new user, apologize in advance if this has been asked/answered before, i could not find this via the search utility.
just bought a 2012 ram 2500 4x4 diesel long bed, just installed torklift tie downs and, from tweetys, an "OEM Quality In Bed Trailer Wiring Plug Adapter."
so far, so good. except...
trying to figure out the best way to isolate the coach battery from the truck battery, so i don't inadvertently drain the truck battery. yes, easiest way is just install an on/off switch inline. however, in trucks past i've had a solenoid isolator installed and that relay automatically did the job. however, with these new trucks i'm frankly scared to do almost anything without first finding out what experts (like you all) are doing to make dogs like this hunt.
what say you all? is there an aftermarket solution? otherwise, how are you doing this? thanks in advance for your advice.
I would suggest a rely based isolator wired up like shown on Tekosha website. Power routed through a fuse or circuit breaker to contacts in relay. Coil of relay connects to a power source that is "hot" while ignition is in the "on" position. Relay based Isolator
There was a discussion HERE. In that thread I posted the following on how did mine. Yours might differ as it is a different year... perhaps it will help you on mounting and provide a general idea:
I mounted a continuous duty solenoid/ isolator and reset on the firewall behind the driver's side battery.
I tapped 12V keyed power source from the under hood fuse block and ran 8 gage wire back to a new 7 pin in the bed for 12V power. The keyed lead runs up to a water proof 10A fuse holder to the respective post on the isolator and wire tied it along an existing route.
Dodge trucks have both a 7 pin and flat 4 at the bumper. I ran a flat 4 extension (for running lamps, brakes lights and turn signals) from the rear of the truck to the 7 pin in the bed while still having the stock 7 pin available at the rear for towing if needed. I do not have back up lamps on the camper working using this method, but it was the easiest solution for me.
Essentially, the new in-bed 7 pin connection is fed from 2 directions: 12V from the front and the flat 4 from the rear (but no BU lamps or brake controller circuit.)
Probably only about $50 worth of parts.
The photo below is how I modified a crimp type ring terminal by cutting half away:
This below shot shows the routing of the 12 keyed wire to the isolator. I used the keyed side of the vacant #37 slot in the under hood fuse panel. Verify a vacant slot for your model year truck.I made a little slot in the end of the plastic panel box with a hacksaw blade and smoothed it with some emery cloth.
2005 Dodge 3500 SRW, Qcab long bed, NV-6500, diesel, 4WD, Helwig, 9000XL,
Nitto 285/70/17 Terra Grapplers, Honda eu3000Is, custom overload spring perch spacers.
2008 NorthStar Arrow short bed.
buzzcut1, yes, it's me. was it my aversion to caps that gave me away? i'm a closet member of other online communities. moderating another reader forum keeps my behavior on the straight and narrow.
i'm extremely attached to my truck camper. between the u.s. constitution, the bill of rights, and my truck camper, i have all the freedom i need. but as to what grants me most of my freedom, the former two only *slightly* win out.
thanks, all, for your very helpful suggestions. my prior trucks were 95 ford, 99 dodge, 2005 dodge, and now this 2012 dodge. as they got newer they got more and more complicated, and i become more and more reticent to fiddle with these things without first making sure i'm not going to blow up the flux capacitor or its equivalent. when i pop the hood on this new truck and look inside i only vaguely recognize that big black thing that makes the truck go vroom.
this is interesting, because i did not ever understand why my backup lights did not work in my old 2005 2500. now, with your explanation, i think i understand why ;-)
the 2012 is ridiculously complicated, electronically, or so it seems to me. i thought that *maybe*, because the coach battery charging line is contemplated in the construction of the truck and, in fact, has a fuse in the main under-the-hood fuse box, maybe dodge would stick a relay in-line OEM. but it appears not.
i'm naive to this. so, bear with me. two questions:
1) could not one run a #8 wire back from the truck battery, solenoid in-line, as you did, and run a fuse in-line?
2) i don't understand why the back-up lights don't work. aren't back-up lights one of the 7 leads? is it that they share this lead with the coach battery charge?
late add: upon reflection, it seems like maybe the reason you don't have back-up lights is because your in-bed connection is coming from the front of the truck (coach battery charge) and the back of the truck (flat 4-pin) and therefore there is no back-up light line to the in-bed connector.
slowmandan wrote: new user, apologize in advance if this has been asked/answered before, i could not find this via the search utility.
just bought a 2012 ram 2500 4x4 diesel long bed, just installed torklift tie downs and, from tweetys, an "OEM Quality In Bed Trailer Wiring Plug Adapter."
so far, so good. except...
trying to figure out the best way to isolate the coach battery from the truck battery, so i don't inadvertently drain the truck battery. yes, easiest way is just install an on/off switch inline. however, in trucks past i've had a solenoid isolator installed and that relay automatically did the job. however, with these new trucks i'm frankly scared to do almost anything without first finding out what experts (like you all) are doing to make dogs like this hunt.
what say you all? is there an aftermarket solution? otherwise, how are you doing this? thanks in advance for your advice.
dan
I installed a Sure Power battery seperator a number of years ago, easy to install.
I installed this device under the sink where the shore cord comes in.
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