Battery charging from tow vehicle?
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Topic: Battery charging from tow vehicle?
Posted By: Alaskaflyer
Subject: Battery charging from tow vehicle?
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 11:45am
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Hello all, I was surprised to see that by the end of our first outing that our double 12 v batteries were discharged to almost 50% despite being connected to shore power. I'll be checking the installed converter to see if there is a problem. My question now though, is, by what route / mechanism are the batteries charged by the tow vehicle? Would a short or blown fuse in the converter prevent charging by the tow vehicle? Two hours home and the meter hadn't budged. My 7-way wiring connector on the vehicle was unfortunately wired with nonstandard colors, but has six wires, which I assume have the typical lights, ground, the hot wire, and the brake controller wire. The center pole is empty which I believe is typically back up lights which of course the iPod does not have (hmmm...maybe a future nonstandard mod?
 Can never seem to make it to a campground before dark. Anyhow...) |
Replies:
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 11:57am
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The TV usually charges directly to the battery, bypassing the converter. There is a battery reversal fuse (2) in the converter, but it only protects/disconnects the converter. The TV should still charge. Check to verify the TV is supplying charging voltage when the engine is running. Some vehicles require installation of a relay and/or fuse to enable this function. Also note that running the fridge on 12V DC will probably negate any charging from the TV and may even further discharge the battery.
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Alaskaflyer
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 12:34pm
Hmmm....well that might be the issue with the the tow vehicle charge, we did have it in 12V mode to keep things from our Costco run cold on the way home. But I will get the meter out tonight....and need to check the converter/shore power issue too.
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Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 12:57pm
Due to inadequate wiring in most TVs and TTs the charging current available from the TV is ~10A. The fridge on 12V draws ~10A so you're net zero +/-. When traveling run the fridge on propane. A quick check on the TV chargeing is to turn everything off in the TT, start the engine, and measure the voltage at the TT battery. If being charged, it should read greater than 13V. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Alaskaflyer
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 1:17pm
Thanks!
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Posted By: JScottHouse
Date Posted: 05 Sep 2016 at 6:14pm
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My last three tow vehicles had no difficulty operating the refrigerator on 12v and charging the batteries at the same time. They were wired with #10 wire with a 30A auto-reset breaker to the seven way plug. ------------- 2016 RP-180 2013 Ford Explorer 4WD |