Battery isolator

I have not opted for the battery isolator in the CI and I don't have one in the TV but don't want to have to unplug every time I stop for a rest break.

So I wanted to know if the trailer will draw power from the TV battery when at a rest stop with nothing plugged into the 12v sockets

 

Barry,
If I'm reading your question correctly, you are concerned about the trailer drawing power from your tow vehicle when you are stopped. Unless you are using power in the trailer for something (ie. electric cooler) the trailer should not be drawing power and you should not have to unplug. There is a switch to cut power to the television whenever you are not using it.

 

Barry,
Also unless your tv is wired to charge the trailer battery you should not have a problem either.

 

I installed a 12 volt solenoid in the line going back to the trailer with a rocker switch inside the tv to turn on and off the power going back to the trailer.

 

I would want to charge the trailer battery when towing to allow for power to be available off the grid.

 

I guess I could get this done when I have the 7 pin plug installed.

Thanks Bruce

 

We find that when we are driving and we have the 12v cooler running in the trailer it is easier to just turn the switch off so the cooler only runs on the trailer battery while we are stopped for meals and then turn it back on while we are driving to allow the trailer battery to get charged up again.

 

We have the isolator, so I don't have personal experience here, but unless you were running the 12v fridge I don't think you would have a problem with stops during the day. It should generally take a few days to run the trailer battery down anyways. The car battery should be at least as big or bigger than that. You should be fine - especially with nothing running.

 

I added a 12v relay that closes the hot wire to the 7 pin connector. When the key is off, the relay opens and the trailer and tow vehicle are isolated. Got the relay switch at an auto parts house....about $6. I wired the relay coil from the cigarette lighter wire.

 

Steve,
That's a great idea. Typically those relays will have a light duty circuit that handles the on/off switching and a heavy circuit that will carry the extra amp load from the charging circuit.

 

Alan, That's just what it does. I think I have either 12 or 10 gauge to the connector. I even picked up the ground at the battery post clamp and ran them both to the 7 pin connector form under the hood to the rear. I just could not find a good ground at the tail lights in my Forester.
Steve

 

Steve,
I agree with your choice on running a seperate ground. It is hard to find a good one on most vehicles especially when they have a few years on them. A poor ground will cause all kinds of nightmares. I appreciate you tip and think I will use it. It will eliminate having to remember to turn off another switch. I know a guy who forgot to turn off his headlights when he got to work the other day

 

Do you remember which auto parts place and the P/N? I think I will convert mine over to this setup.

 

That is a good point you both bring up. The number one mistake we see being made on tow vehicle trailer wiring is the ground wire. So often the shop doing the install will run a 10 or 12 ga charge wire but leave the ground wire to run through the 18ga tail light ground wire. This of course does not work. Worse yet, when the car has a European 5 wire lighting setup it needs a tail light converter to convert the tail lights to the 4 wire US standard so the trailer lights will function. The tail light ground passes through the converter. If a dedicated ground for the charge line is not run the charge current gets run through the converter. This will burn them up quickly. I seen one that actually made a high pitched squealing noise when charging even. Yikes!

So, it is very important to run a charge line ground wire of equal size to the charge line.

Cary

 

Bruce,
There is a good one at www.speedwaymotors.com Do a search for "fan relay". They are used for electric fans rated for 40 amps.

 

Cary,
We just ran into another light issue and wonder if you have seen it yet. On a 2011 Toyota Sienna the taillights are LED and Toyota only supplies something like 5 volts to the lights. The voltage is supplied through one of the onboard computers so if an auxillary wire is run and backfeed makes it to that computer it will be very expensive. I believe (not to sure about this part) that Toyota has contracted with the parent company of Reese to make a transformer kit that ties in somehow. I have to admit that I haven't done enough research into it yet but I'm sure as more manufacturers go to LED we'll be running into more of this.

 

Alan,

I have not run into this one. A powered tail light converter would prevent it from being a problem to the tow vehicle most likely but I wouldn't think the powered converter would trigger off of a 5 volt signal. What does Toyota say about this if you call them?

Cary

 

Cary,
As yet i haven't had any direct contact with Toyota. The customer who ordered the van wanted a Toyota factory hitch installation. They promised him one would be available. After months of run-a-round he called a Toyot a customer servive # which actually rang into one of the Toyota engineers homes. The gent was very helpful and that's how our customer found out that the issue was the electrical system and nothing to do with the actual hitch. I believe this engineer supplied him with the number for the Reese (or whomever it was) people. Seems they had just finished the kit and gave him the part # which he gave to his local toyota dealer. It's a long convaluted story but I think I have the details correct.

 

Boy, these CampInn's sure look GREAT! They look like a great group of folks, who make a FANTASTIC product! GO CAMP INN!