Community Forums

travelingbard · 05-30-2015, 09:56 AM

Hi! I'm trying to find very specific information about connecting a trickle charge onto my towed vehicle. I have the standard 7 pin on the RV and 6 pin on the Jeep (2002 Liberty LTD).
The only info I have found so far is fairly vague, just stating to use 12 or 10 gauge wire, fuse at both ends, and possibly a relay. I also have the pinout info for the two plugs. Nothing on actually connecting the trickle charge wire goodies, though.
Would love some links to step-by-step info (I like pictures!).
Thanks for any input you can provide!
Chris

**Lt Dan** · 05-30-2015, 11:04 AM

First thing you need to confirm that you actually have a 12v auxiliary contact in the wiring plug. Use a 12v tester and check the upper right contact on the motor home (looking from the rear). IF it has 12v to it either all the time or with the ignition on, then all you have to do is get that wire through your 6 pin into the Jeep and connect the charger to that hot lead. You should have an extra lead in the 6pin that you can use for auxiliary or brakes. If you don't have the auxiliary 12v contact on the motor home, as I didn't on my Itasca, then you will have to run a 10ga wire from a battery source to that pin.

travelingbard · 05-30-2015, 11:14 AM

Thanks for the reply. If the 7-pin already has the hot 12V connected, should I assume it's already fuse protected (and possibly relay)? Then I would just add the 10ga on the Jeep's 6-pin to battery with additional fuse?

**Lt Dan** · 05-30-2015, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by travelingbard

Thanks for the reply. If the 7-pin already has the hot 12V connected, should I assume it's already fuse protected (and possibly relay)? Then I would just add the 10ga on the Jeep's 6-pin to battery with additional fuse?

Yes, if it's hot from the factory, it should be fused. The second fuse on the Jeep side would add another layer of protection. Just my own personal preference, but I would not tie the auxiliary directly to the Jeep battery, but put a small trickle charger in the circuit. There are several available made for charging the towed.

Pigman1 · 05-30-2015, 11:57 AM

Just run the charge line from your 7 pin to your Jeep battery. A 25A fuse within a few inches of the battery is all you need. The wire should be 10 ga. If the +12 on the 7 pin is hot all the time, you need to disconnect either the RV plug or the jeep end of the line if you are staying overnight with the toad connected. If the +12 line goes dead with the RV ignition switch off, you don't need to do anything. You're done.

A lot of people can't seem to believe it's that easy so they go out and buy diodes, relays, and/or some type of charger. None of them are necessary. I've been pulling over 200,000 miles with the above setup using 3 different RV's and 3 different toads and have never had a problem or a dead toad battery.

FIRE UP · 05-30-2015, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pigman1

Just run the charge line from your 7 pin to your Jeep battery. A 25A fuse within a few inches of the battery is all you need. The wire should be 10 ga. If the +12 on the 7 pin is hot all the time, you need to disconnect either the RV plug or the jeep end of the line if you are staying overnight with the toad connected. If the +12 line goes dead with the RV ignition switch off, you don't need to do anything. You're done.

A lot of people can't seem to believe it's that easy so they go out and buy diodes, relays, and/or some type of charger. None of them are necessary. I've been pulling over 200,000 miles with the above setup using 3 different RV's and 3 different toads and have never had a problem or a dead toad battery.

Without a doubt, a very good answer. Yes, all that's needed to keep the toads battery charged while towing is, the charge line, from the coaches 7-pin plug, through the pig tail, and, directly to the battery in the toad. You will have no issues doing it this way. Yep, you can add a fuse if it excites you. But, there's only a few hundred thousand of us that have done it this way without one issue.

The coaches alternator will handle all the charging needed for all batteries involved in the circuit(s). As for your braking needs, unless there's been some sort of progress in auxiliary brake technology in the past few dozen years, there's nothing in that pig tail that you can use for braking, IN A TOWED VEHICLE!

Now, it's different if you were to tow a TRAILER! Most of those have electric brakes and, if you were to equip your coach with an electronic brake controller, in the dash area, and tie it into the existing trailer-brake harness (if it exists/it should) under the dash, then you'd have braking in a trailer, through that pig tail.

But, as stated, you have nothing in that pig tail that will connect to something that will actuate brakes in towed vehicle. For brakes in a toad vehicle to work, you need something to push on the brake pedal, MECHANICALLY! As you already know, there's a few braking systems out there that will work for you, including Ready Brake. Good luck.
Scott

Hunt n Fish · 09-30-2016, 07:58 AM

Shout out to you guys for posting this!

Was wanting to add a 12V aux power to the 7 pin on my 2009 Baystar. After reading this I went right under the dash and found both the orange & black wires. Stripped the black wire back about 1/4 inch & then went to the harness & found the other end about 8 inches back from the 7 pin plug. Did a continuity check to verify and then connected to #4. Put a jumper on a blank in the fuse block, added a 15 amp fuse, and crimped connected them together. Verified 12V at the plug & works when the ignition is on. Also added a 12V wire to the appropriate pin in the 6 pin plug on my Grand Cherokee and added another 15amp fuse just before the battery as a backup. Fuse in the coach protects the coach and fuse in the Jeep protects the Jeep.

This post saved me a bunch of time looking & scratching my head -
(FWIW - The orange wire WAS marked "BRAKE")

Kudos to all of ya!!!!