Arctic Fox Wiring/Ammeter
After hours of tracing wires, calling northwood and google'ing I finally was able to resolve an issue I was having with my 2013 Arctic Fox 990 not charging the house batteries via the truck. What a fr...
Forum Discussion
I have a 'E-Meter' in my motorhome that I installed myself. It cost about $300 back in 1999. It has a 500 amp shunt in the negative battery cable, and monitors all the amperage going in and out of the battery. If i see it charging at 4-8 amps, I know that is from the solar system. Charging at 45 amps is the total between solar and 120 volt charger. If the generator is running, then I know that the power is coming from there.
Anyway it works really well. It is sold as the "Trimetric" now.
The meter stays in the camper, near the battery, with a 6 wire twisted pair between the shunt and meter. It would be difficult to mount the meter remotely in the truck, as voltage loss would cause mis-reading, and unplugging the meter to move it into the camper would erase any reading that it had before it lost power.
If you want 'effective' camper battery charging, then the factory installed #12 wire to the wiring harness is not going to do it. You will need to upgrade the factory wiring to something much larger, such as #8 wire. Install a plug rated at 50 amps or so. Install a relay such as Grainger.com part #6C017 It is rated at 100 amps max, with silver allow contacts, rated to switch under load 100,000 times before wearing out! I installed that relay on my prior motorhome and this one as well. I used #4 wire from the output of my alternator to my coach batteries, via the relay. I turn on the relay with +12 power from my radio. When the key is on, it gives +12 to the radio, and this relay too.
Have you considered installing a solar system? A couple of 100 watt solar panels, and you will not be concerned with the amperage anymore, as you will have more power than you will need.
My RV uses 35 amp hours daily to just run the refrigerator, CO and propane detectors. That is enough to deplete a group 27 battery in 2 nights! Add to that some lights, and you will require frequent charging!
Do you have a 'good' battery charger? What is the amp rating? Some brands do not work well with a generator that is only putting out 110 volts, others work fine with anything between 100 and 135 volts input!
Good luck!
Fred.
Anyway it works really well. It is sold as the "Trimetric" now.
The meter stays in the camper, near the battery, with a 6 wire twisted pair between the shunt and meter. It would be difficult to mount the meter remotely in the truck, as voltage loss would cause mis-reading, and unplugging the meter to move it into the camper would erase any reading that it had before it lost power.
If you want 'effective' camper battery charging, then the factory installed #12 wire to the wiring harness is not going to do it. You will need to upgrade the factory wiring to something much larger, such as #8 wire. Install a plug rated at 50 amps or so. Install a relay such as Grainger.com part #6C017 It is rated at 100 amps max, with silver allow contacts, rated to switch under load 100,000 times before wearing out! I installed that relay on my prior motorhome and this one as well. I used #4 wire from the output of my alternator to my coach batteries, via the relay. I turn on the relay with +12 power from my radio. When the key is on, it gives +12 to the radio, and this relay too.
Have you considered installing a solar system? A couple of 100 watt solar panels, and you will not be concerned with the amperage anymore, as you will have more power than you will need.
My RV uses 35 amp hours daily to just run the refrigerator, CO and propane detectors. That is enough to deplete a group 27 battery in 2 nights! Add to that some lights, and you will require frequent charging!
Do you have a 'good' battery charger? What is the amp rating? Some brands do not work well with a generator that is only putting out 110 volts, others work fine with anything between 100 and 135 volts input!
Good luck!
Fred.
