HMS Beagle wrote:
I have operated the truck and camper for a couple of years without the charge wire connected. But I have found one or two occasions where I wanted it - several days parked under trees in heavy shade, cold temps so heater runs a bit. I had to move the truck into the sun for a few hours after 3 days. If you have upgraded the charge circuit to the camper, the alternator will charge flat batteries much faster than the solar (assuming a small array) for the initial bulk charge.
When I get around to it I will hook the charge circuit from the truck back up.
I would not want to run my truck to charge the house batteries when Boondocking or camping if I do not have to... I run my little Honda 2000I...
As for the truck charging the camper house batteries most of our Alternators settle on a voltage output of 13.8 to 14.2... My solar will do 14.6-14.9 depending on the temperature of my camper battery..
To prove that I have seen my truck battery start to take a charge from the solar because the Solar voltage is higher than the camper... I know one can modify the truck charge system to over come that but I elect not to put diodes etc in the truck circuit to accomplish this. Diodes drop the voltage by .7 vdc...
Jim
