Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildhorse
Thank you. My truck has either a 20 or 30 amp fuse for charging trailer batteries, I'd have to look. I'm now with you on this. Again, thank you. That was a long and well thought out response. I very much appreciate your time as I try to get a handle on this...
|
Remember that there is a significant voltage drop with DC systems. A 4 ga wire will drop significantly less than a 14 ga wire. So even though you have a 25 or 30 amp fuse, you may only be getting 5 amps 20' away at the battery terminals on your trailer. Also, any time you measure a DC circuit, you double the distance (all electricity travels from the source to the load and back to the source) so if your trailer battery is 20' from your truck alternator/voltage regulator, the actual circuit distance is 40' so if you're calculating the voltage drop, you'd use that distance (40) to determine the line loss in the battery charging circuit. It seems complicated and, I suppose, the thing to remember is using the umbilical to charge the trailer batteries is not an effective way to accomplish the task.