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Millerk1966's avatar
Millerk1966
Explorer
Jul 27, 2017

Green Truck Camper owner

I am as green as it comes, and want to learn the in's & outs of Battery Connect and Disconnect when charging Truck Camper batteries! I recently bought a 2016 Northstar Vista and am hesitant to go camping in sights that do not have electricity until I figure out how to charge batteries so that I will have lights.

Any help that you can give me will be appreciated!
  • Green and driving around in a 10000+ pound truck and camper seem mutually exclusive.

    Anyhow, check out a website called the 12v side of life.
  • What truck are you hauling it on? I assume it's connected with the standard 7-pin connector?
    A modern day truck properly wired to a camper that new should charge the batteries just fine. If you have a GM truck you may need to hook the wire up at the underhood fuse box and install the fuse. For some reason GM didn't do it from the factory.
  • I have a 2015 F-150. Just making sure I am correct - if you want to charge the batteries the switch for the battery should be connected when charging using 7 pin or plugged in to outlet. If this is not correct please let me know! Thank you!
  • Get a volt meter. A cheap/free Harbor Freight version is good enough for this test.

    Set if for 12volts DC and connect it to the battery and read the voltage. Write it down. Turn on the truck. With the disconnect switch in any position, read the voltage again. If it's higher, you're charging. If it remains the same, you're not. Flip the switch the other way and test again. Same thing. Higher=charging.

    But note. That test will only tell you yes or no on whether the truck alternator is supplying juice. It will not tell you how much and whether there is enough to actually charge the battery. But give it a try and go camping. What's the worst that can happen?