Charging popup while towing?

[splat13]

We bought our 1st popup last year so we are still learning. We have a 2004 Jayco Qwest B10 and it appears that when we are trailering our camper, the battery to the camper does not charge. All the lights work properly, but is there any special wiring setup that we should be aware of to assure that we are charging while driving?? The dealer says that you can't charge the battery while driving is that true? Any help will be appreciated. We tow with a 2000 Ford Explorer (eddie bauer pkg V8), and Ford Econonline van. Thanks!

[AustinBoston]

We bought our 1st popup last year so we are still learning. We have a 2004 Jayco Qwest B10 and it appears that when we are trailering our camper, the battery to the camper does not charge. All the lights work properly, but is there any special wiring setup that we should be aware of to assure that we are charging while driving?? The dealer says that you can't charge the battery while driving is that true? Any help will be appreciated. We tow with a 2000 Ford Explorer (eddie bauer pkg V8), and Ford Econonline van. Thanks!

First, what kind of wiring connector do you have?  A common setup is a 4-wire flat connector.  If that is what you have, you can not charge the battery with that while towing.

The most common is the 7-pin flat blade setup from Bargman.  It's a round connector with a round center pin and six flat pins or blades around the outside.  That setup has a separate 12V "aux" connection which is typically used to charge the battery.

Even with a charge line, most people find that the battery doesn't charge a lot while towing.  If you combine that with a 12V fridge, and it will often loose charge.

Austin

[tknick]

I'm just guessing on the 2000 explorer, as I have a 2000 expedition.  The first thing I'm assuming is you have a factory installed trailer tow package with a factory installed 7-way bargman style connector.

On the expedition, it does charge the battery while towing.  There were one or two relays included with the trailer brake pigtail (with instructions) that were in the glove compartment when we bought the vehicle.  I don't remember exactly what the instructions said they were for, but I know it had something to do with towing.  I had to install them into the fuse panel in the engine compartment under the hood.  I would look under the hood in the engine compartment fuse boxes and see if there any are unused and labeled spots that in some way would suggest that they are for the trailer plug.  Although I'm not positive, I think one (or both) of the relays was needed to get the alternator feed to the bargman plug to work.

Another thing you can do is check the wiring of your bargman connector.  Look at #4 terminal and see if there is a wire connected to it.  If there is, try to follow it back to the alternator, battery or some other power supply

If you aren't sure about the wiring diagram, follow this link for a picture.  http://www.accessconnect.com/images/wiring_7pole.jpg

If you don't have a wire connected to the #4 terminal then you cannot charge the battery from your TV.  However, that is a relatively easy problem to correct.  All you need to do is run a wire (of sufficient gauge) from your battery to the #4 terminal.  If you have to do that, make sure you add a relay that only closes the switch when the ignition of your TV is on and opens the switch when the ignition is off.  Otherwise, when you stop at the restaurant for dinner, you may come back to a dead battery on your TV.

I seem to remember someone saying in another post that GM no longe installs the relays in their vehicles even though they are pre-wired for the 12v supply to the bargman connector.  All you have to do is buy a commonly available relay from any autoparts store and install it under the hood.  Ford may have started doing the same thing.

Hope this helps.
Travis