Raising Landing Gear with a dead battery - a learning experience

[RollingHome]

pmmjarret, now if I can just figure out how to save your drawings on my PC for future use so I don't have to bug ya. I understand them now... but how about 2 months from now... I know you know what I mean, thanks a bunch Hope I don't irritate you and ask you to bail me out ( ie "refresh" my memory) a year from now... I'll try to save the info... but... ta

 

[Terry H]

RollingHome,

On my 2008 Chevy I had to find and connect the 12 Volt charging wire. It is near and below the fuse box under the hood and it gets connected to "Terminal 1" on the fuse box.
If I remember correctly there may be some info about the 12 volt charging in the trucks Owners Manual.

 

[cookie]

Tom, Terry makes a good point. I don't know about the new trucks, but on my 07 I had to find the 40 amp fuse, which was in the console, and install it in the fuse box under the hood. At that time they didn't come installed. Don't know about now though.
So like some one said in an earlier post, look for that fuse. If its not there, get one and install it.

Peace
Dave

 

[RollingHome]

Looks like you guys were correct. I checked for power at terminals 1 & 4 and all I got was a slow pulsing 3.6 VDC ??? I checked the underhood FB and read my owners manual. If I understand correctly my Chevy uses fuse position 66 to power "Stud #1" (which the manual states is Trailer Aux). It has a 40 amp fuse in this position and it looks good (couldn't pull it to check, no puller). When it stops raining I'll check to see if it's wired to the 7 pin in the bed. This very well may be the problem, the wire may still be taped in the harness. Holding the flap up, sticking with 2 probes was difficult, so I need to consider that too. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[pmmjarrett]

pmmjarret, now if I can just figure out how to save your drawings on my PC for future use so I don't have to bug ya. I understand them now... but how about 2 months from now... I know you know what I mean, thanks a bunch Hope I don't irritate you and ask you to bail me out ( ie "refresh" my memory) a year from now... I'll try to save the info... but... ta

1. Move curser over picture
2. right click mouse button
3. Scroll down to "save picture as" and click on it
4. save the file wherever you want

And in a year when you can't find where you put it please feel free to "irritate me"

If ya need to get a hold of me send a private message, it'll pop right up on my BarrackOberry:angel:. I am not always on the forums, especially when I get busy and don't subscribe to threads or posts but PM's get my attention usually within minutes on the Blackberry when the email pops up.

 

[RollingHome]

Got it, filed it in my BigHorn Schematics file... I tell you that so you can remind me a year from now where I put it...

 

[pmmjarrett]

Got it, filed it in my BigHorn Schematics file... I tell you that so you can remind me a year from now where I put it...

I am diagnosed with memory loss by the VA and you wan't me to remember this in a year BWAAHAHAHAHA


Use a stick or tape to hold up the door, frees ya up so you don't need 3 hands. Of course you could get Patti to hold up the door and hold an umbrella over you so ya don't get wet too.:angel: Remind me I wrote that if I ever meet Y'all so I can get a head start when she starts swinging that umbrella....... I don't move too fast with my cane.

 

[wdk450]

Looks like you guys were correct. I checked for power at terminals 1 & 4 and all I got was a slow pulsing 3.6 VDC ??? I checked the underhood FB and read my owners manual. If I understand correctly my Chevy uses fuse position 66 to power "Stud #1" (which the manual states is Trailer Aux). It has a 40 amp fuse in this position and it looks good (couldn't pull it to check, no puller). When it stops raining I'll check to see if it's wired to the 7 pin in the bed. This very well may be the problem, the wire may still be taped in the harness. Holding the flap up, sticking with 2 probes was difficult, so I need to consider that too. I'll keep ya posted.

Here's a definite test to see if your battery is getting charge current:
1) Put a DC voltmeter across the battery without any charging sources connected/operating. Note this voltage.
2) Plug in your truck umbilical cable and start your truck engine. Battery reading should be higher if truck charging connection is working at all.
3) Remove truck connections and plug trailer into 110VAC shore power. Meter reading should again be higher than step 1 if the convertor is charging the battery.
4) If you want to know how much either of these sources is charging the battery connect a clamp-on DC ammeter around either of the battery cables as the battery is taking a charge.

I think that the section of the truck charging circuit that all Heartland trailers have in common is the trailer umbilical connector on back to the trailer battery. The variable part is the wire sizes and forms of wiring protection (fuses, circuit breakers, isolator relays, isolator diodes) that the trailer connector installer/brake controller installer/truck manufacturer chooses to use in the truck. This variability in truck wiring accounts for why some owners can do high current demand functions in the trailer on truck DC power, and some can't.
I have seen certain posts on the net from owners who made it a point to wire LARGE GUAGE wire for charging directly from their truck battery to seperate high current connector/connectors at the rear of the truck, and into a seperate charging umbilical into the trailer, directly to the trailer battery. Some of these set-ups even run TWO cables, not wanting to rely on the truck chassis for ground return current.

 

[RollingHome]

Thanks guys both were very good suggestions. I might not be firing on all 7 cylinders, I should of figured it out too. Just proves 2 heads are better then one. The rain stopped, so I won't need the umbrella, good thing, Patti's not here to hold it... Tom

 

[Bob&Patty]

Duane, I do believe that you are correct about the convertor being 60 amps. But I do not believe that it will charge at 60 amps. I believe that it will take a 60 amp load before it goes up in smoke. I could be wrong.

 

[branson4020]

I've measured my converter charging my heavily depleted batteries at 45A, 14.4V. That's about the recommended max charging rate for my batteries. At the same time it was powering lights, refer control board, lp detector, etc. in the coach. Its a pretty good 3-stage charger.

 

[RollingHome]

Bob, I would assume, that at 45 amps for 2 hours, my battery should have had a healthy charge. Do you agree ?

 

[Duramax1]

My 2008 Silverado came with a fuse already installed for the trailer charging circuit which was a change from prior years when the user had to install the fuse.

I did however have to connect the charging wire which was rolled up with some tape on it.

This is probably the solution to your problem

 

[Bob&Patty]

Tom, yes I think a 45amp charge rate should do it. Just watch the water level at that charging rate. After the battery is charged the charge rate should go way down.

Bob (branson), 14.4V seems kinda high at a 45 amp charging rate. Maybe thats the way these convertors work though. Normally you get a lower voltage reading the higher the charging amps are. But what do I know, thats the way all the battery chargers that I have work.

 

[branson4020]

It's not linear. As the charge in the battery increases so does the internal resistance. Time to fully charge will depend on characteristics of your battery.

 

[branson4020]

Got me Bob, Typo - that was 13.4V. And the current did taper off pretty quickly after about an hour. It took a good 10 hrs to completely recharge my flat (my bad) 220ah battery pack, but it never boiled them. Voltage gradually rose to 13.8V and by the next morning had dropped down to its 13.2V float mode. Anyway the point of all this was just to let folks know that there is really no need to use an external battery charger when the built-in converter is just as good. Of course, it doesn't hurt to carry one as an emergency spare.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Bob, you absolutly correct. You point is well taken. We are all here to help one another. We all have expertise in one aspect or another. All the info on here works for me.

 

[gasman]

Tom, you don't need to remove the fuse to check it. Looking at the top of the fuse where the 40 is stamped you should see two tiny silver contacts. These are the tops of the blades. Using a ohmmeter, touch the leads to each of the contacts. If the fuse is good the meter will indicate continuity.

 

[RollingHome]

Thanks Mike, I learned something new

 

[jmgratz]

be sure the power is off if you are using the meter in the ohms setting. If your using the voltage setting then the circuit can be hot.