Charging travel trailer battery

[BeachRanger19]

The truck will not provide power until the 7 pin on the trailer is pushed into the truck which is why there is no power when you use a voltage tester.
When the 7 pin goes in, the truck senses the connection and provides power to the trailer that charges the trailer battery and powers the trailer brake lights.
The truck cannot run the trailer refrigerator unless it is 12v DC. My trailer refrigerator is 110 or propane and does not run when towing.

Sponsored

 

[ALranger]

The truck will not provide power until the 7 pin on the trailer is pushed into the truck which is why there is no power when you use a voltage tester.
When the 7 pin goes in, the truck senses the connection and provides power to the trailer that charges the trailer battery and powers the trailer brake lights.
The truck cannot run the trailer refrigerator unless it is 12v DC. My trailer refrigerator is 110 or propane and does not run when towing.

The fridge is a 12V. It does not run off 110 or propane. I'm glad the RV dealer was wrong about needing anything additional, it's nice being able to run the fridge while traveling.

 

[BeachRanger19]

The fridge is a 12V. It does not run off 110 or propane. I'm glad the RV dealer was wrong about needing anything additional, it's nice being able to run the fridge while traveling.

Check the specs of the refrigerator and make sure the load/draw on trucks alternator/generator is not more than the output.

 

[VAMike]

Check the specs of the refrigerator and make sure the load/draw on trucks alternator/generator is not more than the output.

a fuse will blow long before the generator is strained

 

[BeachRanger19]

a fuse will blow long before the generator is strained

That was my point, if the draw is too high you lose all power to the trailer including the TRAILER BRAKES!!!!

 

[shirleyb]

Trailer battery not being charged. I have an XLT with the trailer towing package. I found it will not charge the battery UNLESS you have a brake controller. The the trailer module takes over and handles the charge.. It knows what is hooked up and what needs charging.

 

[VAMike]

That was my point, if the draw is too high you lose all power to the trailer including the TRAILER BRAKES!!!!

The fuse doesn't have much to do with the rating if the generator. Also, I believe the brakes and the aux should be two different circuits. I guess what you really meant to say was check the current rating on the aux circuit if you're using it to run something in the trailer.

(All that said, I suspect that the manual is wrong or at least unclear, and if you really want to push the limits you probably need to find a wiring diagram. Fuse 64 is listed as "trailer brakes" and is 30A. Fuse 73 is also listed as 30A but says "trailer module" while fuse 87 is 40A and also says "trailer module". I suspect that one of those two is governing current to the aux pin, but that's just a guess. The manual is terrible for things like this and has definitely had errors, while the dealers are completely clueless and will either make something up or give you an answer that's right for an F150. I'm pretty sure the topic has come up on the forum before but I don't recall a satisfying conclusion.)

 

[Walkeraviator]

So I am having issues. Battery is not charging while hooked up to the truck. I have the Ford/RedArc installed. When hooked up to shore power, battery measures 13.6V because of rectifier/charger charging the battery. When completely unhooked, trailer battery measures 12.7V. Hooked up to truck while running and dash registering a trailer as being connected, the RV battery is the same 12.7V. Not getting charge voltage

any suggestions?

 

[mtbikernate]

So I am having issues. Battery is not charging while hooked up to the truck. I have the Ford/RedArc installed. When hooked up to shore power, battery measures 13.6V because of rectifier/charger charging the battery. When completely unhooked, trailer battery measures 12.7V. Hooked up to truck while running and dash registering a trailer as being connected, the RV battery is the same 12.7V. Not getting charge voltage

any suggestions?

Depends how the trailer is wired. Mine is not wired to charge from the trailer connection. Doing so without messing something up requires a bit of extra electrical equipment on the trailer side to make sure that the vehicle battery doesn't get discharged.

I'll put a fixed solar panel and solar controller on the trailer before I wire it to charge from the trailer connection.

 

[Walkeraviator]

Depends how the trailer is wired. Mine is not wired to charge from the trailer connection. Doing so without messing something up requires a bit of extra electrical equipment on the trailer side to make sure that the vehicle battery doesn't get discharged.

I'll put a fixed solar panel and solar controller on the trailer before I wire it to charge from the trailer connection.

Mine is wired to charge from the vehicle. The service tech at the dealership was the one who discovered it wasn’t charging. Low battery voltage was preventing my furnace from working properly.

 

[Radioman]

So I am having issues. Battery is not charging while hooked up to the truck. I have the Ford/RedArc installed. When hooked up to shore power, battery measures 13.6V because of rectifier/charger charging the battery. When completely unhooked, trailer battery measures 12.7V. Hooked up to truck while running and dash registering a trailer as being connected, the RV battery is the same 12.7V. Not getting charge voltage

any suggestions?

Check the vehicle battery voltage when you check the trailer battery voltage. Perhaps the vehicle's Battery Management System is having issues.

 

[EJH]

I need some assistance please. I installed the Ford TBC. The only wires I connected under the dash are the 12V powering the TBC (I confirmed it has power, the knob lights up) and the brake signal going back to the 7-pin. Then I connected to the 3rd brake light for the brake signal.

I tried a Curt 7-Pin tester. It lights up the TM, LT, RT (Did not try BU). It will not light up the 12V or Brake LED.

Is this due to the truck not sensing a real trailer?

I am picking up my travel trailer tomorrow.

Thanks, Ed

 

[alcohenusa]

I need some assistance please. I installed the Ford TBC. The only wires I connected under the dash are the 12V powering the TBC (I confirmed it has power, the knob lights up) and the brake signal going back to the 7-pin. Then I connected to the 3rd brake light for the brake signal.

I tried a Curt 7-Pin tester. It lights up the TM, LT, RT (Did not try BU). It will not light up the 12V or Brake LED.

Is this due to the truck not sensing a real trailer?

I am picking up my travel trailer tomorrow.

Thanks, Ed

For those connections to activate, the truck needs to think that there is a trailer connected. I also have a basic Curt tester that (unfortunately) works exactly like yours.

You’ll need to actually connect a trailer. Once the truck sees the trailer it will confirm in the instrument panel.

 

[EJH]

For those connections to activate, the truck needs to think that there is a trailer connected. I also have a basic Curt tester that (unfortunately) works exactly like yours.

You’ll need to actually connect a trailer. Once the truck sees the trailer it will confirm in the instrument panel.

Thank you so much. I was stressing here!

 

[alcohenusa]

Thank you so much. I was stressing here!

I borrowed one of these at one time and it works pretty well.
https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Dyn...eywords=Trailer+tester&qid=1638391282&sr=8-16

Sponsored