rvtuffy
kent, wa
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i have a power cable with a 4 prong on towed end and a 7 round flat on MH end. i would like to charge my battery on towed while driving as the Even Brake is plugged into the cigarette lighte on the towed. The MH has power to the center pin but is wired to MH backup lights. so i need a different hot wire. there is a hot wire when the MH key is on so can i just tap into that wire and run it to a pigtail lead off my towed battery to charge it? what about ground wire? when i unplug the pigtail and tape it off will it keep drawing on battery? I know it shouldn't but I read that there is a battery tender that if you wire it up that way when unplugged from AC it drains the vehicle battery.
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s79vette
Twin Lake.Mi.USA
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to try to answer your question yes you can use existing hot wire to charge your toad battery. you will also need a dedicated ground wire from tower to toad battery. when disconnected no voltage will be used from either battery, just don't let the two wires meet or sparks will fly
2003 Gulfstream Ultra Supreme Ford V10 2004 Jeep Liberty, Blue Ox, Brake Buddy
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Artum Snowbird
Campbell River, B.C., Canada
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Be sure to check the 7 pin wiring schedule. What you ask is in the pins, and the center pin is not the charging pin.
If you do it right from the beginning, it will work for every vehicle and rig behind or in the box perfectly.
Mike and Carole
2007 Snowbird 9'6" Super Slide
2005 16.6 Double Eagle
2000 F350 7.3 SC 4X4
previously 8'10" Snowbird Camper
2006 Triple E Regency 27 foot SXL SOLD!
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rvtuffy
kent, wa
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thanks, do you have a recommended wire gauge, 14? i plan on running 2 new wires instead of modifying my existing cord. i will run two wire from MH long enough to reach the towed and put blug on end and then tape ends and coil up when not in use and fasten up behind mh grill on opposite of oil and transmiss fill points. for the towed I will make up 2 wire, ground terminal and positive terminal on battery and put plugs on end and long enugh wire to take it dpown where the current brake and light cord connects to MH so i can keep bundled. then when not in use i will tape ends and coil up and keep up by battery on towed. sound feasible or should i just have a new cable made up using a round 7 flat on both ends to make a cleaner bundle. the exising cable has a ground so if I used that configuration would have have to still take a ground to battery or just the positive?
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rvtuffy
kent, wa
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another thought!!!!
I rethought this and probably need to use at least 12 gauge wire.
also my MH has two connections, a round 7 that the present towed cable plugs into. I also have an empty 4 flat on MH. why can't i just make up a 4 flat connector only using the ground wire and the hot wire and and run those 2 wires to the towed battery. when not in use i can coil up cord, tape prongs, and tuck it alongside my towed battery.
thanks for your input.
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Loren Ross
Reno, NV
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rvtuffy wrote:another thought!!!!
I rethought this and probably need to use at least 12 gauge wire.
also my MH has two connections, a round 7 that the present towed cable plugs into. I also have an empty 4 flat on MH. why can't i just make up a 4 flat connector only using the ground wire and the hot wire and and run those 2 wires to the towed battery. when not in use i can coil up cord, tape prongs, and tuck it alongside my towed battery.
thanks for your input.
Your 4 flat connector has no hot wires. The green and yellow are for turn/brake lights, the brown is for parking lights, and the white is a ground wire. You'd be much better off running a wire from your battery directly to the 7 pin connector, then run another wire alongside your toad wiring to the battery under your hood. As long as you have a good ground between the vehicles, the hot wire will keep your battery charged. I did this with my toad for my Even Brake system, and I've never had a dead battery again.
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Diplomat Don
Moorpark, Ca
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No matter how you do it, if you're not going to incorporate it into your main tow cable, just add a four flat or four round connector on both vehciles so that it's a quick an easy setup. I used premade velcro straps to strap the new cable to the main cable every 12".
I did the same thing you want to do, but added a fuse at both ends of the (+) side just in case a wire broke. I also added a one way diode to the (+) side so that it can't drain/draw the wrong way if you park for awhile with everything connected.
There is a comapany that sells a product called ToadCharge that has everything in a kit. I bought the kit, but found the connectors were very cheesy. I had to change them out to something more substantial.
I run the SMI Brake system and on my most recent toad, I wired the taillights with separate bulbs. Now I don't worry about charging anymore, but in your case you'll still need the charging system.
Don & Mary 
2005 Monaco Diplomat 36SKT
400 Cummins 
2012 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ CrewCab 4WD
2013 Polaris RZR 800 LE
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rvtuffy
kent, wa
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Loren,
when you say run wire driectly from battery, i assume you mean MH battery but there aren't any empty (i don't think there are) slots on the MH 7 pin to put that wire into. or do you recommend just putting a push plug on it to connect to the towed cable. the MH 7 pin recept has a hot wire when the key is on so if the corresponding slot on the towed 7 pin plug isn't used why can't i use that slot and run my wire from the towed 7pin up to the towed battery?
tomorrow i will have to verify each pin on the MH recept.
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JDelauter
Leesburg, FL, USA
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check out towed charge at LSLPRODUCTS.COM
Retired SMCM(MDV) USN 30 years
3 'Nam Tours
As of 11/04 Full-Timing with:
2003 Gulfstream Friendship, Quad slide
1 lovely wife
and 1 sassy Bichon
JDelauter@aol.com
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SpinRite
Research Triangle, NC
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If your 7-pin connector is already wired correctly, you should have battery voltage appearing on pin 4 and the ground should be on pin 1. If not, then you would be ahead of the game by re-wiring it to the standard configuration so it doesn't cause confusion in the future.
Here is a page with all the wiring info for various types of plugs.
'94 Holiday Rambler Navigator
38', Cummins 8.3 300hp, Allison 3060
pushed by a 2005 Honda Element
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