battery charging

skyhawk208 wrote:
Before I start troubleshooting anymore, do you guys expect your truck to charge your rv batteries or just maintain them. My research isn't giving be a definitive answer. I checked the voltage on the truck receptacle and it is normal.

What type of connector do you plug into the truck with

Flat 4: No battery lead there

Round 7 pin... That one MIGHT have a battery lead... or not.. depending on both the manufacturer of the trailer and of the truck.

skyhawk208 wrote:
Thanks for all the quick reply's. I'm starting to realize this dealer did a poor job at explaining everything to me and making sure everything was set up correctly. It dawned on me this morning that yesterday he had the shore power attached during the walk through and we never actually tested the battery, so now I'm assuming the batt was dead already when I pulled away. I'm charging it now so I will test it in a few hours. My truck is a 07' ram 1500, I did some reading and I think maybe it can only maintain the battery not charge it. Is that correct?

I have found that most stock truck to trailer charging system will give you about 10 amps to the trailer. You will have a 30 amp fuse in the truck fuse box under the hood for that charge line--make sure it is not blown.

Nobody has mentioned it so you might as well hear this too: Your trailer has certain 12V electrical devices that are always powered from the battery unless the battery has a disconnect switch. Those items are radios, alarms, and certain circuit boards. These parasitic loads will drain a single battery within a couple of days if the battery isn't disconnected by a switch or a connection removed from the battery.

Another question: what brand / model of fridge?

and what brand / model RV?

Note that RV Fridges can use one, two, or even three types of energy for doing the cooling work: propane, 120V AC (when plugged in to shore power or on inverter), and some even use 12V DC to do the cooling.

Ed

EDIT: SMK already asked this question.... oops.

Hi sky,

If the charging path is upgraded AND a boost device is added some real charging may get done. Otherwise expect a smidgen of charging--particularly as the "house" battery bank gets up over 90% charged.

I agree with smk--think about a solar system.

skyhawk208 wrote:
Before I start troubleshooting anymore, do you guys expect your truck to charge your rv batteries or just maintain them. My research isn't giving be a definitive answer. I checked the voltage on the truck receptacle and it is normal.

Recharge from the truck is slow. Need a solid 1,000 miles to get a low battery to 100%. More just maintenance for the drive but it will add some if you start with a super low battery. The top end really tapers off.

Best to always keep a lead-acid at 100% for long life and good service. Solar charges nicely on a sunny drive and keeps you tip top ready for camping while in storage.

Before I start troubleshooting anymore, do you guys expect your truck to charge your rv batteries or just maintain them. My research isn't giving be a definitive answer. I checked the voltage on the truck receptacle and it is normal.

What is the battery voltage? Does it pop up when you plug into your running vehicle? Does it go up when the main cord is plugged into utility power? Do you have a 2-way (propane and 120vac) or 3-way (propane, 120vac & 12vdc) fridge?

diazr2 wrote:
If you have an inverter on the rig and it was left on it could have run down the battery. If no inverter and battery was fully discharged I would guess it might not charge in 5 hours but other than that I would think it would be fully charged if it was fully charged when you left the dealer.

Most modern RV fridges can not be left on 120 VAC mode if there is no 120VAC (Well they can but it is a job to make it happen) they switch automatically to Gas within one minute of your unplugging, (And back when you plug back in)

HOWEVER if you have an inverter, as I do, and the inverter is wired to provide power to the Fridge, (Which mine can be if I toss a switch) THEN the fridge will run on the inverter and suck those batteries down faster than you can believe... Mine (this is a motor home) can do it in 2 hours or so.

now... On some RV's. there are TWO electrical outlets in the fridge's outside compartment (mine has but one) one is for the ice maker, and is powered by the inverter sub panel. . the other is for the fridge and gets MAINS power only.. If someone messed up and plugged the fridge into the ice maker outlet..... You get what you got.

on mine its a single outlet and a switch elsewhere.. the reason for this is the bedroom bedside outlets are on the same breaker so if I want to read using the florcesent light instead of the rather dim bedside light.. i lock the fridge on GAS, and flip flip the switch (you can not switch from MAINS to inverter directly, you must flip it twice, safety feature on the certified 30 amp manual transfer switch I installed).

This book is very helpful. I keep going back to it when "stuff happens"

http://www.bestconverter.com/Books_c_67.html