dudedogvan
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2022
- Messages
- 95
I run a tree service and recently bought a F350 flatbed dually truck to tow a 20' dump trailer for hauling tree debris. The hydraulic dump is powered by (2) 81ah FLA 12v batteries wired in parallel. It came with a measly 5A AC charger I can plug into a 110v extension cord, but I'd rather charge the batteries on the go with the truck's alternators. The truck is heavy duty, so it has (2) FLA batteries under the hood and (2) alternators: primary=175A, secondary=157A.
From what I found so far, using the 12v accessory pin on the 7pin trailer lights plug will be insufficient as there will be too much voltage drop. Solar might be an option, but I'd rather charge it with the alternators because I'm concerned the panel could get broken with the tree work.
That leaves 2 viable options I have found:
1) DC-DC charger (probably a REDARC unit)
2) Anderson PowerPole plugs on large gauge wire Setup (possibly involving an isolator), this is the more economical option
How many Amp charger for DC-DC would you recommend? REDARC makes a 12A, it's cheapest, will that suffice?
Can I use the 12v accessory pin on the 7pin connection even though the wire is smaller gauge because the DC-DC charger will adjust the voltage? Or will I need to use Anderson plugs anyways so I can incorporate a larger gauge wire from the truck's battery?
If I just use Anderson plugs with sufficient gauge wire, do I need an isolator?
Do the alternators work at the same time or how does that work?
Will the alternators be able to support charging a total of (4) FLA batteries and keep them all topped off?
From what I understand, with this method I'll be wiring the 2 trailer batteries in parallel with the 2 truck batteries through an Anderson plug and adding a breaker on the trailer side, that's all. Does this wiring present problems I'm not considering or is it safe and effective?
Here's a link to a company that supplies Anderson plugs wire kit that seemingly solves this problem for dump trailer owners, no isolator, spoke with owner and said no isolator needed.
PolePalUSA Kit
Thank you for any input!
From what I found so far, using the 12v accessory pin on the 7pin trailer lights plug will be insufficient as there will be too much voltage drop. Solar might be an option, but I'd rather charge it with the alternators because I'm concerned the panel could get broken with the tree work.
That leaves 2 viable options I have found:
1) DC-DC charger (probably a REDARC unit)
2) Anderson PowerPole plugs on large gauge wire Setup (possibly involving an isolator), this is the more economical option
How many Amp charger for DC-DC would you recommend? REDARC makes a 12A, it's cheapest, will that suffice?
Can I use the 12v accessory pin on the 7pin connection even though the wire is smaller gauge because the DC-DC charger will adjust the voltage? Or will I need to use Anderson plugs anyways so I can incorporate a larger gauge wire from the truck's battery?
If I just use Anderson plugs with sufficient gauge wire, do I need an isolator?
Do the alternators work at the same time or how does that work?
Will the alternators be able to support charging a total of (4) FLA batteries and keep them all topped off?
From what I understand, with this method I'll be wiring the 2 trailer batteries in parallel with the 2 truck batteries through an Anderson plug and adding a breaker on the trailer side, that's all. Does this wiring present problems I'm not considering or is it safe and effective?
Here's a link to a company that supplies Anderson plugs wire kit that seemingly solves this problem for dump trailer owners, no isolator, spoke with owner and said no isolator needed.
PolePalUSA Kit
Thank you for any input!