Towed my Equinox but drained my battery.

[Chevytrkr]

Well, got my towing package installed today at CW. Using an Even Brake system in the Equinox as the proportional braking mechanism. On the way home, I got a "low battery" signal on my monitor in the RV for my towed vehicle. When I tried to start the car, it wouldn't start. I'm not sure if it was the battery or someting else. I think I was supposed to remove fuse 32, but didn't know that at the time. Could not removing a fuse cause the battery to go down so quickly? I was able to get the car home without using the supplemental braking system. Just don't want to have that happen again.

Rich

[docj]

willald wrote:

docj wrote:

willald wrote:
Yep, sounds like you have a vehicle that will draw the battery down, if a fuse or two isn't pulled to prevent such.

I personally am not a fan of pulling fuses. That just adds one more thing to do (read: forget to do) when hitching up and unhitching. I like to keep the hitch up and unhitching process as quick and simple as possible.

IMO, a much better solution if you can do it, is to run a charge line from the MH to your toad's battery. That way you never have to worry about running down a battery again, no matter what may be drawing on the toad's battery when towing. There is frequently an unused wire in your 'umbilical cord' going to the toad that you can use for a charge line, so you won't have anything extra to hook up during hitching and unhitching.

Obviously its up to you, but I would look into wiring a charge line instead of pulling a fuse on your Equinox. I think you'll be much happier with that approach in the long run.

An even simpler solution is to put a switch in the circuit that has the fuse. That's what we did with our Malibu. Since the switched circuit in our case contains the transmission shift indicator LED it's easy to know whether it is on or off.

Yep, simpler in terms of one time installation, possibly, but in terms of long term simplicity of hitch up and unhitching procedures...I'll take the charge line setup any day of the week. That way you don't have to worry about accidentally forgetting to turn that switch or pull a fuse and running a battery down.

Will

To each his own, but IMHO the most critical aspect of hitching up the toad is making sure that the transmission is in neutral. My routine is to put the key in the ignition, turn it to ACC and then move the shift lever to N. The LED on the shift console shows that I have it in the correct gear and then I reach over and flip the "fuse switch" to turn it off (along with the door chime and the dashboard clock). Sure, I could do that without the fuse switch but it's become part of a standard routine.

Similarly, if I can use my remote to lock the car as I walk back to the MH, I know the key is in ACC and not ON (GM cars won't lock with the key ON). Whatever routine works for you is all that matters.

BTW, one other thing GM toad owners can do is have a locksmith cut a "non-chipped" key for the ignition. It will do everything except start the car so we can keep in in the car all the time with no theft risk. When we park to eat or sight-see we don't have to remove the key or worry if someone will attempt to steal it.

[luvztheoutdoor1]

The Equinox manual states to remove fuse 32 before towing.

[willald]

docj wrote:

willald wrote:
Yep, sounds like you have a vehicle that will draw the battery down, if a fuse or two isn't pulled to prevent such.

I personally am not a fan of pulling fuses. That just adds one more thing to do (read: forget to do) when hitching up and unhitching. I like to keep the hitch up and unhitching process as quick and simple as possible.

IMO, a much better solution if you can do it, is to run a charge line from the MH to your toad's battery. That way you never have to worry about running down a battery again, no matter what may be drawing on the toad's battery when towing. There is frequently an unused wire in your 'umbilical cord' going to the toad that you can use for a charge line, so you won't have anything extra to hook up during hitching and unhitching.

Obviously its up to you, but I would look into wiring a charge line instead of pulling a fuse on your Equinox. I think you'll be much happier with that approach in the long run.

An even simpler solution is to put a switch in the circuit that has the fuse. That's what we did with our Malibu. Since the switched circuit in our case contains the transmission shift indicator LED it's easy to know whether it is on or off.

Yep, simpler in terms of one time installation, possibly, but in terms of long term simplicity of hitch up and unhitching procedures...I'll take the charge line setup any day of the week. That way you don't have to worry about accidentally forgetting to turn that switch or pull a fuse and running a battery down.

Will

[RCtime]

http://www.rv.net/Forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26852543/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

Check out this thread.

I built one of these for my Honda. It works great, no more dead batteries.

[docj]

willald wrote:
Yep, sounds like you have a vehicle that will draw the battery down, if a fuse or two isn't pulled to prevent such.

I personally am not a fan of pulling fuses. That just adds one more thing to do (read: forget to do) when hitching up and unhitching. I like to keep the hitch up and unhitching process as quick and simple as possible.

IMO, a much better solution if you can do it, is to run a charge line from the MH to your toad's battery. That way you never have to worry about running down a battery again, no matter what may be drawing on the toad's battery when towing. There is frequently an unused wire in your 'umbilical cord' going to the toad that you can use for a charge line, so you won't have anything extra to hook up during hitching and unhitching.

Obviously its up to you, but I would look into wiring a charge line instead of pulling a fuse on your Equinox. I think you'll be much happier with that approach in the long run.

An even simpler solution is to put a switch in the circuit that has the fuse. That's what we did with our Malibu. Since the switched circuit in our case contains the transmission shift indicator LED it's easy to know whether it is on or off.

[willald]

Yep, sounds like you have a vehicle that will draw the battery down, if a fuse or two isn't pulled to prevent such.

I personally am not a fan of pulling fuses. That just adds one more thing to do (read: forget to do) when hitching up and unhitching. I like to keep the hitch up and unhitching process as quick and simple as possible.

IMO, a much better solution if you can do it, is to run a charge line from the MH to your toad's battery. That way you never have to worry about running down a battery again, no matter what may be drawing on the toad's battery when towing. There is frequently an unused wire in your 'umbilical cord' going to the toad that you can use for a charge line, so you won't have anything extra to hook up during hitching and unhitching.

Obviously its up to you, but I would look into wiring a charge line instead of pulling a fuse on your Equinox. I think you'll be much happier with that approach in the long run.

[mikebreeze]

Yes, not removing the proper fuse will drain the battery on long trips. I have a Saturn Vue and it states in the owner's manual which fuse to pull. Since the Equinox is a similar vehicle, it should state in your manual which fuse to pull.

[docj]

It sounds more like you had the key in the "ON" position rather than in the accessory position. Failing to remove the recommended fuse on most GM cars simply leaves a few things on that do use a bit of power, but not enough to have drained the battery on your way home. OTOH leaving the key in the ON position is a whole different story.