"Newer" Ford trucks don't charge house batt's?

Bert the Welder wrote:
I was told this buy someone at an RV business......sounds like BS.....but I know shinto about vehicles........
So I put this claim to you guys. BS or no BS?

Also, while we're at it, same guy:
The BMS in lith batt's is a big drain on the batt's.....
BS or no BS?

Edit: Mod's- If this is best put elsewhere, please go ahead and move. :)

No Balmar in the OP

Maybe we need an alternator that is more responsive to limit current.
Does Victron or Balmer have that feature?

I thought alternators used to reduce voltage based on heat of which would have some effect to reduce amps as it overheats. Not really a good solution for this.

noteven wrote:
Victron unregulated alternator charging at high amps

A video show why alternators need isolation such as DC-DC chargers when charging batteries which can accept charge at high rates - such as LiFe04

The video shows direct charging of 300 Ah LITHIUM battery with small alternator.
I think you missed the point of this topic as the vide seems to be focusing on selling Balmar alternators.

Victron unregulated alternator charging at high amps

A video show why alternators need isolation such as DC-DC chargers when charging batteries which can accept charge at high rates - such as LiFe04

riah wrote:
But you’re overlooking the DIFFERENCEs from camping 50 years ago and that modern tow VEHICLES now USE SMART TECHNOLOGY plus many people use LiFePo4 batteries, solar and much more electric than they did 50 years ago.

Kayteg1 wrote:

RV exist at least for 50 years and they never had B2B chargers, even when old insulators would cut 0.4V right on them.
Nobody in those 50+ years made an issue about not charged batteries.
Fully charged battery is 13.5V, when typical alternator runs 14.5V.
So even when you loose 0.5V on wires, you still will have fully charged battery.
Obviously smaller wire will limit current, so required time will be longer.
Just like AGM batteries are oversold, so are B2B chargers, who are not needed for led-acid batteries.

That’s it...I’m selling my fuel injection auto trans with its own brain electric locking rear diff air conditioned and warm in the winter side curtain air bags cruise control truck 4000lbs almost payload truck for a breaker points and carburetor 3 speed slush box tin can because all the stuff my modern Model T has isn’t really “needed”...

I recently restored the images on a couple of old topics of mine that are related to this one that you may find useful.

I use the battery in my camper while we are driving to run the fridge in AC mode from an inverter. It’s an intermittent load of about 28 amps when the cooling unit is operating. I’d done this for several years successfully with my two previous trucks. Our traveling and camping style make it necessary for me to always be ready to dry-camp for at least 2-3 nights, so having a fully charged battery (or at least close) at all times is a must.

The first was a topic I started when I bought my current truck. It has a lot of unrelated info in it, but towards the end, I show what I did to beef-up the charging circuit with bigger wires on the truck so that it would charge the camper battery better.

Keep in mind that at that point, I was working with the “knowledge” that doing what I had done on the two previous trucks would work just as well. Maybe even better than before because I was going to up-size the wire gauge to 4 AWG. Short story is; of the three trucks (‘95 F350, 2010 F450, 2016 F450) guess which one I got the poorest performance from? My current truck, the 2016.

Buying a New TC Hauler

The second topic was started after finally accepting that the truck ECM was not going to allow me to get adequate charging, regardless of how big I made the wires going to the camper. Part of the problem was my reluctance to make a direct connection to the truck alternator as I had done on the two previous trucks. I could see that there were considerable differences in the charging systems between the 2010 and 2016 F450’s. But in the long run, connecting my charging wires to the truck batteries was exactly what was needed to install a DC-DC charger. This second topic shows the charger install, and upgrading the charging wires in the camper”s umbilical, and to the camper battery. The OEM wires in the camper were 8 AWG, and I went to 4 AWG.

Redarc DC-DC Battery Charger

:):)

Kayteg1 wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:


A DC to DC charger is the only way to fully recharge a RV house battery bank. And they do not need extra heavy duty wire !

RV exist at least for 50 years and they never had B2B chargers, even when old insulators would cut 0.4V right on them.
Nobody in those 50+ years made an issue about not charged batteries.
Fully charged battery is 13.5V, when typical alternator runs 14.5V.
So even when you loose 0.5V on wires, you still will have fully charged battery.
Obviously smaller wire will limit current, so required time will be longer.
Just like AGM batteries are oversold, so are B2B chargers, who are not needed for led-acid batteries.

Yes and 50 years ago you had a propane light, no electronic controls, hand water pump, pilot on the water and fridge, no electric slide outs, wall propane heater with no fan, no propane detector. Standard car start battery would last a long time. Extended off-grid was done with a tent. A 80% charged battery after a drive did just fine.

Battery power demand today has changed. Getting a full charge is more important than ever.

But you’re overlooking the DIFFERENCEs from camping 50 years ago and that modern tow VEHICLES now USE SMART TECHNOLOGY plus many people use LiFePo4 batteries, solar and much more electric than they did 50 years ago.

Kayteg1 wrote:

RV exist at least for 50 years and they never had B2B chargers, even when old insulators would cut 0.4V right on them.
Nobody in those 50+ years made an issue about not charged batteries.
Fully charged battery is 13.5V, when typical alternator runs 14.5V.
So even when you loose 0.5V on wires, you still will have fully charged battery.
Obviously smaller wire will limit current, so required time will be longer.
Just like AGM batteries are oversold, so are B2B chargers, who are not needed for led-acid batteries.

theoldwizard1 wrote:


A DC to DC charger is the only way to fully recharge a RV house battery bank. And they do not need extra heavy duty wire !

RV exist at least for 50 years and they never had B2B chargers, even when old insulators would cut 0.4V right on them.
Nobody in those 50+ years made an issue about not charged batteries.
Fully charged battery is 13.5V, when typical alternator runs 14.5V.
So even when you loose 0.5V on wires, you still will have fully charged battery.
Obviously smaller wire will limit current, so required time will be longer.
Just like AGM batteries are oversold, so are B2B chargers, who are not needed for led-acid batteries.

theoldwizard1,
Can you explain if we should be using the existing wiring in the camper and the truck or should we be running a new wire from the truck alternator to camper battery (and if so what gauge/size), as was noted in the post -> https://mortonsonthemove.com/wp-content/uploads/motm/motm/truck-camper-lithium-alternator-charging/lance-1172-proposed-battery-system-4_orig.png
And
https://mortonsonthemove.com/truck-camper-lithium-alternator-charging/
As well as this option that includes the solar chargers:
https://youtu.be/8_drtItPiII

Thanks again!

Ps- will any of this void the warranty?
(We have a 2019 F350 king ranch)

theoldwizard1 wrote:

riah wrote:
So now we are looking at the DC-DC charger option so that when we get our LiFePO4 replacement batteries we will be able to keep them charged when it's overcast and we are driving, as that seems to be a missed opportunity for us currently without it.

A second alternator is really only useful when your vehicle has very heavy loads (additional lighting, electric powered hydraulic pumps, etc).

A DC to DC charger is the only way to fully recharge a RV house battery bank. And they do not need extra heavy duty wire !