Howdy,
On Tue, 23 Sep 2003, Randall Young wrote:
> Mark, I ran a similar setup on a camping trailer for several years, it
> worked well enough. You'll want be sure the wire from the truck alternator
> to the trailer connection, and from there to the trailer battery, is fairly
> heavy gauge stuff, as it's resistance will limit your charging rate. Having
> a fusible link at each end is probably also a good idea, although I didn't.
> The main hazard IMO is that you can run the truck battery down from the
> trailer, if you leave the truck connected.
>
> > Is that too simplistic? What's the 'right' way to do this?
>
> Better IMO would be to add a battery isolator (basically two big diodes
> mounted to a heat sink) so the trailer battery isn't connected to the truck
> battery; but the alternator can charge both. Most camping supply houses
> carry isolator kits, however check first to be sure your alternator can
> tolerate one. Some can't.
Hrm.
I'd _really_ rather leave the truck wiring side of this alone. Mostly
just because its all already wired of course...
How much current / how big a wire do I need for the power wire to the
trailer? I was hoping that by putting a battery or two on the trailer
that current for the winch would be supplied by that, and everything else
would be low current. Is that silly?
I like the idea of a battery isolator though... From what I can see, the
way they work is to essentially have the altenator charge each battery
independently. Is this essentially only usefull if the trailer battery
goes dead, draining the truck battery along the way?
Someone else mentioned wiring in a 110VAC trickle charger that would keep
the 12V battery topped up when the trailer was plugged into 110VAC...
Anything weird here? I'd like to just have this wired up and automatic as
soon as I plug in the trailer to 110. Is that a realistic thing?
Thanks for the pointers! The info seems to be out there in various
places, but it sure is nice to get "been there, done that" types of
advice!
Mark
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