Break away Battery charging

[Leadfoot]

How does the battery for the break-away get charged?
I had a battery go bad on my enclosed trailer and ordered a new one, but was curious how they get charged or if they rely on external charging.

I'm assuming there might be a few different ways in which it's done, if so how do you tell if/when it's being charged?

 

[Max Power]

Some might be wired to charge from the aux power wire or the tail lights but from my experience they are rarely wired to anything for charging.

 

[SINCAL_DMAX]

you can wire them to you aux power off you truck so when its hooked up it can charge the battery.

 

[RPM Motorsports]

The book for my truck say's that it will charge when T/H is pressed. Just found that out the other day..

 

[03demax]

Teknosha makes a charger for this application. I need to get two of them.

 

[SIKDMAX]

The book for my truck say's that it will charge when T/H is pressed. Just found that out the other day..

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[JoshH]

Some might be wired to charge from the aux power wire or the tail lights but from my experience they are rarely wired to anything for charging.

That's been my experience too.

The book for my truck say's that it will charge when T/H is pressed. Just found that out the other day..

No, that's not the case for our trucks. Ben can explain it better than me, but the half tons have some sort of fuel economy mode that makes the alternator put out less voltage unless the truck is in T/H model. Our trucks don't do that.

 

[RPM Motorsports]

So it charges all the time? Sorry for the high jack!

 

[WanaDmaxsub]

What type of connector are you using?
If you have a 6 or 7 way then you will also need to insure that you're getting power to the lead, usually requires the installation of a fuse in the #1 (IIRC) stud.

Here's a good link to common trailer wiring.
http://www.etrailer.com/faq_wiring.aspx

 

[LBZ]

I thought there was a dedicated terminal in the trailer plug that is the "hot line" on all 7 pole RV plugs that come with our trucks? If there is, it should already be fused.

I'm 12 000miles away from my truck right now so I can't go out and look and confirm this but something tells me it is the center pin.

 

[JoshH]

I thought there was a dedicated terminal in the trailer plug that is the "hot line" on all 7 pole RV plugs that come with our trucks? If there is, it should already be fused.

I'm 12 000miles away from my truck right now so I can't go out and look and confirm this but something tells me it is the center pin.

Yes there is, but there is a fuse that should have been taped up with your brake controller wiring harness. It needs to be installed in underhood fuse box to send power to the trailer plug.

 

[kenny]

The easiest way to tell if the battery is being charged is to put a meter on it with the truck unplugged from the trailer, then with it plugged in and running. You should see a higher voltage with the battery hooked up to the truck and running. Anywhere from 12.8to 14.5 volts with truck running and charging the battery. Should be about 11.8-12.3 volts unplugged from truck depending on battery state of charge. Hope this helps.

 

[McRat]

It can't charge on a diesel because the law says you must have air-brakes on a diesel, and they don't need a breakaway.

Seriously, if I were concerned about it, I'd get a cheapo Solar Charger from Harbor Freight and hook it up. That way you can just forget about it completely.

But, the best solution for the problem of a runaway trailer is to have good safety chains, and have them connected to the frame instead of the hitch. That way, even a trailer hitch failure can't let the trailer run wild. A dead breakaway battery is common. A trailer tearing the frame apart on a 3/4 ton truck ain't.

 

[kenny]

It can't charge on a diesel because the law says you must have air-brakes on a diesel, and they don't need a breakaway.

They don't require breakaway battery cause teh air brakes lock upon loss of air. Hints no need for electrcal since there is no electrical on teh brake system anyway.

Seriously, if I were concerned about it, I'd get a cheapo Solar Charger from Harbor Freight and hook it up. That way you can just forget about it completely.

That is one way of getting it done

But, the best solution for the problem of a runaway trailer is to have good safety chains, and have them connected to the frame instead of the hitch. That way, even a trailer hitch failure can't let the trailer run wild. A dead breakaway battery is common. A trailer tearing the frame apart on a 3/4 ton truck ain't.

You would have a seriously big problem going on if the trailer tears the hitch off the frame of your truck. The point of safety breakaway is to get the trailer stopped, not keep it attached to the truck going down the road. I don't know what you mean by a "good" set of safety chains, but the purpose of safety chains is to keep it from going into oncoming traffic. The chains are also a backup if the safety breakaway system were to fail.

Just throwing that out there for everyone. My father works on this stuff and deals with all types and classes of trailers for a living, and even tests the equipment to ensure proper functionality and standard capability. Didn't mean to step on anyones toes here. Thanks