Charging Battery via Vehicle

[stewartlittle]

I dont have a generator and havent camped with hook-ups since goin with my parents as kid.We normally indure the heat in the day cuz it aint too bad at night.
But the question,how would be the best way to hook up the marine battery to charge it in the Trooper?
Run wires straight from the TV battery or from a hot wire in the rear somewhere?
And also what gauge wire and how should it be wire in?

I was just wanting to keep the battery top off,since we do some running around during the day.

[austinado16]

I dont have a generator and havent camped with hook-ups since goin with my parents as kid.We normally indure the heat in the day cuz it aint too bad at night.
But the question,how would be the best way to hook up the marine battery to charge it in the Trooper?
Run wires straight from the TV battery or from a hot wire in the rear somewhere?
And also what gauge wire and how should it be wire in?

I was just wanting to keep the battery top off,since we do some running around during the day.

Your post is kinda unclear to me.  Are you wanting to keep the camper's battery charged up, by leaving it in the camper, parking your TV next to it, hooking up to the camper battery, and running the engine in the TV?  Or are you looking to put the camper battery inside the TV (like in the back) and charge it while you are running around doing stuff in the TV?

8ga wire would be ideal and the camper's battery will need to be hooked to ground while a positive lead from the TV is hooked to camper's positive battery terminal.

[garym053]

I wired a plug to go into the trailer plug connector that connects to the charge line and the neutral line and hooks to the battery while we drive around and sightsee.
I use a gel type battery so there is less chance of fumes, etc. Also leave the back windows open a crack.

[wavery]

If you are thinking about running your TV in the CG to charge your battery, that may be problematic. Your TV puts out a lot more pollution than a small generator and when your TV engine is at idle, it really doesn't put out many amps. You could be looking at idling your engine for hours. This will not make your neighbors very happy either.

The other thing to consider is that the TV engine is designed to be moving while it is running. If you leave it sit, idling for a long period of time, there is a chance of overheating and damaging the engine. That would leave you in a real pickle with the trailer sitting in the CG and no way to tow it.

[stewartlittle]

What garym053 said,he's got the idea.
We do alot of runnin around and stuff.I was reffering to unhookin it and throwin it in the back and hook some wires up to it so it charge goin down the road.

[tlhdoc]

If it is a traditional "wet" battery it will give off hydrogen gas as it charges. You don't want to do that inside your TV.

[wavery]

If it is a traditional "wet" battery it will give off hydrogen gas as it charges. You don't want to do that inside your TV.

The "Hazard" is hydrogen gas from a battery that is charging heavily. Some vehicles were designed with the battery under the back seat. Most boats are designed with the batteries inside the cabin area.

It may be a good idea to crack a window while driving if you decide to do this. The hydrogen gas fumes that are put off while charging can be explosive if they are allowed to accumulate in a confined area and receive a source of ignition (like a spark from removing the charging cable). I have seen an auto battery explode. It is quite horrendous (however un-common). If it were to happen in the interior of your car, it would probably total your car. Even if there was no fire, the battery acid would wipe out the whole interior of the car. This doesn't even account for injuries to persons close by.

[tlhdoc]

If you have room under the hood to put the battery it would be a better place to put the battery when charging.

[garym053]

It's amazing how fast it will charge while you sight see, or maybe it's amazing how much time we spend sight seeing or driving to trail heads and kayak put-ins!
The points about Hydrogen gas are valid, although some cars used to have the batteries stored in the passenger area.
I use a Glass Mat Gel type when I do this, although I think a window opened slightly would take care of any gas build up easily.
An even bigger danger than Hydrogen Gas is the deadly projectile it CAN become in an accident! Make SURE it is fastened down.

[stewartlittle]

Gocha,charging battery while its in TV=bad idea.
No,there aint no room under the hood.Though I might could rig up a platform to hang on the spare tire or put in the reciever.

[austinado16]

Audi has long had batteries parked under the rear passenger seat, just like VW and MGB's, Porsche and others.  They solve the outgassing problem by running a small PVC vent hose from the fitting on the battery out the bottom of the body.

Seems like it's pretty doable, as long as the thing is bolted down and you've got it vented.