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Bedlam
PNW
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I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli
Seattle
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Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery. Quartzite has been a lot of fun. Truck Camper rally starts next week. Hope to see some RV.netters there.
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srschang
Western NY
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery. .
My Victron Tr 12/12-30 DC-DC charger won't turn on if the truck key is turned on and the engine isn't running. It has to see the increased voltage from the alternator before it will turn on.
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery. Quartzite has been a lot of fun. Truck Camper rally starts next week. Hope to see some RV.netters there.
not if you hook up the trigger wire properly to a source that is only hot when the engine is running like the altanator.
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli
Seattle
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StirCrazy wrote:Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery. Quartzite has been a lot of fun. Truck Camper rally starts next week. Hope to see some RV.netters there.
not if you hook up the trigger wire properly to a source that is only hot when the engine is running like the altanator.
Steve
The battery a d alternator are connected so I believe the alternator will always look to be live at minimum battery voltage. If that is enough to trigger the Orion harder to activate, I'll have to test for that. I'll make a point t to do that at the rally this co.i g week.
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:StirCrazy wrote:Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug.
I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery. Quartzite has been a lot of fun. Truck Camper rally starts next week. Hope to see some RV.netters there.
not if you hook up the trigger wire properly to a source that is only hot when the engine is running like the altanator.
Steve
The battery a d alternator are connected so I believe the alternator will always look to be live at minimum battery voltage. If that is enough to trigger the Orion harder to activate, I'll have to test for that. I'll make a point t to do that at the rally this co.i g week.
depends which point on the altanator, of course I am not talking about directly to the altanator its self, can you still do that on new vehicles, I haven't looked at mine haha... but there are a couple circuts that are only energized when the altanator is running. also in the fords the charging pin in the 7 way is only active when the truck is running on mine, not sure if newer ones are the same or how cheve and dodge do it, but you could just tie into that for the trigger and would have to run a very minimal amount of wire for the trigger. if you look around there is all kinds of places that are hot only when the engine is running, and that is what is in the instructions to use, at least for renogy, to prevent the problem you were concerned about. Personaly when I get around to installing mine, I will be putting it on one of my upfitter switches that is only active when the engine is running so I can chose when it is on or off but if I shout the truck off it automaticly shuts off also if I forget the switch on. this will also allow me to leave the switch on while I am camping and if the solar is bad and its cold so I am running the furnace a lot I can use the remote start on the truck to turn it on like a auto start genny.
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otrfun
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Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:Bedlam wrote:I believe Ford is still the only one with switched power at the trailer plug. I was just thinking, there could be a condition where you're sitting in the Truck, key on, engine off, and the DC DC charger is pumping 30 amps from the truck battery back to the TC batteries. That could be a recipe for a dead battery . . . To prevent this from happening you can use a battery isolator (BI) which can be installed in the truck or the truck camper, or anywhere in between. Lot easier to install vs. running a trigger wire from the alternator/engine all the way to the dc to dc charger. Takes very little wire/cable to connect a BI.
The BI won't allow power to the dc to dc charger unless it senses voltage higher than 13.3v. This indicates to the BI that the alternator is active. The BI simply closes a relay that allows power to flow to the dc to dc charger. When voltage drops below 12.8v (alternator not active), it opens a relay and cuts-off power to the dc to dc charger.
You can wire the BI to cut-off primary power to the dc to dc charger input, or you use the BI to cut power on/off to the dc to dc charger's ignition trigger wire. Either way, it works in the background, seamlessly, automatically.
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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LaneW wrote:Grit dog wrote:You want to connect to the opposite terminal on the ACR from the one that goes to the batteries like I said earlier. But the easy way to figure it out is check continuity of the existing wiring.
Mine has 4 awg on both the line and load terminals - and yet, the wire from the truck is only 8awg. Odd.
But I am of the understanding that I should remove the ACR completely and replace it with this MPPT/DC-DC charger. If so, I would just move the load cables from the ACR to the charger and run a new 4 or 6 awg directly from the tuck battery straight to the line, or incoming, terminal on the charger. Am I misunderstanding?
Ok yeah that’s weird as I can’t think of where the 8ga in would be spliced to a 4ga before the ACR. ACR should be first thing in line.
It’s just an automatic disconnect from the truck 12v power. ACR is just a voltage sensing relay. If it sees +13.6v or charging voltage when the truck is running, from the source it latches and provides power. If not it unhooks from the truck when the engine isn’t running.
DC DC charger could run after the ACR but ii presume they already perform that function.
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S Davis
Western WA
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My Redarc 50amp just senses the voltage increase from the alternator and turns on, no trigger wire.
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otrfun
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S Davis wrote:My Redarc 50amp just senses the voltage increase from the alternator and turns on, no trigger wire. Nice to have that capability built-in. I don't understand why all dc to dc charger manufacturers don't include the equivalent of a Battery Isolator (BI) or Automatic Charging Relay (ACR) with their units. It's a basic requirement for operating a dc to dc charger in the vast majority of installations.
The 50a Redarc dc to dc charger is a nice unit, built like a tank. See a number of off-roaders using them.
One big caveat though, they cost $500+. One could potentially purchase & stack 4, 40a Renogy dc to dc chargers for 160a of output for $519. Of course, this would require a dedicated, high capacity alternator to provide the necessary current. I've been told Renogy doesn't recommend stacking (connecting in parallel), but I've stacked 2 of them with no issues.
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