Problem charging trailer batteries from truck.

[bigrigfixer]

Over the last few days on our last camping trip, our deep cycle batteries needed charging. No big deal, but I ran the truck for about two hours every day for 3 days and the batteries never fully charged.

The most I ever got was 3 out of 4 lights on the battery gauge.

After the third time charging, and still only 3 lights, I pulled out the voltmeter and found that the voltage at the batteries with the truck running was 12.08 volts. Coming out of the plug was 14.2 volts.

In the next few days I'm going to try what the converter manual suggested, which is to disconnect the battery wires, then plug in the shore power and check that the voltage is 13.2 or 13.6 just to rule out the converter.*

But that really only would matter if I'm charging with shore power, correct? Is there something I might be missing? Is it only supposed to trickle charge from the truck? If so, it still only showed 3 lights after a 5 hour drive home.

The batteries are brand new 6 volt Interstate deep cycles. The thing that gets me is I just installed all new led interior lights to reduce power consumption, but the batteries seem to discharge quicker than before, and I'm being even more power conscious now.

Just doesn't make sense. I think they chould be fully charged after about an hour.

[SAD]

Dawt10characters

[dwyleecoyote]

It should fully charge in a few hours. Hard to say what your problem is but I can tell you I have been charging that way for 30 plus years on 3 different campers. Are you running 12 volt fridge or coolers? Those use a lot.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[JRTJH]

There is a pretty good explanation of what the relationship between the tow vehicle and the trailer battery really consists of and what to expect from it located in the TECH TIPS section of AdventureRV's website:

http://www.adventurervctr.com/tech-tips

The "essence" of their explanation is this:

1.When towing my trailer down the road my tow vehicle will "charge" my trailer battery.

MYTH: Actually, your tow vehicle doesn't know there's another battery in your trailer only that there is a 12V load of some sort...

There is a lot of good information at that site, so be sure to read the entire explanation of why you shouldn't rely on your tow vehicle to charge your trailer batteries.

Also, you might consider that using a 300+ HP engine to produce 10-15 Amps of battery charge power isn't very efficient. You might be much better off getting a small generator that produces 1500-2000 watts of sustained power and just plugging your RV into that generator for a few hours daily.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

You might be much better off getting a small generator that produces 1500-2000 watts of sustained power and just plugging your RV into that generator for a few hours daily.

That's my plan. Considering money and effort, seems the most reasonable of all the options available.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Desert185

That's my plan. Considering money and effort, seems the most reasonable of all the options available.

On a budget, the Champion 2000 watt inverter generator is as quiet as a Honda, produces the same wattage as a Honda and costs half what a Honda costs. Warranty on the Honda is 3 years, warranty on the Champion is 2 years. You can buy an extended warranty on the Champion for $79 to extend it 2 years past the factory warranty. Unless you're planning to "literally wear it out" in the first 4 years, considering the budget restraints, Champion is a very good choice.

Additionally, either of the above offers a parallel cable capability should you want to "increase your total output" so that you can include the Air Conditioner in your capability. Neither the Honda or the Champion will "reliably" power the trailer with the A/C running.

[Desert185]

JRTJH:

Costco recently offered a Smarter Tools 2000W gen with Yamaha engine for $599 (made in China...big sigh). It can parallel and has a USB charging port. 51dB in econ mode. Built-in gas gauge. Three year warranty. Oil included. We bought two, and will use one to charge batts and run microwave, coffee maker, etc. Paralleled, they'll run the AC.

This was determined to be our best solution for a trailer without a generator. We spent less money than an adequate solar solution and will have more capability. The advantages outweigh the minor negatives.

[bigrigfixer]

You guys have given me a lot to think about, thanks for the tips.

[JRTJH]

Desert185, How loud are those generators under load? Can you compare the noise to either the Honda 2000 or the Champion Inverter 2000 (the square one) ??? Thanks for the info

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Desert185, How loud are those generators under load? Can you compare the noise to either the Honda 2000 or the Champion Inverter 2000 (the square one) ??? Thanks for the info

They have Yamaha engines with what appears to be identical spark arrestors as the Yamaha's. My perception of the noise is that they seem to sound the same as the Honda or Yamaha gens under load at max RPM. There are Youtube videos on these that I checked before purchase and the noise evaluations seem to be comparable to Honda or Yamaha. The big selling point for me was primarily the Yamaha engine...and of course, the price. We'll see...

This one:

http://www.usesmartertools.com/AP-2000iQ.html

[Desert185]

Note that the website describes the AP-2000i, not the AP-2000iQ that I purchased.

[JRTJH]

Thanks for the information. Now, if the reliability is as good as the Champion (the Honda is sort of a "given" in reliability), then we've got another option in the "lower priced category"..... Keep us posted on how they work out for you, many of our members want a "quiet generator" and can't justify $1,000 no matter how good the product is. Having a good alternative to the Champion gives yet another choice.

[akacliph]

For What It's Worth, we've used this for the last year on 10+ trips-- http://www.championpowerequipment.co...rators/75531i/ and are completely happy, runs everything.

We paid $900 a year ago and now I see Cabelas has it for $800...

[bigrigfixer]

Well, I think I got it figured out.*

The batteries were so discharged that due to the difference of potential the voltmeter only showed 12 volts. Once I disconnected the battery cable I got 14.2 volts.*

It did keep a charge of just under 12 volts, say 11.96, since I parked it on Thursday afternoon.*

Right with the WFCO manual, I saw 13.2 and 13.6 volts when charging.*

I let it charge for a couple of hours and ran the air conditioning while I did a little clean up inside.*

I unplugged from 110, then rechecked the battery voltage, it was 12.7, so I'll leave it for a week and check it again.