Charging the battery???

Buffettphan wrote:
My Lance 1010 battery charges perfectly while iam on shore power but it seems while im running down the road plugged into the truck, the battery does not charge as well, or not at all. What am I missing?

Hi Carl,

Thats the way mine works and the way it should work I believe. I have a Trimetric battery monitor and recharge when the batteries are down to 50%. If I plug into shore or genny power my 60 amp converter will start charging at 60 amps and then taper down as the batteries charge. If I start the truck the initial charge is about 15 amps and tapers down from there. I don't if my truck's alternator is capable of more than that even if I increased the wire size to the camper. Mine is wired with #10.

If you're not charging at all then you do have a problem. As someone already suggested check voltage across the batteries with engine off and then on. With the engine not running the voltage should be around 12 volts or a little higher. With the engine running it should be around 14 volts.

Chuck

If not at all, check fuse/relay as stated.

If not well, check if installer put in a bed mounted plug with #10 wire or smaller and Scotch lock connectors on the +12 V and ground wires. If so, replace with #8 or larger and crimp style connectors. Then check the pigtail, and replace the two charge wires with #8 or better if needed.

AnEv942 and Desert1667,

ditto . I agree check connections and wire gauge. Make sure your fridge is not running in the 12 v mode while you drive, that will kill things.

My Lance uses 8 ga. wire to charge while driving. I have no problems charging .
As long as i can bounce around a little going from one fishing spot to another, im good. I never need solar or a genny for charging.
I run everything in my tc off 12v or my PSW inverter for the tv/sat dish.
Driving my truck keeps up with it all .

I would check the "Charging System Voltage" across the battery for the truck and the camper batteries.

It should read the same while charging at idle (14.2 - 14.5 Volts)

This is assuming all your batteries are fully charged BEFORE testing voltage.

If camper batteries read alot less, there is resistance in the charging circuit wiring , or its undersized.

Desert

Because you said 'or not at all' Id be checking the plugs. Assuming you dont have something powered in camper, drawing as much or more than input from truck, you should see charge.

I always verify plug functions before final dropping of camper. On ours half the time BU lights dont work and play with plug. Start simple, ensure what you have IS working.

If your also powereing something or want faster charging then you probably need to look at alternative charging options. Simplest would be adding an ignition controlled constant duty solenoid to get more from truck. There are a few threads linked in the TCU under Camper Electrical, 12v...

It could be your truck does not have the RELAY and associated DC FUSE installed in your truck fuse panel to provide TRAILER TOW CHARGE.

My 2010 Ford F150 truck had an unmarked envelope in the glove box with these two items in it. I finally found reference to TRAILER TOW CHARGE in the manual which described where to plug these two items into the fuse panel.

The FUSE and RELAY allows the TRAILER TOW CHARGE to be controlled by the truck ignition key on my truck.

Something to check
Roy Ken

If you want to charge the battery when on the road during the day, install a 230 Watt solar panel and an MPPT charge controller.

this is normal. your vehicle charging system is not designed to charge the rv battery too. it may get some charge from your truck, but will charge much faster when hooked to shore power.