Increasing charge rate from TV to TC?
It is my understanding that the amount of charge going to the truck camper battery is determined by how much the alternator needs to send to the truck battery. So if the truck battery is nearly full ...
Forum Discussion
DJ-
I was having trouble keeping my Dometic 3-way refer running on LP while on the road, and got tired of trying to fix it, so I've been running it off an inverter for several years now (runs fine on LP when parked or driving slow roads). The AC element pulls about 345 watts, and it typically runs about 50% of the time. I can keep the camper battery at about a 90% charge with the truck alternator.
MEX's recommendations describe my charge circuit upgrades almost to a T, with the exception of a couple of "choke points" that I haven't addressed yet. 1- The alternator-to-bed plug wires are 6 gauge, but I haven't upgraded the wires in the camper pigtail yet. They are still the 8 gauge wires Lance used. 2- The plug in the bed is a 7-way round pin semi trailer plug, which is a much better plug than the typical RV 7-way flat blade, but I need to split the charge wires out of the camper pigtail and use either an Anderson connector or a 2-way lift gate connector set. When I take care of those two items, my charge circuit should perform even better than it does now.
One advantage you have over my truck is the wire length should be shorter on yours. With my crew-cab, it took over 20 feet of wire to go from the alternator, through a continuous-duty solenoid and 55 amp breaker, down along the driver-side frame rail and up to a plug close to the front of the bed.
If you want some wire that's easy to work with, check out Tinned Marine Wire Fine stranded, tinned battery cable that's very flexible.
:):)
I was having trouble keeping my Dometic 3-way refer running on LP while on the road, and got tired of trying to fix it, so I've been running it off an inverter for several years now (runs fine on LP when parked or driving slow roads). The AC element pulls about 345 watts, and it typically runs about 50% of the time. I can keep the camper battery at about a 90% charge with the truck alternator.
MEX's recommendations describe my charge circuit upgrades almost to a T, with the exception of a couple of "choke points" that I haven't addressed yet. 1- The alternator-to-bed plug wires are 6 gauge, but I haven't upgraded the wires in the camper pigtail yet. They are still the 8 gauge wires Lance used. 2- The plug in the bed is a 7-way round pin semi trailer plug, which is a much better plug than the typical RV 7-way flat blade, but I need to split the charge wires out of the camper pigtail and use either an Anderson connector or a 2-way lift gate connector set. When I take care of those two items, my charge circuit should perform even better than it does now.
One advantage you have over my truck is the wire length should be shorter on yours. With my crew-cab, it took over 20 feet of wire to go from the alternator, through a continuous-duty solenoid and 55 amp breaker, down along the driver-side frame rail and up to a plug close to the front of the bed.
If you want some wire that's easy to work with, check out Tinned Marine Wire Fine stranded, tinned battery cable that's very flexible.
:):)
