Another ? on Charging TD Battery from Tow Vehicle

[Nobody]

Question on wiring my TD battery to charge from the tow vehicle while traveling. I understand & have all the necessary parts (wire, relay, fuse, etc.) to get the charge current from the vehicle battery back to the TV/TD electrical connector.

My TD battery currently charges from & delivers power to/thru a Centurion CS2000 converter. The only wires connected to the battery are from positive pole to the positive connection in the converter & negative pole to the negative block in the converter. All 'ground' connections to lights, 12vdc outlets, etc., in the TD use a positive ground wire (no chassis ground), either from the ground block in the converter (to TD lights), etc., or from the TD/TV electrical connector for TD running lights/brake/turn signals, etc., (I don't think this wire, 14ga, is big enough to 'ground' the charging circuit).

I assume (yeah, I know what that makes me ) I'll need to run my 8/10ga charging wire from the TD/TV elect connector (6 or 7 pole, whichever I decide to use) to the TD battery positive pole (with 25/30amp fuse as close as possible to the battery), & a similar size 'ground' wire from the TD/TV elect connector to the TD battery negative pole. Is this all that is necessary for connection to the TD battery or is there some possibility that the 'charging' current may feed from the TD battery into the converter system, requiring additional protection?

[madjack]

Harvey, anytime the TV is running, you are feeding power to the TD's system...if you don't already have one, a master switch, supplying battery power to the TD may be in order...a master switch can be had from HF and other places for less than 10 bucks...is this master switch needed????...probably not, it will just provide another layer of protection to the system.......
madjack

p.s....the above ASSUMES( ) I understood your question correctly......MJ

[Nobody]

Yeah MJ, I'd thought about adding a 'main disconnect' between the TV & the TD battery. My primary question was whether or not the charging current to the TD battery could possibly 'feed' into & maybe damage the converter unless some kind of 'interrupt' protection was installed.

[Sonetpro]

Harvey, A main disco is a good idea. My converter is wired as you describe. It won't hurt the converter it will just see it as a full charge and won't come on. No different than a fully charged battery on it.

[Nobody]

Thanks Steve & MJ. I plan to get to work on that this week.

[wlooper89]

This is a different arrangement but I will mention it as a possible alternative. My tow car hitch installer put in a trailer battery charge wire to a seven pin connector. So far I am only using five - the normal trailer running lights plus the trailer battery charge wire.

The installer connected a # 10 stranded wire to the battery positive terminal and a 25 amp in-line fuse close to the battery. I am not sure how he ran the wire underneath the tow car, but it seems to work fine. The charge wire is hot all the time, but so far that has worked out OK. I always disconnect the tow car while camping.

This is good for camping without shore power at more than one location. One can recharge the battery enroute to the next stop.

Regards, Bill

[Lgboro]

Would having a 12 volt plug (straight from battery with 10 gauge wire) run to the back of the TV be a problem? I occasionally run a small wench from my hitch and from my lawnmower trailer. Also I often tow several different small boats (with a Corolla - go figure) that wouldn't have a seven pin plug and would be better for me if I used a separate plug to avoid too many extra converter plugs.

[wlooper89]

Would having a 12 volt plug (straight from battery with 10 gauge wire) run to the back of the TV be a problem? I occasionally run a small wench from my hitch and from my lawnmower trailer. Also I often tow several different small boats (with a Corolla - go figure) that wouldn't have a seven pin plug and would be better for me if I used a separate plug to avoid too many extra converter plugs.

Should be no problem at all. I would put an in-line fuse in the wire close to the car battery terminal. If you go with a 7 pin socket on the tow car an adapter like this will allow it to be used with the trailers that have a four wire plug. About $5.
http://www.etrailer.com/pc-A~37358.htm

If you do not want a seven pin socket, I imagine another type of connector could be used to send power back to the winch. That way the four wire running light arrangement could stay the same.

Bill