62 replies to this topic

[Clark]

THanks alot so far guys. The camper does have an inverter so shore power should be taken care of.

I think we will be on very long drives (12hours or more) with the camper and truck. Also, I doubt we will go to many "camp" grounds that have available shower power hookups, mostly the shore power will be used at home when the camper is sitting.

So what I gather this far, is I need a battery isolator, something like the Blue seas one, then I need heavy gage wire, and I need a breaker at each AGM battery.

How does the hook up configuration go? Alternator to isolator, isolator goes too both starting truck batteries, and isolator goes to camper batteries (via a connect/disconnect powerpole mounted for easy access when removing camper from truck). Then at each camper battery I have a breaker..

Is that correct? Also, I have a 1999 dodge 2500 diesel, with a stock alternator. Given my stated uses (no solar, possibly 1-2 week trips without shore hook up) will the alternator be adequate for charging AGMs while driving, or if not driving somewhere i can just start the truck for awhile...

I am also thinking of replacing all interior lights with LEDs. I would also like to add 1-3 exterior lights, one on the back and one on either side. Any thoughts about that?

Thanks for the help thus far.

[pods8]

My preference is:
Truck battery -> Fuse/breaker very close to battery -> ACR -> wire to camper with powerpole connector -> fuse/breaker close to camper battery -> camper battery.


You'll likely never fully charge your batteries off the truck, esp. when just idling for a while (alternator needs higher RPMs for decent current production). But with decent wire gauge you can hopefully keep the batteries in the upper end of charged and top off/condition them when at home.

If you'll be sitting a lot on your 1-2week trips and think you'll pull down your batteries perhaps consider solar after all, you can get a panel and controller for under $200... Hardest part would be chasing the wiring from the roof if you're putting it on the roof. Some folks are setting up their panel separate from the camper at camp though.


LEDs are a lower draw with is nice. What's the question? I bought some Kaper II units for mine, no comment on performance of those yet (still in the box ).

[Clark]

Okay. I think I got it. So I do not really need a bigger Alternator. With two deep cycle batteries for camper I do not think we will draw them all the way down. We are pretty conservative when camping. Really will only be using 12v fans and LED lights... Maybe water pump a few times as well.

I think I am figuring out what I need. So for ACR, which one do you have? I was thinking of the Blue Seas one, or this one

http://www.allbatter...cfm/4,6120.html

is that sure power one overkill, or not what I need?

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

. Where do you resize a photo?

I see there are helpful electrical people there to help you.
I re size my posted photos before I send them to desk top.I post all my pictures from desk top.That's how I do it ,there may be other ways.This method works for me.
Frank

[pods8]

I don't know what your alt does for performance so no comment there.

Keep in mind if you have X AH of listed battery capacity you can't/shouldn't use it all. 50% max is recommented, ideally only 20-30% of it most of the time. The lower you pull them and the more frequently you do the quicker you'll kill off your batteries (there are battery life vs discharge curves out there).

I haven't ordered my ACR yet, but likely a bluesea 7610 or 7611. The 7610 is dual sensing which means when either bank gets over a certain voltage it'll open, what this means is my solar would top off my truck battery too in that case. Not sure if I desire that or not.


That surepower is an isolator with diodes, avoid it (causes voltage drop). Are you near allbatterysalesandservice? I used to live right there and would stop in for my odds/ends, it was nice having them close by.

[Clark]

Thanks for all the input guys. I am a few hours from All Battery.

So, I think I will go with the Blue Seas ACR, some 6 gage wire, and some connectors... as well as breaker at each battery (this means 4 breakers, 2 for truck battery and 2 for camper batteries..?)

I am wondering if this is a wiring project I can do, or if this is something best left to a shop?

I am excited to get the truck ready and get the campEr!

[pods8]

You only need fuses/breakers on the positive wire, so one on each end for a total of 2.

Here's that 6ga welding wire I was thinking of getting: http://www.ebay.com/...=item51ab4e6307 (There are listings for other sizes too).

Biggest potential hurdle for the novice is likely putting the lugs onto the cable ends, off hand you're look at about 8 of those (+/- at each battery is 4, then 2 at the ACR, and potentially 2 more at the fuse/breaker depending on what the connection style is there). Could potentially figure out lengths and bring the wire in somewhere to have crimped. I haven't investigated the large size crimpers yet for something affordable but I likely will when the time comes (ideally I'd like to crimp and maybe backfill with solder depending on the crimp quality I can do) and I'll be using adhesive lined heat shrink all around.

This is where smaller typical 10ga connectors are more forgiving, though most folks only have a crappy $5 crimper which suck honestly. This ratchet one from all battery works pretty good on insulated terminals for an affordable price: http://www.allbatter...cfm/4,6999.html

[Clark]

I have two starter batteries for truck and two batteries in camper, wouldn't I need a fuse for each positive line? So 4 fuses, or are these batteries treated as a bank (of two batteries) and therefore only need 1 fuse per bank?


So right now my shopping list is (does it look correct?) :

30' ft each Black and Red 6gage wire.
Battery terminal connectors ( I have 4 total batteries, so I think I need 4 sets..? this goes back to the battery bank question)
Connectors that go from 6 gage wire to the blue sea 7610
Fuses (what size?) and still trying to figure out if 2 or 4 are needed
A set of SB50 powerpoles


Will anything need to be done with the charger/inverter that is already in place on the camper? Or can I just run wires from truck battery to ACR to camper battery?

[pods8]

You'll only be connecting one set of wires between each battery bank, so no only 2 fuses/breakers. On your camper batteries I'm going to assume they are 12V in parrallel? If so the best method of connecting to them is connect the charge wire to the + on one battery and the - on the other. On the truck you should just be able to connect up to one of the batteries as I presume each has an alternator feed.

Recommended max fuse size for 6ga is 80amps I believe. I just went with 50amp breakers as I don't expect the batteries to pull that much, I'm using heavy wire for the low voltage drop not to try and carry a big draw.

You current charger would just be connected to the battery posts as well. If you had solar it would also be tied to the posts. Long story short its not uncommon to have a few ins/outs connected up.

[Clark]

Awesome. I am going to order it all. I am not sure where I will route the wiring yet from the engine compartment to the bed of the truck. I also am not sure where to mount the powerposts. Ideally it would be nice to have the truck wired with the power post ready. That way, when I go get the camper i can just make the wires for the camper battery and plug right into the power post and be off and running.

Thanks. EEveryone has shed a good deal of light on this for me.