly slowly. Use jumper cables, and hook straight to the battery from the trucks battery and start your truck, it will charge pretty fast like that. ------------- |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 1:04pm
Depends on:
------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 1:29pm
Thanks! 
|
Posted By: sailor323
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:06pm
| If the battery is completely discharged and if the TV is set up to send a charge via the Bargman connector, and depending on the output of your alternator, it could take hours. You can speed that up a bit by using a good set of jumper cables from the TV to the battery. I charged a completely discharged battery (225 amp hour capacity) via the Bargman, 65 amp alternator--took over 2 hours |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:25pm
| All good info! Thanks a ton y'all!!! |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:26pm
| PS. Safe to assume this bargman is the big round 8-9 pin connector on my TV??? |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:43pm
7-pin, but, yes. ------------- |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:48pm
| Thanks again folks! |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 5:59pm
|
Think it is a the 1:00 position on TV connector. You should check to ensure you have battery voltage there. If you don't it is either not hooked up or not enabled. The other cheap thing I did was buy a relatively cheap digital LED ammeter gauge, that plugs into 12V accessory outlet. That tells me the status of battery charging as I tow. I wanted more accurate info than the standard ammeter gauge in dash. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 6:37pm
| I'm pretty sure it is enabled. |
Posted By: Uncle Hamish
Date Posted: 11 Oct 2017 at 6:38pm
| Pretty sure it's enabled |
Posted By: pgoelz
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2017 at 7:24am
Just a head's up..... depending on the state of charge, connecting a discharged trailer battery to a charged TV battery can potentially draw considerable current until the discharged battery charges a bit. This could possibly blow the fuse or breaker protecting the TV 12V feed to the trailer. If the TV fuse blows, replace it and then switch to jumper cables until the trailer battery charges up a bit. I ran a 10 gauge wire from TV battery to the trailer connector and protected it with a 30A fuse (the max for 10 gauge wire) at the TV battery. It has never blown but I have also never connected to the trailer with a discharged battery. I keep a couple spare fuses just in case. Paul ------------- 2014 Rpod 171 2017 Toyota Highlander |
Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2017 at 10:26am
|
Depending on the TV, it can be slightly difficult to determine if your TV is, in fact, charging the battery on your R-pod. For example, the Bargman (AKA "7-pin") connector on our F-150 is a "smart connector". The F-150 does not provide power when the truck is off. It also does not provide power if there is no trailer connected. As a result, you can't just check for voltage by probing the 7-pin connector, regardless of whether the truck is running or not. The way that I check it is to look at the voltage on the R-pod batteries. First, the trailer must be connected, and second, the truck must be running. When the truck is off, the batteries on the R-pod will be at their static voltage, which would be in the very high 12V range, or "around" 13 volts, depending on their state of charge (this is presuming they are pretty full). When the truck is started and the trailer is connected, the voltage at the R-pod batteries should jump up about a volt or so (~~ 14 volts). ------------- bp 2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
Posted By: mcarter
Date Posted: 13 Oct 2017 at 4:45pm
|
Both my GM products have battery voltage supplied to the Bargman connector. Both have fused lines. Neither will charge the TT battery without running, the alternator is the charge source. Determining if the TV is charging the TT battery is as simple as measuring the voltage at the TT battery with the TV running. I added a digital volt gauge to TT and a digital volt gauge to the TV to better monitor what the charge circuit is doing. ------------- Mike Carter 2015 178 " I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability." |