Forum Discussion
Boatycall
Dec 23, 2013Explorer
I'm an Electrical Engineer, let me see if this helps--
The limiting factor is the wire gauge. Batteries have internal resistance, wire has resistance. Beyond input voltage, your rate of charge becomes self-limited to a certain extent by the wire. At most, you will have a 4 volt difference between the alternator and the TC - this assumes fully dead TC batteries and a cold just-started alternator. Most factory truck-to-TC charging circuits are between 20-40amps. Given that you have multiple batteries, it would just simply take longer to charge them back up. The wire is the limiting factor - there's no regulator beyond what's on the alternator, and no other device besides a fuse to limit current.
A lot of us have multiple batteries (I have 6) and had the need for a better charging circuit. Like most, I've ran a dedicated 4ga hot and ground wire back to my TC batteries. I have put 100a breakers at both ends, the truck and the TC side, in the (hopefully) unlikely event of a short. A short will exceed the wire's rating and pop the breaker, because now you're going from 14.7v to 0---versus 14.7 to 10.5(dead TC batts).
That being said, the TC batteries have never popped the 100a breaker on either end. Now, if I upgraded to 2ga, 1ga, or even 0ga, it's entirely likely the 100a breaker could pop, because the wire can now support the higher current at that lower voltage differential.
The limiting factor is the wire gauge. Batteries have internal resistance, wire has resistance. Beyond input voltage, your rate of charge becomes self-limited to a certain extent by the wire. At most, you will have a 4 volt difference between the alternator and the TC - this assumes fully dead TC batteries and a cold just-started alternator. Most factory truck-to-TC charging circuits are between 20-40amps. Given that you have multiple batteries, it would just simply take longer to charge them back up. The wire is the limiting factor - there's no regulator beyond what's on the alternator, and no other device besides a fuse to limit current.
A lot of us have multiple batteries (I have 6) and had the need for a better charging circuit. Like most, I've ran a dedicated 4ga hot and ground wire back to my TC batteries. I have put 100a breakers at both ends, the truck and the TC side, in the (hopefully) unlikely event of a short. A short will exceed the wire's rating and pop the breaker, because now you're going from 14.7v to 0---versus 14.7 to 10.5(dead TC batts).
That being said, the TC batteries have never popped the 100a breaker on either end. Now, if I upgraded to 2ga, 1ga, or even 0ga, it's entirely likely the 100a breaker could pop, because the wire can now support the higher current at that lower voltage differential.
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