I am new to the TDR and towing in general. I have bought an older TT and would like to camp in more remote areas rather than in the big campgrounds. I aquired 2 large batteries from work, they came off our emg. generators. I work at a hospital & we change them every 2 yrs need it or not. I checked my hitch wiring and found that it does not charge my rv battery. should it? Like I said I'm new to all this. I'm wondering if I could run a 2 conductor cable from 1 of my truck batteries to my bumper then to my ttrailer and hook it up to my rv battery only when I'm traveling down the road to charge my rv batt. Would this overwork my alternator? would it hurt anything? Any better ideas would be appreciated. thanks.
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can I charge rv batt. while driving
- Thread starter Fsbigcountry
- Start Date
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you should have a charge line to charge your batts. the 7 pin connector has a 12 volt output for that. hook it up. I charge my 5er batteries that way (3 of them) no problems here.
IIRC, there is a fuse in the main distribution panel on the driver's side fender well that has to be installed to activate the trailer +12V feed. If your truck has the towing package, you should have gotten a plastic bag in the glove compartment with a brake controller pigtail, fuses for the +12V and brake output wiring and an instruction card advising where the fuses need to be installed. This may be in your owner's manual as well - I don't have the truck at work with me today.
Rusty
Rusty
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B.G. Smith
TDR MEMBER
Corrected, thanks Thomas: The #4 terminal in the 7 pin plug is the 12 volt output. ( the center terminal is aux. ) And yes, if your truck didn't come with the factory towing package, you can run a two conductor wire friom the battery to the travel trailer, just be sure and properly fuse protect it at the battery and remember that if it is plugged in while camping, you can run the truck batteries down too. bg
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THANKS GUYS, I bought the truck used withh 100k on it, nothing in the glove box but owners man. I've also got to get the trailer brakes working. there is a female pin receptacle low, left of ashtray. I'm hoping I can just plug in pigtail that comes with whatever controller I get, as long as I specify 2000 dodge 2500.
"The center terminal in the 7 pin plug is the 12 volt aux. "
If your model year 2000 Ram has the factory tow package I think you'll find that the center pin is backup lights. The seven-pin trailer tow connector supplied with the factory tow package has pin functions molded into the hinged door on the connector.
If your model year 2000 Ram has the factory tow package I think you'll find that the center pin is backup lights. The seven-pin trailer tow connector supplied with the factory tow package has pin functions molded into the hinged door on the connector.
If the connector you speak of is right at the base of the dash it is not the one you want. The brake connector sould be under the dash somewhere around the workings of the emergency brake pedal. The brake controller will not plug directly into it but you should be able to buy a dodge specific pigtail that will. I guess I'm assuming a non trailer package equipped truck will have the plug under the dash... . can anybody verify that?
-Scott
-Scott
I posted an epistle to this topic a few days ago - here it is again.
Voltage is not what you are looking for - to charge batteries, you need amperage. The voltage can read 14. 1 but you still can
have very little amperage flowing to the trailer due to small factory wiring in the truck. Here's what I did. Run 8 guage
wire from the battery through a 30 amp automatic resetting breaker, then through an isolator, back to the trailer plug. With
my batteries down 50% (around 12. 1 volts or 100 amp hours) I can get an initial charge of around 15 amps which will restore
most of what I lost over the past night in 6-8 hours of towing.
I do a lot of dry camping and I use 2 6 volt golf cart batteries which provide around 210 amp hours of capacity.
If you are using the batteries hard, you will need to charge the trailer directly from a generator hooked to your shore
power. Your trailer power convertor should be capable of charging the battries at around 40 amps. I can recover 95% of a 50%
- 60-% drain in around 4 hours of charging.
For charging, I use a 1800 watt Coleman Powermate generator which is excellent for battery recovery. Do not try to run an air
conditioner or microwave oven on a generator this small.
If you are a serious dry camper, you need a computer in the trailer that will tell you exactly what is going on with your
batteries. I use the Trimetric from Backwoods Solar. You can get information on this device at:
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/Catal...#Meter Basics
This web site has a wealth of information on living independent of shore power. I have found their products, service and
expertise to be among the best. Check them out and happy dry camping.
I charge on the road when I am travelling. When I am dry camped at a race, I can run my system fairly hard (furnace, power
vent and inverter for TV/VCR) over a 24 hour period then charge for 4 hours daily with the generator.
To keep your batteries in top shape and to maximize their life, you will also need to equalize them regularly.
One final thought - I expected to receive more amperage to the trailer when the truck was running after my direct wiring
upgrade. After all, the alternator is capable of producing 200 amps of DC power. I thought my wire size was adequate to the
hitch plug - I've since found per wiring specs, it could have been 1-2 sizes larger. However, the mechanic at the RV dealer
told me that larger wiring in the truck would have been a waste of money because of the size of the wiring in the trailer.
Like everything else, you are always limited to the strength of the weakest link in your chain. Kind of like a big garden
hose carrying high pressure connected to a small nozzle.
Fact is that neither the truck or trailer manufacturer anticipated many dry campers trying to use their trucks to charge
seriously depleted trailer batteries. Just look at the size of the wiring to your truck batteries compared to the size of the
DC supply in your trailer.
With large enough wiring thoughout the system, you cold just hook the trailer to the truck and allow the truck alternator to
do the work while you sat back and enjoyed the sweet idle of the CTD.
Good luck and happy dry camping
Voltage is not what you are looking for - to charge batteries, you need amperage. The voltage can read 14. 1 but you still can
have very little amperage flowing to the trailer due to small factory wiring in the truck. Here's what I did. Run 8 guage
wire from the battery through a 30 amp automatic resetting breaker, then through an isolator, back to the trailer plug. With
my batteries down 50% (around 12. 1 volts or 100 amp hours) I can get an initial charge of around 15 amps which will restore
most of what I lost over the past night in 6-8 hours of towing.
I do a lot of dry camping and I use 2 6 volt golf cart batteries which provide around 210 amp hours of capacity.
If you are using the batteries hard, you will need to charge the trailer directly from a generator hooked to your shore
power. Your trailer power convertor should be capable of charging the battries at around 40 amps. I can recover 95% of a 50%
- 60-% drain in around 4 hours of charging.
For charging, I use a 1800 watt Coleman Powermate generator which is excellent for battery recovery. Do not try to run an air
conditioner or microwave oven on a generator this small.
If you are a serious dry camper, you need a computer in the trailer that will tell you exactly what is going on with your
batteries. I use the Trimetric from Backwoods Solar. You can get information on this device at:
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/Catal...#Meter Basics
This web site has a wealth of information on living independent of shore power. I have found their products, service and
expertise to be among the best. Check them out and happy dry camping.
I charge on the road when I am travelling. When I am dry camped at a race, I can run my system fairly hard (furnace, power
vent and inverter for TV/VCR) over a 24 hour period then charge for 4 hours daily with the generator.
To keep your batteries in top shape and to maximize their life, you will also need to equalize them regularly.
One final thought - I expected to receive more amperage to the trailer when the truck was running after my direct wiring
upgrade. After all, the alternator is capable of producing 200 amps of DC power. I thought my wire size was adequate to the
hitch plug - I've since found per wiring specs, it could have been 1-2 sizes larger. However, the mechanic at the RV dealer
told me that larger wiring in the truck would have been a waste of money because of the size of the wiring in the trailer.
Like everything else, you are always limited to the strength of the weakest link in your chain. Kind of like a big garden
hose carrying high pressure connected to a small nozzle.
Fact is that neither the truck or trailer manufacturer anticipated many dry campers trying to use their trucks to charge
seriously depleted trailer batteries. Just look at the size of the wiring to your truck batteries compared to the size of the
DC supply in your trailer.
With large enough wiring thoughout the system, you cold just hook the trailer to the truck and allow the truck alternator to
do the work while you sat back and enjoyed the sweet idle of the CTD.
Good luck and happy dry camping
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is the 7 pin connector pinout for the 2001 trucks. I assume that the 2000 models are the same.
http://www.klenger.net/dodge/2nd-gen-reference/trailer-connector-wiring.pdf
http://www.klenger.net/dodge/2nd-gen-reference/trailer-connector-wiring.pdf
B.G. Smith
TDR MEMBER
Part of the reason the truck, any truck doesn't really get serious about charging the battery in the trailer it is pulling is as stated above, the wire size but probably more importantly, the alternator output is regulated by the field receiving feedback from the battery being charged. It is reading the voltage of the truck batteries, not the trailer battery and it's output (the alternators) is regulated by the voltage that it see There used to be a (may still be) a battery switch available that you could switch between three different batteries and it also switched the alternator field wire to the battery being charged. I don't know if it would be possible to do that with the late model trucks as the alternator field voltage is controlled by the Power train control module. bg
B. G. ,
That is a little confusing. If a large gage wire is used for the trailer so copper loss is minimized, won't the alternator see the trailer battery just as if it had a three battery system instead of a two battery system? I think that the ground return from the trailer battery should also be large gage wire to accomplish this. If that is so, it should bring the lowest battery in the system up to the level of the other two. Am I missing something here?
That is a little confusing. If a large gage wire is used for the trailer so copper loss is minimized, won't the alternator see the trailer battery just as if it had a three battery system instead of a two battery system? I think that the ground return from the trailer battery should also be large gage wire to accomplish this. If that is so, it should bring the lowest battery in the system up to the level of the other two. Am I missing something here?
While using a larger gauge wire will help the charging problem, you can never get a 100% charge on a deep cycle battery from a vehicle alternator because the voltage is too low. The alternator on the truck should put out about 13. 75 volts. Higher voltages would cook the truck's batteries over time. A deep cycle battery requires about 14. 4 volts to get a full charge. A constant supply of 14. 4 volts will cook a deep cycle battery too, which is why a good charger is preferred for charging deep cycle batteries. I have two of them in my camper. One is the solar controller, and the other is the Progressive Dynamics converter and charge wizard powered by external power or an onboard generator. I have about $5000 invested in the electrical system in my camper (see sig for details), which is more than most RVers are willing to invest, but it works flawlessly. I think I should also mention, that it's not a good idea to idle a diesel for long periods of time, so charging the RV battery in the CG from the truck for hours at a time would not be a good idea. Charging while traveling is fine, but dont' expect to get a 100% charge driving for a few hours.
As far as the negative wire, just use the truck and trailer chassis as the ground return and make sure you have solid ground connections.
As far as the negative wire, just use the truck and trailer chassis as the ground return and make sure you have solid ground connections.
Rusty: Yes you are correct. I did not mean to imply that one should depend on the hitch for the ground connection. Use pin 1 of the RV plug and ground to chassis on the truck and trailer as close as possible to the plug. My point was that there is no need to run a ground wire all the way from the RV battery to the truck battery.
Thanks for pointing out my unclear statement.
Thanks for pointing out my unclear statement.
You read me correctly Joe G. The truck will charge the RV batteries to 100% if you run the truck long enough. I was being faceitious when I suggested using the truck to recharge your batteries in the campground. Not only would this idle the truck too long but it would probably make most of your neighbors unhappy.
The amount of current the battery will accept at a given voltage decreases as the battery voltage (% of charge increases). I can get 15-18 amps into my RV batteries when they are down around 50%. This acceptance level decreases in a linear fashion until the battery reaches 100% state of charge which can take hours and hours. This is why I said that I needed 6-8 hours of running to recover the loss from only one day.
This is not an efficient method of charging the batteries but it works fine if you are on the road. If you plan to be dry camped for more than 24 hours at a time, you need a generator.
Your RV's on board power converter will push more amperage into the battery faster because it is charging at a higher voltage. Mine is rated for 40 amps at 14 volts for 4 hours then it automatically changes to the 13. 6 float voltage. You need to read up on your power convertor/charge controller to make sure that it is engineered for a fast recharge on shore power.
Camping World has an excellent book titled "Living on 12 volts. " It tells you everything you need to know about batteries, charging systems and power management systems. I also highly recommend a power management computer in your RV so that you will know exactly what is going on with your batteries.
The amount of current the battery will accept at a given voltage decreases as the battery voltage (% of charge increases). I can get 15-18 amps into my RV batteries when they are down around 50%. This acceptance level decreases in a linear fashion until the battery reaches 100% state of charge which can take hours and hours. This is why I said that I needed 6-8 hours of running to recover the loss from only one day.
This is not an efficient method of charging the batteries but it works fine if you are on the road. If you plan to be dry camped for more than 24 hours at a time, you need a generator.
Your RV's on board power converter will push more amperage into the battery faster because it is charging at a higher voltage. Mine is rated for 40 amps at 14 volts for 4 hours then it automatically changes to the 13. 6 float voltage. You need to read up on your power convertor/charge controller to make sure that it is engineered for a fast recharge on shore power.
Camping World has an excellent book titled "Living on 12 volts. " It tells you everything you need to know about batteries, charging systems and power management systems. I also highly recommend a power management computer in your RV so that you will know exactly what is going on with your batteries.
Thanks Ramtough,
I'll get some 8 gage wire and do a little work. I live very close to the ocean I will install a good heavy duty ground from the trailer to the truck. I don't camp very often with no power available. However, it is a long way between things in some of our western states. So I do spend a night or two on most trips in a road side rest or rough camp ground.
I'll get some 8 gage wire and do a little work. I live very close to the ocean I will install a good heavy duty ground from the trailer to the truck. I don't camp very often with no power available. However, it is a long way between things in some of our western states. So I do spend a night or two on most trips in a road side rest or rough camp ground.
I have followed this thread with interest. However, I have a question maybe one of you-all can confirm for me.
I have an 01 CTD with the factory trailer package. I have a 1982 Wilderness TT. When I hook the truck and the trailer together and the battery in the trailer is hooked up too, my reverse lights come on, on my truck. I do not have reverse lights on the trailer.
The lights (reverse) stay on until either a fuse blows in the truck OR I disconnect the battery in the trailer. Than all is fine.
Is this because the 1982 camper is expecting the the hot battery wire to be coming thru the center, when it is NOT? Somehow, then, power must be returning thru the trailer circuit to the truck and turning on the reverse lights.
I've just learned to unplug the battery from the trailer before hooking up. But an explanation or confirmation that this is what is happening would be appreciated.
Sorry if this question hijacked the thread, but I thought it was related enough to ask.
I have an 01 CTD with the factory trailer package. I have a 1982 Wilderness TT. When I hook the truck and the trailer together and the battery in the trailer is hooked up too, my reverse lights come on, on my truck. I do not have reverse lights on the trailer.
The lights (reverse) stay on until either a fuse blows in the truck OR I disconnect the battery in the trailer. Than all is fine.
Is this because the 1982 camper is expecting the the hot battery wire to be coming thru the center, when it is NOT? Somehow, then, power must be returning thru the trailer circuit to the truck and turning on the reverse lights.
I've just learned to unplug the battery from the trailer before hooking up. But an explanation or confirmation that this is what is happening would be appreciated.
Sorry if this question hijacked the thread, but I thought it was related enough to ask.
CORed: Look at the drawing at http://www.klenger.net/dodge/2nd-gen-reference/trailer-connector-wiring.pdf
The center pin of the trailer connector is the back-up lights. I assume that this pin is connected to something it is not supposed to be connected to on the trailer end, probably the trailer battery. Find the wire that connects to this pin in the trailer wiring and disconnect and secure it so that it won't short out to anything. I think this will fix your problem. You could install back-up lights on the trailer, but probably not worth the effort unless you're a project sort of guy.
The center pin of the trailer connector is the back-up lights. I assume that this pin is connected to something it is not supposed to be connected to on the trailer end, probably the trailer battery. Find the wire that connects to this pin in the trailer wiring and disconnect and secure it so that it won't short out to anything. I think this will fix your problem. You could install back-up lights on the trailer, but probably not worth the effort unless you're a project sort of guy.
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