Newbie's Question

[raid3r2011]

Hey Y'all. Question: When my 5th wheel trailer is hooked up to my pick-up truck can I operate the slide outs without running the battery down. Operating it out then back in? I will keep the engine running while I am operating the slide outs. My truck is a 2013 Ford F350 6.7 litre Diesel with two batteries in the truck under the hood.
Another question: The battery in the trailer has a switch for turning on & off. When traveling down the road, Should that switch be on or off. If it's off I my pick-up truck charging the trailer battery?

[dedmiston]

BarneyS wrote:
Dave,
My new truck is mostly a garage queen when we are at home but gets lots of daily use when we are in Florida for 5 months. Doesn't seem to hurt the truck using it that way as my last one (2002 Ford F250 7.3 PSD) lasted 260,000 miles as ran and looked as good when I sold it as when I purchased it. It is still pictured in my profile and signature until I get a chance to take a picture of the new rig.

So far, I really love the new truck. It has all the bells and whistles you can get including air rear suspension. That really makes the truck ride well, especially compared to my last one. I have put a little over 2000 miles on it and it is a very comfortable truck to drive.
There are pictures of it in my post here.
Barney

(Apologies to the OP for the hijack, but this seems like a nice chatty thread.)

Barny, that new truck of yours is an absolute beauty. It really shines inside and out.

Remember when driving a pickup truck meant that you had to sacrifice creature comforts and that you'd be sore and dirty by the time you got to the office? I couldn't be more impressed with these new RAMs. I assume the other big names are just as nice (or *almost* as nice).

[jalichty]

As far as keeping your RV plugged in until you get the slides extended, that is exactly what I do. My cord is long enough that I can park and level the FW, lift it off the hitch and then pull forward far enough to level the FW and put out the slides before unhooking the power. I do this to conserve the battery power for when we are parked and enjoying the FW. Why drain any more power from the batteries than necessary if you can do it. I also keep the truck running and have never worried about whether the batteries in the truck will help with the FW or not. Don't know about the disconnect, I have one, but have never used it as we usually keep the FW plugged in to a 30 amp outlet here at the house when not camping.

[DutchmenSport]

Flipping the trailer on-off battery switch is a personal decision, I suppose. The argument about the break-a-way cable needing the trailer battery to operate is true. But my break-a-way is wired into the battery cable, not through the camper. In other words, its attached to the battery before the trailer kill switch, so it's always active. It has it's own in-line fuse too.

So, if your break-a-way switch is independently fused before the trailer cut-off switch, I don't think it really matters if battery is on or off.

Charging the battery from the truck? Here again, trace our wiring. The battery may charge from the truck before the trailer cut off switch, not after it. Each trailer and each truck is set up different.

[BarneyS]

Dave,
My new truck is mostly a garage queen when we are at home but gets lots of daily use when we are in Florida for 5 months. Doesn't seem to hurt the truck using it that way as my last one (2002 Ford F250 7.3 PSD) lasted 260,000 miles as ran and looked as good when I sold it as when I purchased it. It is still pictured in my profile and signature until I get a chance to take a picture of the new rig.

So far, I really love the new truck. It has all the bells and whistles you can get including air rear suspension. That really makes the truck ride well, especially compared to my last one. I have put a little over 2000 miles on it and it is a very comfortable truck to drive.
There are pictures of it in my post here.
Barney

[bpounds]

A Ford SD will charge the trailer batteries whenever it is running. When it is not running, the trailer is isolated from the Ford, and cannot run the truck batteries down.

For the OP, yes you can leave your truck running and operate your landing gear and slides, and it will reduce the draw on your trailer batteries. I do that when I will be boondocking and want to conserve as much trailer battery as possible. However, the wiring from your truck is not sufficient to completely supply the current necessary to run landing gear or slide motors, so your trailer battery will still lose some charge, just not as much.

I also agree with the comment that you should be leveled before deploying your slides, which means you will be unhitched. But it does not mean you have to disconnect your shore cord, so you can still run your truck, and that will minimize the draw from the trailer battery. It is good practice, and your landing gear and slide motors will appreciate the additional voltage and current your truck adds. This is just another way to conserve battery power when boondocking, and why not do it?

If you don't use the truck, your generator can provide the added juice, even better actually. But my genny is usually not out of its hole yet at setup time.

I know from personal experience that a GM does not isolate the truck/trailer battery when sitting overnight. They do things a little differently.

[time2roll]

Keep the battery switch on except in storage.
Even the smallest battery in the trailer will run the slide in and out at least a dozen times on its own assuming it starts with a full charge.
If the truck is running and connected you could run the slide in-out all day long.
My slide only pulls 12 amps. Some pull more but you are fine.

[raid3r2011]

Taking her out for the weekend tomorrow for a first time trial run. Got her all loaded up.

[camp-n-family]

Leave the battery cut off switch in the on position while towing. The battery is needed for the emergency break away switch.

[laknox]

rhagfo wrote:

raid3r2011 wrote:
Hey Y'all. Question: When my 5th wheel trailer is hooked up to my pick-up truck can I operate the slide outs without running the battery down. Operating it out then back in? I will keep the engine running while I am operating the slide outs. My truck is a 2013 Ford F350 6.7 litre Diesel with two batteries in the truck under the hood.
Another question: The battery in the trailer has a switch for turning on & off. When traveling down the road, Should that switch be on or off. If it's off I my pick-up truck charging the trailer battery?

Well if you have the engine running and your have 12v at the 7 pin connector, correct you will not run the battery down.

(snipped)

Not always correct. My Komfort will NOT charge the batteries with the disconnect off, which I found out the hard way. YMMV, but it's something any owner needs to know =before= they start camping with any specific RV, no matter how experienced they are.

Lyle

[rhagfo]

raid3r2011 wrote:
Hey Y'all. Question: When my 5th wheel trailer is hooked up to my pick-up truck can I operate the slide outs without running the battery down. Operating it out then back in? I will keep the engine running while I am operating the slide outs. My truck is a 2013 Ford F350 6.7 litre Diesel with two batteries in the truck under the hood.
Another question: The battery in the trailer has a switch for turning on & off. When traveling down the road, Should that switch be on or off. If it's off I my pick-up truck charging the trailer battery?

Well if you have the engine running and your have 12v at the 7 pin connector, correct you will not run the battery down.

That said, we store our at a storage yard without power, I have installed a complete battery disconnect switch on the battery. I have gone an worked on the rig several weekends, by simply turning on the battery disconnect on and running the slides out. Once done run them in and turn the disconnect off. Can do every weekend for a month or better, without ever connecting to the TV.

[dedmiston]

BarneyS wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
Snip...

As far as 12v power goes, my last truck (a 2004 RAM) didn't come with a Trailer Charge fuse installed. I had to add a fuse to that position before my alternator would run my trailer's 12v system.

Does that apply to your present tow vehicle? I am asking because I just recently purchased new 2016 Ram 2500 CTD but have not towed with it yet.

Going to pick up my trailer for its' annual trip to Florida in a few weeks and sure would like the truck to keep the trailer battery charged. The manual does not mention it either way. Thanks! 🙂
Barney

Way to go Barney! Congratulations.

We couldn't afford a new truck this time (our youngest son just started his freshman year in college today), so we "adopted". I don't know if the previous owner of my truck added the fuse or if they come this way now. This truck is built way better for towing than my older RAM was, so my guess is that they didn't skimp the nickel for the trailer charge fuse.

Is your new truck your daily driver? How do you like it? I couldn't be happier with mine.

[Bipeflier]

Another thing to remember when you leave your trailer not on shore power, the electronics (radio, propane detector, etc.)will draw power from the trailer battery and can run it completely flat in a week or so. A battery cutoff switch is your friend.

[BarneyS]

dedmiston wrote:
Snip...

As far as 12v power goes, my last truck (a 2004 RAM) didn't come with a Trailer Charge fuse installed. I had to add a fuse to that position before my alternator would run my trailer's 12v system.

Does that apply to your present tow vehicle? I am asking because I just recently purchased new 2016 Ram 2500 CTD but have not towed with it yet.

Going to pick up my trailer for its' annual trip to Florida in a few weeks and sure would like the truck to keep the trailer battery charged. The manual does not mention it either way. Thanks! 🙂
Barney

[dedmiston]

This isn't exactly an answer to your question about the power, but something else to think about...

Our dealer's service center made a big deal to us about not extending the slide outs if the unit isn't level. They said to always level up first and then operate the slides and that many of the failures that they see with slide outs happened when the coach wasn't level first. Keep this in mind if you're trying to operate yours while you're hitched to your truck.

As far as 12v power goes, my last truck (a 2004 RAM) didn't come with a Trailer Charge fuse installed. I had to add a fuse to that position before my alternator would run my trailer's 12v system.