breakaway battery

[radioman]

I have a 2 year old going on 3 years 16 ft landscape trailer with a breakaway system. It came with a dinky little battery in a tiny box. Last spring when I took the trailer out to get it road ready, I tested the breakaway and found the battery is dead. There is no charging wire to it. I took it out and tested the voltage and found it was low. I charged it with my regular car charger overnight and the next day it was 12 volts. All good ? I thought so. 2 days later I decided to check it out and sure enough it was dead again.
Being pressed for time and low on cash, I swapped the battery with the RV marine battery from my camper to the trailer and added a power wire to keep it topped off. It been fine ever since.

Now I am getting that nagging feeling again. Checking old battery I learned its a GEL battery. Did I ruin it with car charger? Am I supposed to have something to prevent rv battery from overcharging ? I don't see one on camper. I want to get it right this winter before I put it back on road in spring.

 

[MFRED]

All the trailers I've wired I've put in a seperate charger. They come from Tekonsha and use the trucks 12V power supply to keep the trailer charged. They're about $30 if I remember right. They also have kits with a battery, charger, breakaway switch & mount that are handy if you need more than one of the above. Usually cheaper as a set as well.

I've seen some cheaper trailers with just a diode hooked into the battery. I'm not sure wether it was fed when the brakes were actuated or what. Never really checked. Works, but doesn't seem like the best long term solution.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I have seen them with both a charge circuit and just a wire. Never seen a diode but it could not hurt. Most modern trucks use a relay in the truck to prevent the battery on a trailer from back feeding to the car when the alternator is not running.

I think your battery was just bad. They are only $20. Just pick up a new one and hook up a positive lead from your trailer plug to it. If you have the 7 round which is most common its the pin at the 1 o-clock position as shown in this picture.

Untitled

Here is the charge circuit from the same guy for only $10ish

Battery Charger- 12 volt Trailer Camper Break Away:eBay Motors (item 260436650098 end time Dec-23-09 20:34:17 PST)

Here is a the hole set up for $ 34ish

Trailer battery break away system, w/ CHARGER! New OEM:eBay Motors (item 370273360591 end time Jan-09-10 01:14:20 PST)

Chris

 

[radioman]

I'm thinking the same thing-bad battery. Who knows how long he had battery in the trailer before I got it. I just noticed that there was no charge on trailer when truck is hooked up and running, I know truck is fine cause I checked truck with camper and got charging voltage. I think I'll get the whole shebang from ebay you pointed out since its not that expensive, I just thought the battery will be over 30 bucks. Looks like I owe another one to TBN for better prices.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The guy on Ebay is Paul. He runs R@P Carriages. Great guy and his wife also. Give them a call. It will save you a few $$$ and he will make a little more off the deal since he will not have to pay Ebay. I buy most my stuff from him. A+ service and fair prices. Plus he will be there to answer any questions.

R and P Carriages Trailer Sales, Service, Parts and Rentals

Chris

 

[Ken45101]

Some trailers are wired to charge the battery, others are not.

Even my dump trailer will not charge off of the truck

I brought one in a couple of years ago from the horse trailer to charge it. It's never made it back to the trailer They really ought to charge automatically, IMO.

Ken

 

[Diamondpilot]

Just wire it up correctly and it will charge. I or any other tech familiar with trailer wiring could fix your problem in 10 minutes.

Chris

 

[kennyd]

Some are hooked up to the brake light circuit and are "supposed" to charge when the brake lights are on-Yeah right But the trailer OEM's get away with it.

 

[kennyd]

Some trailers are wired to charge the battery, others are not.

Even my dump trailer will not charge off of the truck

That is a simple fix, does your trailer plug have +12v to it when the truck is running?

 

[Diamondpilot]

Some are hooked up to the brake light circuit and are "supposed" to charge when the brake lights are on-Yeah right But the trailer OEM's get away with it.

I have heard of some doing this but never seen that crap personally. In the 100 or so trailers I have worked on they are either wired properly or not at all.

Chris