Wiring my interior light - connector wire question.

[khigh]

I mentioned in another post that I mostly use the HF LED lights in my trailer, but there would be a certain charm to reaching inside, flipping the switch, and having the overhead come on.

I'm assuming that if I tap my batterie into one of the trailer connector wires, that the overhead will come on when not hooked up to the tow vehicle. (I bought it with a finished ceiling and insulated walls, so I can't just trace it back).

I found this diagram of color coded wiring, but it leaves me with another question.



The red says aux/charge, but if it's charging the backup brake battery, what keeps that battery out of the loop to keep it from lighting the overhead light in the first place?

Thanks for looking.

[Prem]

Dead link. Can't see your schematic. Put the link in url brackets like this: [url]Link Goes Here[/url]

[abqlloyd]

If it has a standard wire connector just attach two wires to a 12v battery and touch the hot to each connector and the ground to a solid ground. When the light comes on, that's your power source. Then just splice into that wire from your battery.

It could easily be any of them if they only intended for it to work when the lights are on and plugged into the tow vehicle.

[Mike S]

Are you asking if you can charge your 12v trailer battery from your tow vehicle?

[abqlloyd]

I think he wants to add a 12v battery to the same line that currently powers his dome light which only works while attached to the TV.

It also sounds like he has a battery for the brakes. They could be on the same main feed but independent based on how they tapped into them. There is a good chance they isolated the brake battery to keep it from getting drained by the dome light.

[khigh]

That's weird about the image. It was formed properly. Some browsers would display it and others wouldn't I changed it to imgur hosting.

Duh on me for not just powering the connector ends and seeing what happens. That's clearly the way to go. It almost can't be the wire with the brake battery.

Thanks for the tips!

[Mike S]

I have the same set-up on my trailer. Now you have me wondering if the Aux/charging feed is the SAME as the feed to charge the emergency brake battery. I don't see how it could be any other way. Let us know what you find. If that's the case, the feed may not provide enough current to charge both batteries. In my Tundra, the Aux is ignition hot only. In my trailer I have my aux feed powering a LED light strip by the door. Like an always-on utility light.

[khigh]

I'm not trying to run off the brake battery or charge the trailer-powering batteries from the truck. Although part of my "towing package" was a 140 amp alternator, I don't think the little (14ga?) wire would do much for me there.

Right now I don't even have anything hooked up - clamp a charger on in the daytime and an inverter at night. I'm just planning my permanent wiring and would like to avail myself of that overhead light.

Testing the connectors is the obvious way to go.

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

On mine (Interstate), they have the Interior lights wired into the little 12v battery that also activates the brakes.
The little 12v is also charged from the tow vehicle when the engine is running.
My question is how many folks have ditched the little battery when they have installed their 12v system to the CT
and just moved the wiring from the little to the regular sized battery?

hank

[Mike S]

Howdy All;

On mine (Interstate), they have the Interior lights wired into the little 12v battery that also activates the brakes.
The little 12v is also charged from the tow vehicle when the engine is running.
My question is how many folks have ditched the little battery when they have installed their 12v system to the CT
and just moved the wiring from the little to the regular sized battery?

hank

Weird. I don't think it's supposed to be that way. The little battery on the tongue is for something totally different than powering interior lights. It's simply there to activate the brakes in the event of an emergency disconnect between the trailer and tow vehicle. To me this seems like a highly inconceivable event, but oh well, it's the law. That's also why it seemed weird to me that it was powered by the same lead as the aux+.

[Mike S]

I'm not trying to run off the brake battery or charge the trailer-powering batteries from the truck. Although part of my "towing package" was a 140 amp alternator, I don't think the little (14ga?) wire would do much for me there.

Right now I don't even have anything hooked up - clamp a charger on in the daytime and an inverter at night. I'm just planning my permanent wiring and would like to avail myself of that overhead light.

Testing the connectors is the obvious way to go.

Oh okay. My trailer came with the exact same wiring; that is, the interior light was wired to the aux/+ from the tow vehicle. Don't worry about tracing the wire back to the tongue. If your only purpose is to rewire the light to your "house" battery, it seems to me that the best solution is to remove the wall paneling to access the wire to the light. Then switch the wire from the aux+ from the tow vehicle to your battery. While you're at it, maybe you could wire in some more lights on the same circuit?

That's basically what I did. And then just for fun I took that aux+ and wired an LED light strip that comes on whenever the TV is running.

edit; for that matter you could leave the existing lamp wired to your tow vehicle and add another lamp or two wired to your house battery...those lamps are a dime a dozen at any trailer/RV supply place and you can find them used even cheaper. Get LED bulbs to extend your run time.

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

On mine (Interstate), they have the Interior lights wired into the little 12v battery that also activates the brakes.
The little 12v is also charged from the tow vehicle when the engine is running.
My question is how many folks have ditched the little battery when they have installed their 12v system to the CT
and just moved the wiring from the little to the regular sized battery?

hank

Weird. I don't think it's supposed to be that way. The little battery on the tongue is for something totally different than powering interior lights. It's simply there to activate the brakes in the event of an emergency disconnect between the trailer and tow vehicle. To me this seems like a highly inconceivable event, but oh well, it's the law. That's also why it seemed weird to me that it was powered by the same lead as the aux+.

Mike, you do have a "Break Away Switch" with a cable attached to it, that is what activates your battery to brake power. For 'Normal' braking
the power comes from the TV (Tow Vehicle), in the Blue wire.
http://www.whiterivertrailer.com/information.html
Otherwise, the battery is for powering the interior lights for the trailer.

hank

[Mike S]

Howdy All;

On mine (Interstate), they have the Interior lights wired into the little 12v battery that also activates the brakes.
The little 12v is also charged from the tow vehicle when the engine is running.
My question is how many folks have ditched the little battery when they have installed their 12v system to the CT
and just moved the wiring from the little to the regular sized battery?

hank

Weird. I don't think it's supposed to be that way. The little battery on the tongue is for something totally different than powering interior lights. It's simply there to activate the brakes in the event of an emergency disconnect between the trailer and tow vehicle. To me this seems like a highly inconceivable event, but oh well, it's the law. That's also why it seemed weird to me that it was powered by the same lead as the aux+.

Mike, you do have a "Break Away Switch" with a cable attached to it, that is what activates your battery to brake power. For 'Normal' braking
the power comes from the TV (Tow Vehicle), in the Blue wire.
http://www.whiterivertrailer.com/information.html
Otherwise, the battery is for powering the interior lights for the trailer.

hank

Yes, I have a breakaway cable, and yes, the small tongue battery activates the brakes in the event of an emergency disconnect. In my trailer, that battery is NOT wired to anything else inside the trailer. That may be a good use of that battery (because the likelihood of it being used in an emergency seems small) but that's not what the battery is intended for.