brake buddy/ battery charge

[jimbooth25]

hi new at towing 4 down so ths may be just a stuoid question but i have a 2011 jeep wrangler and using the blue ox patriot 2010 break buddie system and was wondering if i need to run a wire from the coach to the jeep to keep the batterie charged and if the break buddie constantly pulls from the batterie of the jeep, this break buddie does have a baterie in it self also but not to sure how it all works, getting ready to go to florida in febuary so it will be the first long hual withthis settup. i plan on driving 4-6 hours a day and then stoping for a day no rush to get there and back. any info will be great thanks

[GaryKD]

Hi jimbooth25,
I do not use or know about BB battery draw. However, I use TOAD-CHARGE Dinghy Vehicle Battery Charger/Maintainer to ensure the toad battery stays charged. For me, it is cheap insurance against unplanned tasks. The USGEAR brake system, I use, charges the toad battery automatically. The toad charge is a backup to the USGEAR capability.

[RickO]

I've used Brake Buddy on my Jeep and now Explorer toads without any charging hook up. No problems at all so far.

Rick

[burmashave]

just in case, I have a solar trickle charger sitting on the dash of my toad and plug it into the cig lighter using a Y adapter. Never had any issues.

[JCM]

I have towed for up to 5 days without any problems. I don't even unplug it at night while camping.

[Stevegd007]

OK my two cents...I have had a dead battery on my toad from towing. So I starting use the Toad-Charger..works great keeps things charged on the toad. No more dead toad battery.

[jimbooth25]

so whats this toad charger thing?

[jimbooth25]

was wondering if i can tap into the light wires that are run from the coach to put an 12v port to plug the break buddie into that instead of the on in the jeep, any feed back would be great

[jimbooth25]

forgot to say its a 4 way plug from the mh to the jeep

[Stevegd007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbooth25 so whats this toad charger thing?

This will keep your tow vehicle battery charged while towing. You hook it up to the MH chassis battery, run a long wire (supplied) to the back of the MH, across the tow hitch and hook into the car battery. Has an included protection to keep from over charging the toad or draining the MH battery. With this in use you need not worry about having a dead battery in the tow vehicle having towed long distances. Works like a charm...I use one and would not tow without it.

[Stevegd007]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbooth25 was wondering if i can tap into the light wires that are run from the coach to put an 12v port to plug the break buddie into that instead of the on in the jeep, any feed back would be great

Break Buddy instructions do not say anything about doing this, BUT this seems kind of odd. IF you lose power to the Break Buddy "if" the plug fails you have no breaking in the tow vehicle. I would instead us a 12v port/plug on or in the Jeep. Be very sure to fuse the plug. While traveling\towing the Break Buddy will be drawing current from the Jeep battery. But the draw should not be heavy...unless you traveling very long distances. The try a Toad Charge.

[Graniteman]

I am new to the RV world as well. I have the brake buddy system on our 2003 Jeep Liberty. I ran the extra auxillary lights into the existing lenses of the jeep so that I can unhook the toad battery. We have made three trips to Florida (right at 1000 miles one way). I have no auxillary charger on my toad and have not had a single problem with dead batteries. I do however, keep a 110v battery charger in the coach for any battery issues.

[lllkrob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbooth25 was wondering if i can tap into the light wires that are run from the coach to put an 12v port to plug the break buddie into that instead of the on in the jeep, any feed back would be great

Only if you want to have significant wiring damage in the lighting system of your coach!! The BrakeBuddy will draw close to 15 amps when it applies the brakes on your toad. This is why BrakeBuddy recommends 12 gauge wiring be used to wire the power port DIRECTLY to the toad battery with a 15 amp inline fuse. The lights on your coach are probably wired with 16 or 18 guage wire which is not heavy enough to handle the current draw.

[Pigman1]

There's lots of high priced solutions to your problem that many will try to promote, but all you need is a wire and fuse. Your class A should have a +12V post in the seven wire plug. Run a 10ga wire up to the + (red) post on your battery. To protect the circuit, put a 15 or 20A fuse close to the battery. Check the +12 on your class A plug to see if it goes cold when you turn the RV ignition off. Some stay hot and some shut down. I'm a belt and suspenders type guy myself, so when I stop for a night on the road without unhooking, I pull the 7 wire plug to be sure I don't drain coach batteries. I also use a cigar lighter voltage monitor (< $10 at Walmart) in the toad to keep track of toad battery condition. When you put the 7 pin in, you'll see a change in voltage on the monitor that confirms the charging setup is working. Easy, quick, and cheap and it's worked for over 110K tow miles for us.