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Jack40 · 06-30-2016, 12:54 PM

I have a 2013 Coachmen Freelander 21QB on a Chevrolet chassis. I do not appear to have the charge voltage for my toad (2016 Jeep TrailHawk) at the 7 pin flat trailer plug on the RV. Does anyone know which fuse or circuit breaker controls that charge line? The owners manual shows quite a few fuses marked "trailer wiring".

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Jack
2013 Coachmen Freelander, 1991 YJ, 2016 Cherokee trailhawk

plasma800 · 06-30-2016, 03:33 PM

Quick question, did it use to work, and then stopped?

You can confirm it ever had a charge line?

Jack40 · 06-30-2016, 11:29 PM

I don't know if was actually wired. I recently had the toad wired for towing. The lights on the toad all worked correctly. I had the mopar flat tow harness installed by the dealer. The charge line is needed according to FCA to prevent draining the toad battery. According to FCA the battery would only last 3 hours. I had the charge line on the toad side installed at same time I had the toad lights wired. The coach has a 7 pin trailer plug. So, I assumed the charge line would be present.

Mr_D · 06-30-2016, 11:34 PM

We've had three DP's and none have had a charge line wired in to the 7 pin connector.

Jack40 · 07-01-2016, 11:38 AM

Mr D
What type of charge line did you install in your DP? Do you have a recommendation?

l1v3fr33ord1 · 07-01-2016, 02:57 PM

Jack40-

I searched the Web and came across these two Chevy documents:

2015 Chevy Express Owner's Manual - Chevrolet
body builder manual - GM UPFITTER

The second has more information than the first. Page 202 of that document, titled "Trailer Connector/Provision," shows a 30A fuse in the underhood fuse box, connected via circuit 742 (red/black) wire to position "E" on the trailer connector. Page 337 says that the fuse number is "42."

(Digression: For any fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" this is an expected number for an important fuse. End of digression)

Finally, page 769 shows the trailer connector.

The owner's manual listed first above has the pertinent information listed on pages 9-52 (trailer wiring harness) and 10-35 through 10-38 (underhood fuse block).

Now, all of this may not apply to your year chassis or your year coach. But, it's a place to start.

Jack40 · 07-01-2016, 10:19 PM

Thanks Mark, I'm downloading your links now.

I was able to open up the shield around the plug harness and found 7 wires in the bundle, which implies that the 12 charge line should be there. The colors were: Red, Orange, Brown, White, Yellow, Green/White, Blue/White.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 07-02-2016, 03:08 AM

Jack40-

Note that the connector shown in the "upfitter" document I cited is not an industry-standard RV 7-pin connector. It is a GM/Ford-specific connector. GM intended that either the coach builder or (in the case of a non-RV van) the owner attach a harness between that connector and wherever they wanted to land the "standard" 7-pin connector. Take a look at this link from etrailer.com and you'll see what I mean. That explains why the color code on your connector is different than the one shown in the Chevy documents- because we're actually talking about two different connectors. We can probably nail down which adapter you have if there's a name on the cover of the 7-pin connector, or a part number somewhere on it.

Here's a link to an etrailer.com article on installing a brake controller in a 2007-2013 GMC Sierra and Chevy Silverado. Step 3 of the section titled "Finalizing Connections for the Brake Controller" implies that the 12V charge line may not be connected at the underhood end as the van (body) comes from the factory. Again, it may not apply to your coach, but in case it does...

Jack40 · 07-04-2016, 10:48 AM

I was able to check the fuses under the hood yesterday. The 30A mini fuse was good as was the 30A Jcase fuse. Yes I discovered the connector on my RV is a bargman. I tried to follow the wire bundle and it disappeared into the RV.

Jack40 · 07-13-2016, 12:29 PM

Thanks to all who helped me. I was never able to find the end of the wire that was supposed to supply the 12V charge for the toad. I down loaded all of the diagrams and watched the youtube videos too. So, I took the easy way out and installed a toad charge from lsl. It has a circuit breaker and a blocking diode, a much better solution that what was there.