Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hey Don,
Is this guy your cousin?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RLujDP18Jg

Anywho, I don't have nearly the capacity you have, just a 125ah deep cycle and I don't really "charge " from the TV just maintain battery and power reefer while driving. I just put in a relay to isolate TV from trailer when parked. I did run 4ga from TV to trailer and I have a 225a alternator, but I can't remember what the voltage was at trailer battery when charging from TV. I do know that I always arrive with a full battery and cold Jameson, so there is that....
Looks like we may have mild winter and a early spring here. (I wish) currently 22f and headed for 49f this afternoon! I've got a ton of things to do, but I'll probably just sit in a lawn chair with a cigar and some "vitamin water" and enjoy the day.
If you run into Richard tell him we are thinking about selling the ranch and filling the trailer up with cash and heading towards Frostproof... It may take us a while. We'll call you when we get to the Big Easy.

McDave

Here's an interesting article on modifying a TV charging system for your camper batts.

http://www.truckcamperadventure.com/201 ... ication-2/

McDave wrote:Hey Don,
Is this guy your cousin?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RLujDP18Jg

Anywho, I don't have nearly the capacity you have, just a 125ah deep cycle and I don't really "charge " from the TV just maintain battery and power reefer while driving. I just put in a relay to isolate TV from trailer when parked. I did run 4ga from TV to trailer and I have a 225a alternator, but I can't remember what the voltage was at trailer battery when charging from TV. I do know that I always arrive with a full battery and cold Jameson, so there is that....
Looks like we may have mild winter and a early spring here. (I wish) currently 22f and headed for 49f this afternoon! I've got a ton of things to do, but I'll probably just sit in a lawn chair with a cigar and some "vitamin water" and enjoy the day.
If you run into Richard tell him we are thinking about selling the ranch and filling the trailer up with cash and heading towards Frostproof... It may take us a while. We'll call you when we get to the Big Easy.

McDave

No... not my cousin that I am aware of.. but I imagine our family tree branches connect somewhere back in the time of Noah just after the Flood. :-)

I am going to go ahead and hook up my TV to charge the House Batteries. I have decided to just use a continuous duty mechanical relay to avoid the .7V diode drop of the Solid State isolators. I figure I would only use it in an emergency as backup so I don't mind spending the $30.00 on the relay for that event. My plan is to connect the continuous duty relay with the run wire from the ignition or use my daylight connections. In any case, I will put in a series switch to keep the continuous duty relay off unless I want to use the power. That way I won't be loading the actuation relay when not using it. I will just have the truck running when using the 12VDC at the bumper for a compressor or pump.... also infrequent events.

I hope Spring comes early for you. Fill that van up with cash and head this way...

Don,

Please post pictures of your method for bringing power from the TV to the CT conversion. Besides general interest, I'm curious as to what connectors you'll use and where the tie-in will be to the 12v side of your electrical system.

Thank you and take care,
Tom

aggie79 wrote:Don,

Please post pictures of your method for bringing power from the TV to the CT conversion. Besides general interest, I'm curious as to what connectors you'll use and where the tie-in will be to the 12v side of your electrical system.

Thank you and take care,
Tom

Hi Tom.. I will post some pics when I am done, but here's my plan. Using 6 ga. wire from front to back of truck in a sleeve (~ 14ft- 16ft run ) . It will be zip tied to the existing wire harness on the frame. Going to connect from the battery + via a 75A DC Breaker to the Cole Hersee 85A Continuous Duty Relay then to the rear of the truck to Bunker Industry quick disconnect plug good for ~50A continuous. I will use the Frame of the truck for the ground return at the rear bumper and then do a similar run on the trailer to the house batteries. The frame return will actually reduce the total loop resistance since it is much larger than 6Ga. It is preferable, aside from running the additional wire, because it will result in less loss which is a result of the resistance per foot of 6ga wire in the total circuit. I do not think the Batteries will ever draw close to 50A even when very discharged. I have had them quite low and the charger in the CTC which is 55A never charged more than 25-30A. Bottom line.. I anticipate a load less than 50A.

I will trigger the relay from the run wire taken from the fuse box, but will run that through a toggle in the cab so I can just leave the system off when not charging (no sense in keeping that relay energized all the time regardless of need)... but have the relay in case I forget to disconnect the CTC at a stop or etc.. I will need to have the truck running to use the 12VDC at the bumper. I will use that for my tire inflator or water transfer pump from time to time , but I will put a cigarette lighter type plug back there with its own 30A fuse.

Here are some pics. I used the quarter so you see the size of the Bunker Industries connector. It actually looks rather robust even though rated for 50A . I am making the connector the weakest link on purpose as I am not sure exactly what the drained bank will demand from the Alternator and what it will provide. I can put larger pins in later it appears.. or just get a bigger connector. The 75A breaker is the appropriate size to protect the 6ga wire and I am sure the connector can take a significant surge looking at it. I actually got another set (it was a 4 pack) of the connectors, so I may make some attachments... this would be a good connect for my Auxiliary solar panel on the CTC for instance and for my 12VDC macerator for the BW Tank.

I guess I just have a disease (at least this is what my wife thinks) as I really will not use this much if ever since I have solar.. but it is a nice backup if the generator goes down while boondocking and the solar had a bad day due to weather or shade. I am in to redundancy I guess..

https://www.amazon.com/AURELIO-TECH-Uni ... BZSJWGPHWC


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064 ... UTF8&psc=1



I will build a bracket for this that bolts to my draw bar on the hitch. It has screw holes for mounting.




The wire and the protective flex cover.

When I installed a relay on my 2013 Silverado to charge my deep cycle batteries, the service manual said to make sure to install a diode between the positive and negative energizing terminals on the relay to prevent current back feed into the sensitive vehicle electronic system when the energy field collapses as the relay shuts off.

Below is an excerpt from the manual:

“Installation of a Diode to Suppress Voltage Spikes.
When an electromechanical solenoid or relay is de-energized rapidly by a mechanical switch or semiconductor, the collapsing magnetic field produces a substantial transient voltage in its effort to disperse the stored energy and oppose the sudden change in current flow. These voltage spikes can occur at the positive terminal when the solenoid or relay is de-energized (keyed-off). If a solenoid or relay is wired onto the Run/Crank circuit of the vehicle to control aftermarket equipment, the spikes can be transmitted onto the circuit. The spikes can permanently damage the internal circuitry of the sensitive electronic components and/or control modules that are on this bussed circuit. To prevent damage to these components, the solenoid or relay MUST have the control circuit suppressed with a diode.”

The diode called for in the manual was a 1N5404GP diode which I bought from Radio Shack.

featherliteCT1 wrote:When I installed a relay on my 2013 Silverado to charge my deep cycle batteries, the service manual said to make sure to install a diode between the positive and negative energizing terminals on the relay to prevent current back feed into the sensitive vehicle electronic system when the energy field collapses as the relay shuts off.

Below is an excerpt from the manual:

“Installation of a Diode to Suppress Voltage Spikes.
When an electromechanical solenoid or relay is de-energized rapidly by a mechanical switch or semiconductor, the collapsing magnetic field produces a substantial transient voltage in its effort to disperse the stored energy and oppose the sudden change in current flow. These voltage spikes can occur at the positive terminal when the solenoid or relay is de-energized (keyed-off). If a solenoid or relay is wired onto the Run/Crank circuit of the vehicle to control aftermarket equipment, the spikes can be transmitted onto the circuit. The spikes can permanently damage the internal circuitry of the sensitive electronic components and/or control modules that are on this bussed circuit. To prevent damage to these components, the solenoid or relay MUST have the control circuit suppressed with a diode.”

The diode called for in the manual was a 1N5404GP diode which I bought from Radio Shack.

Thanks for the heads up! I am very familiar with the back EMF the coils push when they are de-energized and that makes complete sense. I'd have thought that diode would be internal to the relay itself these days. I certainly did not even think about that. I may have some old power supply rectifier diodes laying around somewhere... I think I will throw one on . They go on reverse biased in the energized mode so the cathode goes on the + terminal and Anode on the - terminal as I recall. Thanks for the heads up!

Yes, cathode striped end of diode on positive post.

Updated my DC distribution panel, cleaned up the wiring ,and mounted the VHF backend underneath the top shelf. Looks much cleaner and more organized now. The new panel is better suited for the space and has the blown fuse indicators which I like. I also crimped on the ring connectors so the wires are very secure to the lugs. Alot going on inside there with a complete AC/DC system with Solar Power, Charge Management, Battery Monitoring, and Inverter/Shore-Generator power transfer switching.







Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Looks great!

Very nice.

flboy, Howdy;

Nice tidy-up ya did..Don't know what any of those things are ... but nice tidy-up.



hank

Thanks all. Last pic of my 430ah battery bank. Just finished up doubling all the 4ga wires up since I had the material. I have minimized losses when running high current with inverter driving the microwave or etc. Only dropping a half volt now. Most of that is on the Blue Seas 200A fuse inline with the inverter 12Vdc input. Finally have the electrical system performing peak and and all buttoned down the way I intended.

Next major project will be interior finish paint. Not sure when I will start that. Maybe after Daytona Beach Bike week.



4 Golf car batteries spread out underneath the dinette and bottom of closet.







Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Very Tidy. For a complex system, it looks fairly straight forward. Nice work Don. .

McDave

flboy, Howdy;

Doubled up the wiring ?? Why, if you don't mind my asking. Understand the minimal loss aspect
but how much of a drop did ya have before doubling up?
Batteries look nice and neat under the seating how do you have them secured from bouncing
around or shifting?

hank