Dead battery on toad

just a question, why would not a solenoid work such as from a old style ford? I had one on a PU for my 2d battery for the slide in camper. only worked when running the vehicle, but in this case would work when the master veh is in operation if wired off a on/off 12 source. So run a wire that is switched to the toad and then thru the solenoid to the battery of the toad. Talking maybe $15 for everything.

I installed a wire to the battery on the toad plug that charged the battery from the coach. No problems after that

..The best answer to this issue, came in the first reply/post - Dutch's comments about a charge line to the MH.

A solar panel may well work, too, but it sure seems like spending a lot of $$ unnecessarily and making a simple problem much more complicated than it needs to be.

Go get you some wire, connectors, fuse links, etc. for less than $20, and wire you a charge line from MH to the towed vehicle. Problem solved. Batteries stay charged up all the time when towing, no matter what drains there may be on the battery. Very simple, quick and easy to set up once, and you'll never have to worry about it again.

The battery issue is real.... I managed it by putting a regular charger on the toad battery about once a week. Toad engine hours operating frequently is not enough to replace the draw-down when towing

pops

Na, key still needs to be on ACC. One will need to run&set another Brake bulb in the taillight

works great!

Use this method w/ my "RoadMaster BrakeMaster 9160"

Mfar1234 wrote:
Used this method the last two yrs and zero problems....$25.00

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_top-mount-battery-terminal-quick-disconnect-switch-autocraft_6280536-p

This kind of defeats the purpose of putting the key in ACC to power a supplementary brake.

Agree with the high price on the Toad Charge. I only purchased the regulator portion for under $50 a few years back. Also don't like their quick connect plugs on the regulator, so carefully soldered wires to the pins on the unit and then slid marine heat shrink onto the soldered pin/wire connection. We tow a hybrid and by having the key in the Acc position the regenerative braking is enabled as well as HV battery temp monitoring and bat cooling fan.

Used this method the last two yrs and zero problems....$25.00

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_top-mount-battery-terminal-quick-disconnect-switch-autocraft_6280536-p

The toad charge works well from several posts I have seen..I just hated to spend $110 for a $1 diode in a $2 box. I said $6 because I got 4 diodes for $3 plus the box and couple of terminal strips. I soldered all the diodes in parallel. Fused my charge line at 10 amps and all ok after about 8000 miles. I've done this for years. I should have gotten a patent back in the late 60s. Used diodes to isolate camper batteries back in the 60s.

Also, some automotive windows have UV protection which will reduce the effectiveness of a solar panel on the inside of the cabin. I would go with a charge line from the RV. We use the Toad Charge set up.