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Camper Charging Issues


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#41 PaulT

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 12:43 AM

Steve,

 

Greg's Marine is located in Pennsylvania, so not Garibaldi.

 

Besides the high quality wire, you can get custom cables made with properly crimped and sealed connectors eliminating the possible quality issues if I were to crimp these large cables without proper tools or recent experience in making them.  I think that is their value add over do it myself.

 

Could I do it? Yes. Might I have to redo one or more connector ends? Probably. I have mangled my share of connectors so I usually use longer wire than desired so that I can salvage if a mistake is made. I'll pay a little more to let them assume the risk. There's a lot of electrical power connecting an expensive truck to an expensive camper.

 

I usually make the other cables myself. 

 

Paul


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#42 Ronanmd1

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 01:01 AM

90 min drive to the mountains today. Measured 14 V at the camper batteries while idling. Very happy camper
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#43 RC Pilot Jim

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 01:59 AM

Ronan,

 

Adding my 2 cents to the other 42 replies

 

You don't have enough solar. You need at least 200 watts to handle the 80L and the lights and fan and computers ...AND charge the battery!!!

 

DrJ has your same Fridge. PM him and he can help you out.


Edited by RC Pilot Jim, 17 August 2015 - 02:03 AM.

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#44 Ronanmd1

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 12:30 PM

Ronan,

 

Adding my 2 cents to the other 42 replies

 

You don't have enough solar. You need at least 200 watts to handle the 80L and the lights and fan and computers ...AND charge the battery!!!

 

DrJ has your same Fridge. PM him and he can help you out.

 

Jim - Yep, that is my next step.  I am planning on adding an additional 100W to the roof (to complement my existing 85W panel).  As well,I have placed an order for a Zamp 160 W folding panel to use while camped, so that I can still have charging capabilities if the truck is parked in the shade. 

 

I was about to pull the trigger on a flexible panel for the roof, but after hearing of all the issues on the forum I will likely just stick with a rigid panel.


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#45 Ronanmd1

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Posted 26 August 2015 - 08:32 PM

Further update - I have been very happy with the effectiveness of the Ram's ability to charge the system after upgrading the wiring.  However, I was still having problems keeping the fridge going overnight.  I removed my ski box from the roof and completely exposed my 100W solar panel to ensure that I was maximizing the charge to the batteries.  

 

However, after plugging to shore power overnight and despite my IOTA green light suggesting I had full charge and the voltage at the batteries reading 12.7 at rest, I decided to load test the batteries again.  Turns out that one of my original batteries (Exide 24 group size) was now shot.  Seems like I was fooled by the voltage readings and the charger information which saw the voltage from the good (fully charged) battery.  No wonder I was running out of juice so soon - amazing how fast a 2-way fridge will kill a single 12 volt battery that has been ineffectively charged over a 2 year period  :o

 

Ordered a couple Trojan 31-AGM batteries to replace the original ones.  This will provide an extra 50 Ah of reserve.  Looks like they will just fit inside the battery box in a 90 degree orientation.  I still have to add the extra 100W solar panel and Trimetric but things are moving in the right direction.


Edited by Ronanmd1, 26 August 2015 - 08:35 PM.

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#46 LookyLou

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Posted 26 August 2015 - 09:32 PM

Sounds like you're getting it under control.


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#47 radarcontact

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Posted 03 August 2018 - 04:44 AM

My 2012 Hawk has a 110 fridge and I got it with the 85 watt factory solar. It never seemed to charge well. Adding to the IOTA a Q4 plug vastly improved charging when plugged in to 110. Traveling down the road for hours or leaving it parked in the sun didn't give it the charging it needed in the winter let alone in the summer. First I installed larger batteries, that helped a bit as I could stay out a day longer but it added a problem of taking even longer to get back to fully charged. I next installed a Tri-metric battery monitor which was a great help as now I could see exactly how each component effected my charging. The 85 watt solar panel only put out enough power to just run the fridge but not enough to run the fridge and charge the batteries. I knew that I needed a larger solar array, I ended up with a 160 watt grape solar panel  and a SunSaver MPPT. A PWM controller probably would have been fine. This only added 9 pounds more to my roof.

 

The charging from the truck was what I call weak at best, I was only getting to the batteries 13 or 14 AMPs if the fridge was running and it usually was during the summer. At 13 amps I'm only getting 52amp into the battery after 4 hours of driving, NOT ENOUGH. I wondered if it was my Alternator or voltage regulator or the wire gauge from my truck to the camper? To see if it was the truck I took a 4 gauge jumper cable and hooked the truck battery to the shunt on the Tri-metric and the camper battery positive. WOW 55 AMPs. From this I learned that my truck was putting all the juice I needed, I just needed a better system to get it into the camper batteries.

 

I bought 25 feet each of a red and black 6 gauge wire. I also bought a hydraulic wire crimping tool at Harbor Freight, you must have good connections. On each end of the positive wire I put in Maxi Fuse Holders which came wired into 6 gauge wire and 60 AMP Maxi fuses. For plugging the camper and truck together I used a Marinco 12VCP6 trolling receptacle and plug That was the only trolling plug that could take a wire as large as 6 gauge (could have used Anderson plug). I then rewired the plug to camper with the same 6 gauge wire.

 

When I thought about how I was going to control the switching on and off the power it made my head hurt. Should I put a solenoid in the engine compartment with a switch in the cab, should I put in a perko switch in the camper? When I looked at the paper work for the Sure Power battery separator I found that not only was the separator rated to handle 100Amps but also the installation said to use 6 gauge wire for wire lengths from 10 to 20 feet. No wonder the 10 gauge wire from the factory wasn't giving the charge I thought I should be getting. So I went ahead and used the Sure power separator with 6 guage wire going to the battery. One note here is be sure to leave the factory circuit breaker protecting the wire to your fuse box.

 

After doing the solar upgrade and the rewiring of the truck to camper my system now works great. I haven't seen my system under 82% charged and a charged battery is a happy battery. One thing to note here is that after a few minutes of charging the amps going into my batteries drops(as expected) I get about 28 amps charging after 5 minutes.

David, I'm going to try (emphasize 'try' LOL) to do what you did, with my camper.  Read the same info in the Sure Power manual regarding using 6 ga wire for 10-20ft distances.   The plug I currently have looks like this:

 

http://www.explosive...BBoCltcQAvD_BwE

 

Here's the directions I found for wiring the Sure Power.  Not seeing where the negative connections go, but maybe I'm not reading the schematic correctly:

 

https://www.fourwh.c...y_Separator.pdf

 

I'll look under the hood to see how FW originally connected it.

 

 

Did you find that the Marinco plug cleared the side of your camper when you slid it into the bed?  My current plug is mounted on the front left side of my truck bed...not sure how far that plug you used extends INTO the truck bed.  

 

Thanks very much.

 

Update....I looked under the hood of my truck, and can see now how it's wired, off the positive and negative terminals.  So, I need a 25ft length of dual wire (red and black) 6 ga wire.  Seems easy enough wiring it back to the Marinco plug and to the Sure Power....from there, though, it may be out of my league.  Accessing the cabinet there in my Hawk looks pretty tough.  Any suggestions or pics would be appreciated.


Edited by radarcontact, 03 August 2018 - 03:02 PM.

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#48 DavidO

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Posted 03 August 2018 - 06:46 PM

<p>wow radarcontact you have found an old thread</p>
<p><br />
I have been using this set up with the sure power separator and it still works great.<br />
Your first question is easy look at the schematic again. The bottom wire, the black one with the 10A fuse goes to the ground. If you have a separator already it should be there. look at both the batteries the negative has the same symbols.</p>
<p><br />
As for the plug type mine is located on the drivers side towards the front of the bed. The Marinco plug is about the same length as the plug that you referenced above.<br />
When I was looking for a plug that matched the size hole FWC already had put into my bed. an Anderson connector might have been better. Also a connector like the one you show with the wire pigtail can be found with 8 Gauge wire and with use for less than 1 foot that 8 gauge wire probably wouldn't drop the voltage much.<br />
<br />
Be sure to use a hydraulic wire crimping tool.<br />
feel free to PM me</p>

Edited by DavidO, 03 August 2018 - 06:49 PM.

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#49 radarcontact

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Posted 03 August 2018 - 07:49 PM

<p>Thanks, David.&nbsp; I really would like to do this, and I'm OK up to the camper....after the pigtail connector/battery separator, not sure how confident I am.&nbsp; The cabinets are pretty tight, and I can't see too well to trace the wires.&nbsp; I'll take another look at it.</p>
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