Toad Battery Dies

[dlboarman]

Toad battery dies

I have an apparently a common problem in that my 2011 Honda CRV’s battery gets drained while hooked to the Journey Motorhome. I can prevent it by starting up the toad every couple of hours, but I don’t like that solution. I have searched IRV2 for solutions and the best seems to be to purchase the “Toad Charger”, which I just did. I am still puzzled though why I cannot just charge it from the motorhome. But, this is what I found. The center pin of the trailer hookup is a logical place to easily run 12 Volts to the CRV and wire this to the battery. I thought this was an auxiliary wire. However, when looking at the wiring diagram, it appears that the center pin is connected to the Left Backup Lamp. I am guessing this is to provide power to a trailer backup light? If so, I should be able to simply disconnect it from the trailer hookup and run a new wire from the motorhome starting battery to that same pin.

The reason I would like to do this is to prevent me from having more things to hook up when I tow. Are there other issues if I simply run a heavy gauge (10-12) wire from the motor home battery (plus side of course) to the plus side of the Toad Charger? From the “Toad Charger” website, they provide said wire but also a ground wire to attached to the negative side of the motor home battery and to the toad battery. I am guessing I can rely on the grounding between the motor home and the toad via my tow bar. Again, if anyone has experience here I would appreciate the feedback. The rest of the wiring I would do as the Toad Charger shows.

Thanks … IRV2 continues to be such a wonderful resource.

[dlboarman]

Here is the website with the diagram of the Toad Charger system.

TOAD-CHARGE Dinghy Vehicle Battery Charger/Maintainer

[Scottybdivin]

Since the center pin is wired for backup lighting, I assume you referring to a 7-pin trailer connector. The standard pin for trailer charging on the 7-pin is a black wire at 10 o'clock. If it's a 6-pin, it's the center pin. Have you checked to see if there is a wire at 10:00? If there is, it may be disconnected at the chassis batteries, or there may be a blown fuse. I found the latter on mine.

[ChasA]

Another point. You should never depend on the mechanical hitch connection for connecting the grounds.
If your toad is wired for lights from the motorhome, it should have the ground connection and no need for another wire.
Concerning the toad charge. It has circuitry to prevent the coach from drawing current from the toad. And status lights so you can verify that it's working.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by dlboarman

Toad battery dies

I have an apparently a common problem in that my 2011 Honda CRV’s battery gets drained while hooked to the Journey Motorhome. I can prevent it by starting up the toad every couple of hours, but I don’t like that solution. I have searched IRV2 for solutions and the best seems to be to purchase the “Toad Charger”, which I just did. I am still puzzled though why I cannot just charge it from the motorhome. But, this is what I found. The center pin of the trailer hookup is a logical place to easily run 12 Volts to the CRV and wire this to the battery. I thought this was an auxiliary wire. However, when looking at the wiring diagram, it appears that the center pin is connected to the Left Backup Lamp. I am guessing this is to provide power to a trailer backup light? If so, I should be able to simply disconnect it from the trailer hookup and run a new wire from the motorhome starting battery to that same pin.

The reason I would like to do this is to prevent me from having more things to hook up when I tow. Are there other issues if I simply run a heavy gauge (10-12) wire from the motor home battery (plus side of course) to the plus side of the Toad Charger? From the “Toad Charger” website, they provide said wire but also a ground wire to attached to the negative side of the motor home battery and to the toad battery. I am guessing I can rely on the grounding between the motor home and the toad via my tow bar. Again, if anyone has experience here I would appreciate the feedback. The rest of the wiring I would do as the Toad Charger shows.

Thanks … IRV2 continues to be such a wonderful resource.

Here is a previous discussion on this subject of which there are many. The Fix, is to replace the grossly undersized OEM battery with a larger one. The change is not expensive and Very Simple using Honda parts and a new battery. Start with post #28 in the attached and read on. Problem solved.
Forget about all the add on knick nacks and gizmos. Fix the problem.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f85/honda-cr-v-285595-3.html

[l1v3fr33ord1]

dlboarman-

Here is a link to hitch wiring information on etrailer.com. I often refer to it when trying to sort out which pin does what. Both the 6-pin and 7-pin "standard" connectors have a 12V charge line pin.

In addition to installing a larger battery, as Dennis suggests, should you proceed with a using a charge line you need to confirm that the line is connected and active on your hitch connector.

Being a 2001, your coach may not have a wire, or a circuit, going to the correct pin in the connector. (Many coaches built after 2010 or so come with the 7-pin connector and all pins "active" per the standard.) If that is the case, your next step would be to determine if there is a charge line wire installed, but perhaps not terminated at the battery or hitch connector.

If you eventually determine that the chassis and/or coach manufacturer did not provide a charge line wire or circuit, and you want to proceed with a charge line (perhaps after installing a larger battery), then you can run a charge line from the coach battery to the hitch connector, and this will eliminate the need to install any cable but the "standard" between your coach and toad.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by l1v3fr33ord1

dlboarman-

Here is a link to hitch wiring information on etrailer.com. I often refer to it when trying to sort out which pin does what. Both the 6-pin and 7-pin "standard" connectors have a 12V charge line pin.

In addition to installing a larger battery, as Dennis suggests, should you proceed with a using a charge line you need to confirm that the line is connected and active on your hitch connector.

Being a 2001, your coach may not have a wire, or a circuit, going to the correct pin in the connector. (Many coaches built after 2010 or so come with the 7-pin connector and all pins "active" per the standard.) If that is the case, your next step would be to determine if there is a charge line wire installed, but perhaps not terminated at the battery or hitch connector.

If you eventually determine that the chassis and/or coach manufacturer did not provide a charge line wire or circuit, and you want to proceed with a charge line (perhaps after installing a larger battery), then you can run a charge line from the coach battery to the hitch connector, and this will eliminate the need to install any cable but the "standard" between your coach and toad.

Right on the Mark.

Having said that, I checked the fuse one day on my charge line and low and behold it was blown. (20A). Not sure how long this has been but I decided to leave it and see if the battery goes dead without the charge line. So far, I have toad about 5 hours per day for two days without unhooking. Starting the car in the AM for 5-10 minutes to lube the transmission, and have not experienced a dead battery with my new group 24 Canadian Tire 850 CCA, Eliminator Battery.
I don't pull any fuses either.

[Ranger Smith]

I have a Toad Charge in ours. Never had an issue

[aauummm]

Originally Posted by dennis45

Right on the Mark.

Having said that, I checked the fuse one day on my charge line and low and behold it was blown. (20A). Not sure how long this has been but I decided to leave it and see if the battery goes dead without the charge line. So far, I have toad about 5 hours per day for two days without unhooking. Starting the car in the AM for 5-10 minutes to lube the transmission, and have not experienced a dead battery with my new group 24 Canadian Tire 850 CCA, Eliminator Battery.
I don't pull any fuses either.

I have had the same experience as you. Upgraded the battery (Optima AGM 720 CCA) and installed the Toad Charge. On mine I just ran a charge line from the MH chassis battery to the toad. I've found that the toad battery has never gone dead by using the same process as you do without hooking up the Toad Charge.

However, if I get caught sometime in the future where I'm doing 7-8 hrs/day and going quite a few days without driving the toad, I'll hook up the Toad Charge.

[Ron_H]

Wow, you seem to have been given a number of suggestions including several which should get the job done. There are however some easier and equally effective solutions.

First, read the CR-V's Owners manual on towing 4-down. It describes the correct pre-tow sequence that must be run each time prior to towing. If you omit doing this correctly you'll likely pay a heavy penalty in repair bills.

One of the things it tells you to do is to remove one of the fuses while towing. Removal of the fuse prevents the battery drain issue entirely. It can be a bit awkward removing and re-installing the fuse each time but there is a cheap and easy solution. Purchase and install a fuse by-pass switch, available from any of the tow bar vendors or from Amazon for about $70 or less. If you are handy you can make one for only a few dollars. Then, simply flip the switch each time you want to tow and you'll no longer have a drained battery.

We have been full-timing for two years, towing our 2008 CR-V and never worry about draining the car's battery even if we've towed for several days straight without ever starting the CR-V other than for going through the 3 1/2 minute pre-tow procedure each morning.

[dlboarman]

Scotty, the connector is a six pin. In the Winnebago wiring diagram it also shows a six pin connection.

[dlboarman]

ChasA, you are right that the connector is wired for a ground. This is about 2 o'clock on the connector. I did not ohm it out but I am assuming this is ground to the motorhome and also to the CRV. Thanks .... Dan

[Mr_D]

The long term "correct" fix is to run a charge line from the RV to the towed. I did that years ago with the Odyssey and haven't had a problem since. And the Ody already has the large battery and it still went dead until I added the charge line!

[mel s]

Originally Posted by dlboarman

Toad battery dies
I have an apparently a common problem in that my 2011 Honda CRV’s battery gets drained while hooked to the Journey Motorhome.

dlboarman
See: http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/2012...ne-266445.html