How do I wire in blue charge wire in truck end.

old-iron-habit · Aug 26, 2017

My dump trailer has a green LED light in it that shows when the hoist battery is being charged from the tow vehicle. Neither my F350 or F550 charge thru the 7 pin flat blade connector. I know the trailer charger works because when I hook up the Chevrolet 1/2 ton the green light glows. The F550 has had the plug added and it does not have the blue hot charge wire at all. Is this simply a extension from the battery/alternator that gets shut off with the truck so it does not continue to pull from the truck battery when the 550 is not running? Any help in wiring this circuit will be appreciated. The F350 is all plug and play factory 7 pin RV plug so I am going to look for a blown fuse somewhere before I go any further.

hvy 1ton · Aug 26, 2017

Tap into power with a 15 amp fuse and run 10 AWG to the plug. You could add in a relay if you only want it powered while the truck is on.

Birken Vogt · Aug 26, 2017

Blue is usually the electric brake wire.

Red is more commonly the charge wire.

Nowadays they all have it but in the old days I would run a wire from the starter solenoid or whatever heavy connection was available (not the battery itself, too much corrosion) through one of those two stud automatic reset breakers at 30 amps or more. I don't like a fuse because if the battery is really dead it might take a couple cycles through the breaker to get it charged up or if it blows the fuse it stays blown. Then I go to a continuous solenoid, NAPA ST80 or equivalent and then on down to the trailer connector. Wire from the ignition circuit so the relay only closes when the engine is running.

Ronsii · Aug 26, 2017

The dodge 05-06 has a diode and fuses that protect the charge wire... unfortunately the diodes fail the first time someone hooks up that has something wired wrong. Earlier dodges may also have similar but don't have any experience there... I thought f series had the same after about 2005 also... but might be remembering wrong.

JPV · Aug 27, 2017

I do it like Birken recommends, if you hook it with no constant duty solenoid just make sure you unplug the trailer when parked for a while to isolate the trailer battery so it doesn't kill the truck battery.

old-iron-habit · Aug 27, 2017

Birken Vogt said:
Blue is usually the electric brake wire.

Red is more commonly the charge wire.

Nowadays they all have it but in the old days I would run a wire from the starter solenoid or whatever heavy connection was available (not the battery itself, too much corrosion) through one of those two stud automatic reset breakers at 30 amps or more. I don't like a fuse because if the battery is really dead it might take a couple cycles through the breaker to get it charged up or if it blows the fuse it stays blown. Then I go to a continuous solenoid, NAPA ST80 or equivalent and then on down to the trailer connector. Wire from the ignition circuit so the relay only closes when the engine is running.

Brain fart when typing. My brake wire is the blue one.
Great. This makes sense. I will do this with the continuous solenoid. Otherwise I am sure I will forget to unplug it at some point, perhaps with the gooseneck camper connected, and I'll end up with dead batteries. Or I would be forgetting to plug it back in and end up dragging the connector down the road.

Jonas302 · Aug 27, 2017

On the 350 You might find a fuse that is blown or needs to be added to the powerbox sometimes the spot is left open or the aux wire is not hooked to the terminal

old-iron-habit · Aug 27, 2017

Great idea. The truck was supposed to have a tow package but the hitch was not on it. It was dealer installed after I told them to keep it when they wanted more money. The fuse being empty sounds real logical. I will check that.

hvy 1ton · Aug 27, 2017

I'd be nervous having the 12V wire on a 30 amp breaker. 7 flat is only rated for 15 amp per connection and 40? for the whole thing. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not huge fan of auto reset breakers. I really like the bussman weatherproof breakers for under the hood stuff.

old-iron-habit · Aug 27, 2017

Looked at my F350 book. Turns out it has two separate breakers listed for the trailer battery charge. One is a circuit breaker which I tested by switching it with the identical starter circuit breaker. The starter spun as normal and the truck started right up so think it must be good. A bit later I found a not familiar looking 20 amp breaker #107 that was also listed as trailer battery charge. It was a larger square one that plugged in and appears to have double links in it. It was blown. I will buy a new one in the morning and see what happens.

Junkyard · Aug 27, 2017

After breakfast at Art's of course.

old-iron-habit · Aug 27, 2017

Junkyard said:
After breakfast at Art's of course.

Might have to cut down town breakfast to 6 days a week. Coffee is going up again. First of September it will be going to 50 cents for the many refill cup with the tax added in. Pancakes and coffee will hit almost $2:50. At least the morning girls are still pretty and full of life.

Birken Vogt · Aug 27, 2017

hvy 1ton said:
I'd be nervous having the 12V wire on a 30 amp breaker. 7 flat is only rated for 15 amp per connection and 40? for the whole thing.

I never knew that. But it seems like a small number for the amount of copper/brass in those terminals.

Maybe it's just me, but I'm not huge fan of auto reset breakers. I really like the bussman weatherproof breakers for under the hood stuff.

I like them to be auto reset because otherwise you would never know if it had tripped till it was too late. I also like to protect trailer brake controllers with the same setup because you don't want your controller going dead and unable to get it back without stopping while the vehicle is underway with now no brakes on the trailer! At least this way they have a chance to come back.

old-iron-habit · Aug 28, 2017

One down and one to go. Stuck a new fuse in the second trailer battery charge spot in the F350. Backed it up to the dump trailer and plugged the connector in. I was pleased to see the green battery charging LED come on in the control panel. I will not get to the F-550 until after Labor Day. This is the one and only "working man's" holiday and I intend to enjoy it as a holiday should be. Maybe my hands will be reasonably clean by next Tuesday?

colson04 · Feb 13, 2018

You ever get your F550 configured?

How well does it keep up with charging your dump trailer battery?

We found after 4 or 5 dumps we would have to put a battery charger on it for at least an hour because we consistently drain the battery faster than the truck could recharge it. Our dump trailer is a power up and power down style pump, and yes, the wiring for the charge system is powered and functional. And this isn't a recent phenomenon, it's been like this for the life of this particular trailer.

I've contemplated removing the electric pump setup and putting in a small engine with hydraulic pump instead. If this electric pump ever craps out, I'll make that swap in a heartbeat.

Birken Vogt · Feb 13, 2018

Here is a manufacturing idea for someone that wants to try. Somebody design a trailer battery charge booster/regulator. Some kind of switching power supply that takes in ~10-12 volts and puts out 14.5 to the trailer battery. To compensate for the voltage drop in the red wire. Limit input current to 15 amps. I can see lots of potential problems with this setup. Melted terminals and wire because now the battery really will be charging and fast. It would also have to be environmentally hardened. But now the battery would get charged. Lots of marketing/support required.

old-iron-habit · Feb 14, 2018

colson04 said:
You ever get your F550 configured?

How well does it keep up with charging your dump trailer battery?

We found after 4 or 5 dumps we would have to put a battery charger on it for at least an hour because we consistently drain the battery faster than the truck could recharge it. Our dump trailer is a power up and power down style pump, and yes, the wiring for the charge system is powered and functional. And this isn't a recent phenomenon, it's been like this for the life of this particular trailer.

I've contemplated removing the electric pump setup and putting in a small engine with hydraulic pump instead. If this electric pump ever craps out, I'll make that swap in a heartbeat.

I have yet to configure my F-550. Its been parked for the winter except for a occasional gooseneck pull. I use the dump trailer quite a bit behind the F-350 hauling my firewood home from the woods each day when I'm cutting pulpwood. My trailer battery has stayed fully charged. I do have a 1/2 hour run each way so it gets plenty of time to charge.

hosspuller · Feb 14, 2018

Birken Vogt : The RV crowd already has such an animal. It charges the LQ battery but isolates the LQ battery from the truck battery.

http://rvlife.com/tech-tips-battery-isolators-in-three-flavors/

DMiller · Feb 15, 2018

I used a diode in the lighting circuit, know when it dies as the lights come on unplugged for my brakes battery, for my winch battery on the goose I use a second cord(actually a extension cord as does NOT have to be DOT approved. Only time it needs a heavy charge is if sat for months and months. Minimal battery for emergency brakes application only and the DOT boys try them by pulling the rip cord(cable switch) to hear the pukes clank into place, so works well off that diode.

How do I wire in blue charge wire in truck end.

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