More charge from the truck to the TC

[Big D 4X4]

My truck doesn't have a camper package so my hookup to the truck is through the trailer plug. It works but doesn't supply enough current. I would like enough to run the fridge and still have a little left to charge the batteries. How do I get more power?

[Big D 4X4]

My truck doesn't have a camper package so my hookup to the truck is through the trailer plug. It works but doesn't supply enough current. I would like enough to run the fridge and still have a little left to charge the batteries. How do I get more power?

[Harald]

You should still have plenty of power to your camper going through the rear bumper trailer plugin. The Ford camper package doesn't include a connector in the bed that most truck camper guys install. And even if you had that connector, it is just paralleled off the rear bumper connector so either will work equally well for powering your camper.

I don't know about the 2006 trucks, but my 2000 F350 required installation of fuses and relays under the hood to power the camper. You might want to make sure those are installed. Even my V10 powered truck has a 130 amp alternator, so enough power shouldn't be an issue with our trucks.

[Big D 4X4]

I know it's getting power. Didn't need any fuses. I've put a meter on the camper batteries and started the truck and watched the voltage go up. It's just not enough to run the fridge. After 8 hours or so of driving with the fridge on dc the camper batteries are down to 11v. I'm getting some charge through the trailer connector just not enough. If it means running a seperate wire i'm o.k. with that but am not sure what size wire to run and whether I need some type of box to isolate the two systems and/or limit the current flow.

[Hemi]

My camper connector is installed in the bed of the truck; it was installed by the dealer who ran cables to under the hood. The setup includes an isolator to prevent current from running backwards.

Also, you need to make sure that your system is charging your camper battery (or batteries)which supplies the dc voltage/current to your camper fridge. I don't think you want to power your fridge directly from the truck battery system.

HEMI

[Harald]

I missed the part about running the frig on DC. I hear that draws a lot of current, so you might be out of luck.

If it was me, I'd just run the frig on propane while on the road. I don't have the DC option on my frig, but even if I did I'd still run the propane because it works better. I know the safety fanatics tell you to never use propane on the road but virtually everyone I've ever talked to uses propane on the road.

[Mike Tassinari]

Hello....

The problem is that unlike your House Power(120/208volts)you can drop 5 or more volts and not have any adverse effects.

In an R/V dropping 2 volts is going to give you the dead battery sysdrome..Since your vehicle alternator puts out 14.25 volts,,and you need over 13 volts to just charge the battery(to overcome internal resistance of the battery)anything below is not good....

Most fridges draw in the vinicity of 20 amps of D/C 12volt power...That is a pretty significant draw and if one were to think like a house electrician,that 8 gauge charging wire can support 40 amps of current... and does as long as there is no voltage drop...

On your 12 volt charging wire once you turn on that fridge,and wait 10/15 mins for that D/C element to cook away..now put a multy meter on that charge wire at the R/V and you will be lucky to see 12 volts,even if you have someone racing the vehicles engine to make the alternator give its full output...Thats why you have a dead battery..

Many have also claimed that the D/C element just does not work at all and "they"(the MFGS.)should just eliminate that function...So how come when you plug into shore power and run your fridge in D/C mode.it cools just fine I Argue..

The solution is not cheep as I too wanted to take advantage of the D/C option on my Dometic fridge..

If you are familiar with towing companys that have those Jumper Cables that "Plug-In" to a box in the front of their trucks,I used that equiptment to re/feed my Lance...you want to use minimum of 2 ga copper wire from your vehicles alternator to the female surface/mount box you are going to install in the area of you T/C electrical jack..You will need to have a sheet metal company re/fabricate that angle box on the side of the rig that holds your male electrical plug and if you have one the back/up camper jack as well...That angle sheet metal box needs to be 3" taller and 3" wider to accomodate that second female surface mount box..I then made a 36" Jumper consisting of 2 gauge wire and Male connections on each end..

Lastely I removed the 8 gauge charging wire and installed that 2 gauge wire on to the single post of the rigs Main 40 Amp D/C circuit breaker and connected the neutral wire to the 12 volt neutral buss bar...

[Mike Tassinari]

Hello Everyone...

I would also like to say that was one of my first "Mods" of many,but more importantly was the building of my 12 volt battery bank..

I do an awfull lot of dry camping and wanted more back/up battery capicity...My final solution was to mount on both the driver and passenger sides--just forward of the duelly tires between the truck frame and outer sheet metal,a Rolls/Surette 8D battery in its battery box..That monster is rated at 275 Amp hours,and I have 2 of them..

I did not want to over tax the trucks single 120 amp alternator charging those suckers,so I went on line and posted to various salvage yards that I wanted the complete set up for the second alternator that you can get in a Ford Powerstroke--more commonly known as the "Ambulance Package"....A salvage yard got back to me and sold me the entire set/up for I think 300 bucks---

So now I have the best of both worlds..

A seperate and totally charging system for my R/V battery bank..and the original truck charging system for the truck

Mike Tassinari