Can you jump your 5’er with your truck?

[Mondooker]

Hi guys, If I’ve seen this before I don’t remember it. Can you jump your 5’er batteries from the truck?

[ol_Bombero-JC]

hornet28 wrote:
GEEZE My first impression was you were talking about jumping the 5er like the Dukes. Maybe I need more coffee.

"Can you jump your 5'er with your truck?"

From the side would be best.

Calculate the required speed & a launch ramp of appropriate length..:W

Check with Robbie Knievel.

All kidding aside, if you "jump" your 5'er *batteries* with your truck, chances are the trlr still won't start.

.

[hotpepperkid]

hornet28 wrote:
GEEZE My first impression was you were talking about jumping the 5er like the Dukes. Maybe I need more coffee.

That were my thoughts to. You know how many of those cars they crashed making that show trying to make that jump. I dont remember the exact number they told us but it was a bunch they trashed figering out where to put the weight, speed, ect

[TXiceman]

If you are jumping the truck to the 5er or vice versa, just make sure if you have 6-volt batteries in series/parallel, get across 12-volts and not 6-volts.

Sure fire way to mess up an alternator ,,,

Ken

[pianotuna]

strikeu wrote:
I was always under the impression that you get all the power you need from the 7 pin to charge batteries or use 12V for any purpose. is that not correct?

strikeu,

It is rare that the 7 pin provides decent voltage to charge the house batteries.

One reason is length of wire and that causes voltage drop. The wire needs to be beefed up.

The best solution may be a dc to DC charger placed in the line. Placed near the house bank--but not in the same compartment.

[Veebyes]

Anyone figured out the take off ramp angle & the speed needed yet?

[strikeu]

I was always under the impression that you get all the power you need from the 7 pin to charge batteries or use 12V for any purpose. is that not correct?

[joebedford]

I've had to do it both ways: jump the trailer from the truck when the battery ran down overnight from the furnace; jump the truck from the trailer (actually I started the generator and plugged in my battery charger to the trailer).

[dedmiston]

I've done it tons of times over the years. It's the #1 reason that I always unhitch from the truck (so I can turn the truck around to jump the gen if I need to). I don't really worry about it anymore with solar, but it's still a habit for me.

Keep in mind that you want to jump from the truck to the gen, not to your trailer batteries. If you have a large battery bank, it will take too long for the batteries to charge up enough to crank the gen. But you can connect directly to the hot side of the gen and the ground, and then it cranks right up.

It's always a shameful moment when you have to jump like this, but it happens a couple times a year in our groups (not to the same person though).

[2oldman]

schlep1967 wrote:
It's funny that people think heavy gauge jumper cables are going to get hot.

Yeah, that is strange. They're designed for hundreds of amps. The clamps that connect to the batteries may get hot, over time, and transfer that heat to the cable.

[schlep1967]

It's funny that people think heavy gauge jumper cables are going to get hot. Look at the wires going into the landing gear motor. Not exactly heavy wiring.
I had switch problems on my landing gear. I used my jumper cables that are 20 foot of 4 gauge wire. I clamped directly to the wires coming off the motor. The landing gear motor runs much faster when using the jumper cables than it ever did using the factory wiring.

[valhalla360]

Mondooker wrote:
My unit has two 6 volt batteries, four 6 volt batteries actually. Hopefully the solar will keep the batteries up? But great to know the truck batteries could be used if necessary.

Thanks guys

Don't try jumping if you don't understand the difference between a 6v system and 6v batteries wired to produce 12v.

But yes, you can power your RV 12v system by connecting into the truck battery:
- Leave the truck running, so you don't wind up with a dead truck battery (don't do this for long periods).
- You aren't "jumping" as that implies starting an engine...or using a big ramp to leap your truck over the top of the 5er (take a video if that's what you meant).

Google 6v batteries wired for 12v and make sure you fully understand how they are wired and where you would connect before trying it.

[Bionic_Man]

2oldman wrote:

Bionic Man wrote:
If you are concerned about slides and jacks with dead trailer batteries you could plug trailer umbilical cord into the truck (with truck running) and have enough power to use the jacks and pull in the slides.

I guess so, but that doesn't jibe with the comment above about how cables will get hot. Hot comes from a lot of amps. Umbilicals don't carry a lot of amps.

All I can tell you is that I've needed to do it with my trailer, and it works for me.

[pyoung47]

I’ve never done it, but I carry two sets of cables for that eventuality.

[fj12ryder]

I've checked the amp draw on my Momentum when running the slides in/out, and it pulls 65 amps. Yeah, I think those jumper cables will get pretty warm. 🙂 If those trailer batteries are way down, you will be pulling some pretty high amps.