[GARY2303]

truck not charging trailer battery

Ok I looked and cannot find any post on this topic. Why is my 04 -250 with a 7 prong trailer plug not charging the battery on my BRIMAR dump trailer? Should it be charging the battery, I am under the impression it should? Any help with this will be great. Thank you

 

[OT]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

Can do some simple cks. w/test light/12V meter. Look at diagram on rear 7 pin cover, "+" should be 12V chg. pin. Thats where T.batt. gets its charge from.

Test that pin. w/ign. turned on. If not hot, then maybe blown fuse. Ck. your bk. it maybe 20 amp maxi-fuse. If fuse ok, still no juice to pin, then suspect something wrong w/wiring/wire to pin.. bad gd. etc. Good luck!

 

[Painted Horse]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

My dump trailer has a tendancy to blow my fuse in the truck panel. It's a Maxi Fuse that handles the charge line. No one of the small mini fuses. Look in your manual and find out which it is.

The other issue is you may not run it enough to charge the battery. I just don't think 20 minutes of drive time is enough to re-charge what the hydralics use each time I dump. When you start your truck you use your battery for 20 seconds. The dump trailer pulls on the battery for 80-90 seconds going up and another 80-90 coming down.

 

[60psd]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

My buddies truck had the same issue. It was a fuse that blew...its under the dash (drivers side) I think, if I remember right, it was fuse # 115.

 

[nvcowboy]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

[ QUOTE ]
My dump trailer has a tendancy to blow my fuse in the truck panel. It's a Maxi Fuse that handles the charge line. No one of the small mini fuses. Look in your manual and find out which it is. /quote]

My best guess. I had this problem after some bad batteries and a bad alternator. The owners manual will lead you to the fuse. Replaced mine, and been good ever since.

 

[rubystargoats]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

On mine the fuse was blown from factory /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif but even when I replaced it the wire gauge is so small that you do not get much current with out voltage drop to less than 12 volts so not much charging. It will hold the charge but will not gain very much if the battery is down at all. When I needed a real charge I used the AC converter and ran 110 back to a charger. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[OT]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

Exactly. Dont think chg.wire size ever changed. V. dropped on my 88 F250/99 F250 & 03 6L (1 alt).

Hey G2303...did u get it fixed? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[ritschner]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

After you check the fuse, check the charging circuit relay. You will need to check the owners manual for location.

 

[Fishhook]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

Did you plug in the two circuit breakers that came in your glove box for the battery charge line and the brake controller line circuit????

 

[GARY2303]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

Hi everyone no I did not get it fixed yet. Let me tell you the whole story on this if you have a minute! I am waiting for the title work on this trailer, I bought it used and currently I am not using it yet. But from playing around with it and taking it to get weighed and inspected the battery is almost totally dead. Also I checked all the fuses under drivers side dash and looked under the hood. All fuses appear to be okay checked manuall and all the fuses that are used for this. Just a note on my truck the cap on the plug says that the center post is "backup lamp" ? So I put the truck in reverse with the key on and I got a reading of 0 with volt meter on that center terminal? I am lost here , is my truck wired for backup lamps and not aux. power ? Oh well sorry for being so long. Thank you for your help with this. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[JW350]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

I had the same problem. Turned out to be a blown fuse in the truck and I have not had a problem since. I suspect that on a recent trip, I completely discharged the trailer batteries. Perhaps when I connected the trailer to the truck, the initial surge from two drained batteries blew the fuse. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

 

[JimTJr]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

I dont know for sure what post it gets it from. But I would go to the harness under the truck bed and check that connection. If the post on the 7 pin doesnt work,, flow backwards looking for the problem.. AFTER your POSITIVE you have checked all the correct fuses. (I Only reiterate this because I spent a good TWO hours looking for the reason my left turn on my trailer would NOT WORK, tracing wires all the way forward in the harness,, checking and rechecking all the other factory connections. Thinking I may have drilled into that wire with one of my mods..or something./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif ,and it did turn out to be a fuse under the hood. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/phoney.gif)
Which resulted in a mixed emotion of relief and exhasperation!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif

I can try to find out which pin it is, but you obviously should have 12V to everything back there while that is working,,ie... Backup lights, turns, brake, tail, but I IMAGINE you would have something like 14v while the truck is RUNNING going to the battery? Just like the trucks batts get. (Still should have something there,,,,12v at LEAST.)

 

[JimTJr]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

[ QUOTE ]
If fuse ok, still no juice to pin, then suspect something wrong w/wiring/wire to pin.. bad gd. etc. Good luck!

[/ QUOTE ] If you ground the test light,, then you will have 12v to that pin,,(Ground on the light completes the circuit) It may not work properly when just plugging the trailer in.

Gary,, did you do what Fishook said?
[ QUOTE ]
Did you plug in the two circuit breakers that came in your glove box for the battery charge line and the brake controller line circuit????


[/ QUOTE ] Just a thought, I didnt read above in your last post that you did THAT,,saw you checked all fuses...

 

[rubystargoats]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

I did not mention in my first post that like JimT says, It must be running and charging to trip the relay to power up the charging pin. It will have 0 volts if the engine is not running and producing positive charging output. It took me a while to figer that out when I was first testing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[crooner7]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

OK, I have read all the posts I can find on this subject and have to admit I am quite confused. Here is what I understand from the reading I have done: Please correct me, if I am wrong.

To get decent charge to a bank of batteries in your trailer, you have to install some kind of relay, isolator, solenoid, etc. so that the alternator will continue to charge the house batteries, after the starting batteries have been charged. My further research says that a solid state isolator should be used to do the job properly. Further, a larger wire needs to be run to the batteries from the isolator.

Now, here is where I get confused...I read posts that say don't do this because you can burn up your batteries with excessive charge. Others that say make sure you install a circuit breaker, etc. etc.

Interestingly, I have asked Camping World, various repair shops, marine shops, etc. about doing this job for me and haven't found anyone who is familiar with this job. I asked the trailer manufacturer about it and they had no clue what I was talking about.

I want to accomplish this on my truck to augment the charge to my house batteries, especially when traveling on cloudy days when my solar won't do the job. I don't feel confident enough to do this myself, but perhaps it is much simpler than I am making it. I have found some wiring schematics, but I want to make sure the final job is professional. Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[snowcrash]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

i'm going to take a stab at this, hopefully it will help somewhat. not sure what you are doing, but when you say that you are testing the plug on your truck, you said you stuck it in the center plug which is backup lights and i know you are correct on that, but that will not be the wire that charges your battery for you dump trailer. i can't remember off the top of my head, but i think the wire you need to be searching for is near the top of the plug to the right i believe. if you look at the front of the plug on the truck, it should tell you which one it is though.

make sure that your volt meter or test light is ground when trying these things out. test your other connections to make sure they are working.

but if you are using a volt meter, the only way to see if that battery wire is charging is by cranking up the truck and letting it run.

from what i know though, you shouldn't have to really do anything to get this wire to charge your batteries. most people though that pull trailers with batteries a lot opted for the dual alternators though, but if all you are doing is the dump trailer you'll be fine.

i've got a buddy though that has an older ford where he ran welding cables to the rear of the truck and put one of those marine plugs i think on there. that way he could jump something off from the rear of the truck if needed, but he pulls a dump trailer so he just make a connecting wire and when he pulls the trailer, he hooks into it and that keeps him from having to use a battery. just a thought if all else fails i guess.

just double check your connections and the fuses to make sure nothing is blow though.

hope this helps, sorry if anything i said is wrong.

 

[j_apetersen]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

[ QUOTE ]
Hi everyone no I did not get it fixed yet. Let me tell you the whole story on this if you have a minute! I am waiting for the title work on this trailer, I bought it used and currently I am not using it yet. But from playing around with it and taking it to get weighed and inspected the battery is almost totally dead. Also I checked all the fuses under drivers side dash and looked under the hood. All fuses appear to be okay checked manuall and all the fuses that are used for this. Just a note on my truck the cap on the plug says that the center post is "backup lamp" ? So I put the truck in reverse with the key on and I got a reading of 0 with volt meter on that center terminal? I am lost here , is my truck wired for backup lamps and not aux. power ? Oh well sorry for being so long. Thank you for your help with this. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif

[/ QUOTE ]


first the middle prong on a rv plug is not aux it is wired backup on a FORD. and should work when a relay is installed. one of the bottom wires is all time power when the relay and fuse is installed. the other is brake activation.

 

[ps97kev]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

I Had this same problem and traced it to a "large" Green fuse under the hood 25-30 amp cant remember and you are right all ford from early 90's are wired the same and if you look at your plug cap aux should be
mark on it the fuse block you want will be under the hood on drivers side just behind the driver side battery

 

[PerryB]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

The correct wire/pin positions are as follows ( I'm using clock positions as viewed looking into the receptacle on the back of the truck) 1 o'clock: Battery charge(hot only when key is on since about '99 models). 3 o'clock: Right stop/turn. 5 o'clock: Electric brakes. 7 o'clock: Ground. 9 o'clock: Left stop/turn. 11 o'clock:Tail/clearance lights. Center:Reverse lamps.

 

[crzybowhntr]

Re: truck not charging trailer battery

I have not read through all of the reply`s, but I had the similar prob and all it was, was a fuse under the hood if I remember correctly..