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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: EVER HOT TERMINAL?
Ford ships their trucks with the relay in a little baggie in the glove box. You just have to plug it into the fuse box under the hood, in the circuit labelled trailer charging in the owners manual.
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dockmasterdave
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06/26/21 07:02am |
Tech Issues
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Question on battery charging
This topic has been moved to another forum.
You can read it here: 30147500
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dockmasterdave
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09/27/20 04:35pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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Question on battery charging
I have 2 wallyworld group 24 deep cycle marine. I know this is not the same as 6 volt GC batteries, and I don't want those. We usually don't boondock but want the ability.
I recently upgraded from a wfco 45 to a PI 55 amp. I also upgraded my wire to 10 ga, max run is about 15'.
It has worked fine for several months ( not using the TT due to covid closures etc ).
Yesterday I smelled a sewer gas smell at the front of the tt. My tanks are in the rear. Opened my compartment and 1 battery appeared to have boiled out some water and was warm to the touch, with bulging sides. I immediately disconnected both batteries and removed the offending one completely.
Both batteries were purchased in 2018. The bad battery tests at 10 volts or less resting.The other battery appears fine and voltage tests fine.
Is it possible a cell went bad or a battery went bad and caused overcharging ? If so , why did only 1 battery overcharge ?
I want to make sure I didn't connect something wrong while upgrading charging circuit.
I added a new circuit breaker and jumper wires from plus to plus and minus to minus,and new cables to the circuit breaker and from circuit breaker to junction box where tt already had 10 ga.
Sorry this is so long, but I know people always want more specifics.
Opinions greatly appreciated, especially from the 12v gurus.
TIA
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dockmasterdave
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09/27/20 04:35pm |
Tech Issues
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RE: Black tank welding?
I also have a harbor freight plastic welder and have done a fair amount of welding with it.
It takes a little practice, like regular welding, to get the heat and speed right.
I would certainly run a few test welds. You can use small strips of what you cut off to make welding "rods".
I found some good videos on u tube that helped quite a bit.
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dockmasterdave
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09/17/20 10:25am |
Truck Campers
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RE: What ga wire do I need ?
Update
I looked online and found a 60 amp surface mount circuit breaker for $33. I can get 2 36" 6GA battery cables with eye ends.
1 will go from the battery terminal to the circuit breaker.
The other will go out of my battery box to connect to the existing 6GA wire. The existing 30 amp fuse block can stay in place to run my other loads.
They currently have the 10GA to 6 GA connection under the TT with a huge wire nut. I will put an eye on the existing cable and connect to the new cable with a bolt, then waterproof the whole connection.
This sounds like the RIGHT and safe thing to do. Much better than the factory setup. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction.
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dockmasterdave
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08/01/20 02:08pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: What ga wire do I need ?
I just measured the run, it is 18'
If I want to extend the 6 GA with another piece of 6 Ga, I will probably need to replace my fuse block.
It is a simple 2 sided fuse block with 2 30 amp fuses and is wired completely with 10 Ga.
I am guessing that since one side/wire is connected to the 6 Ga run to the power center, that runs all my 12 volt in the TT.
Since the other side/wire bypasses the 6 GA run and heads back the trailer it is probably for my non fuse panel related items, IE break away braking and co/propane detector ?
I looked online but didn't see anything like the fuse "block" near my batteries. Any suggestions on where to get one ?
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dockmasterdave
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08/01/20 01:30pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: What ga wire do I need ?
It just got WEIRD.
I went to take the cables off the battery to switch the converters and found the 6 GA runs the whole length of the run and in the last 3 feet, they wirenutted the 6 GA to a 3' piece of 10 GA.
My fuse block, at the battery has two 30 amp fuses and is wired in all 10 GA.
Is this 3' length of 10 GA going to mess me up ? What does that do to my reading of the ampacity chart ?
Do I calculate using the smallest GA wire in the run or doesn't that short of a 10 GA run matter ?
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dockmasterdave
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08/01/20 12:53pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: What ga wire do I need ?
I have no idea what all the abbreviations mean on most of the ampacity charts, such as THHN THWN etc. However I did find an oversimplified one (below ) and based on this chart and others I am guessing between 65 and 75 is the amp rating. I would still like to hear from someone who knows more than I do and understands all the abbreviations etc.
https://i.imgur.com/oNQPne9l.png
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dockmasterdave
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08/01/20 12:02pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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What ga wire do I need ?
I currently have a WFCO 45 amp converter. I have never been happy with it.
I have a voltmeter that tells me it is almost always at 13.6 volts. It never drops below that and in 8 years I have only seen it hit 14.4 once. I e mailed Randy at best converter a while back, and he suggested replacing it with a PD 55 amp wildkat. I bought that one and it came yesterday.
The instructions say " DO NOT " replace a converter with a higher amperage one.
I was hoping that the factory might have used a heavier wire than necessary, just to simplify their stock by using the same wire they have for a larger unit.
I checked my wires and they clearly say 6 AWG.
Does anyone know if #6 AWG is sufficient to handle 55 amps to a 2 battery bank at 20' ?
Thanks for any input. If I needed to run heavier wire, I can get at everything to do that. I just figured there must be a formula for amperage at a certain distance and wire gauge, and if any would know, it would be someone on here.
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dockmasterdave
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08/01/20 11:02am |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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