Dump trailer hydraulic woes

[Gitche Gumee Kid]

Hyl lift piston working irradically .Finding hydl fluid in bottom of control box. refilled reservoir and last use observed fluid bubbling out thru fill cap. (over filled? ).
TIA

GGK

 

[RNeumann]

If you filled it when it was extended or up you overfilled it.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Sounds like your right, might be to full.

Let us know the results

 

[aspg4]

My neighbor has a dump trailer, and when the battery starts to get weak it causes fluid to overflow into the control box. When he charges the battery everything goes back to normal. Don't understand why a low battery causes this but it does on his dump trailer..

 

[dougtrr2]

My neighbor has a dump trailer, and when the battery starts to get weak it causes fluid to overflow into the control box. When he charges the battery everything goes back to normal. Don't understand why a low battery causes this but it does on his dump trailer..

Maybe if the valves are electrically actuated they are not completely opening and closely as designed thereby providing unintended hydraulic fluid routing??

Doug in SW IA

 

[Ford850]

This is due to a low battery charge. The power down function partially fails due to low battery but the bed continues to lower by gravity, forcing fluid one way out of the cylinder and overflowing the tank.

 

[Gitche Gumee Kid]

This is due to a low battery charge. The power down function partially fails due to low battery but the bed continues to lower by gravity, forcing fluid one way out of the cylinder and overflowing the tank.

Thank you, forum members. I was relying on the tow vehicle to keep the battery up to specs. My bad. Weak charge resulted in exactly as you guys described. Dunka.

GGK

 

[Ford850]

A dump battery (especially if weak) can also draw hard from the tow vehicle and pop the fuse, resulting in zero charge afterwards. Kind of a double whammy.

 

[CADplans]

A dump battery (especially if weak) can also draw hard from the tow vehicle and pop the fuse, resulting in zero charge afterwards. Kind of a double whammy.

I have never figured out how to use the 7 flat blade connector to charge the trailer battery.
A method to to that would really help, other than running a #2 wire from the truck battery, to the trailer battery,,,

 

[Ford850]

I have never figured out how to use the 7 flat blade connector to charge the trailer battery.
A method to to that would really help, other than running a #2 wire from the truck battery, to the trailer battery,,,

Right, it's really a maintainer with the 7 blade, but better than nothing. I saw an answer to someone's question about this same charging issue, wondering why his truck wasn't charging the dump trailer battery when using it for several dumps. Doing the math, if a large deep cycle battery is drained to 20%, it would take 100 hours of driving the truck to charge that battery.
The real solution is something like this, getting a 10 amp charge while driving: BOSS™ Dump Trailer Charging System, 1 amp - Purkeys
It's too expensive for me to justify, but for a business this would be perfect.

 

[nyone]

The most sure fire way of knowing the dump battery stays fully charged is throwing a battery charger on it when your done. Or running a new dedicated power wire.

Charging at a few amps for 30min isnt much of a charge. Its even worse if your bringing material home then dumping and parking it.

 

[lennyzx11]

I’ve learned something on this thread. I thought the 7 blade plug would recharge the battery sufficiently. I have noticed that I have to recharge my dump battery occasionally and thought it was the battery getting weak.

I keep meaning to check the charging from the truck but haven’t gotten around to it.

 

[nyone]

I should note too that some of these trailers only charge with the head/tail lights being on.

 

[oosik]

Get a battery tender and throw it on the battery when the trailer is not in use. Deltron & CTEK are the two types I use.

 

[Ford850]

I've researched dump trailer charging quite a bit over the past few months. I just got a new Moritz dump trailer, and I got drawn into a lot of conversations regarding problems with hydraulics, charging batteries, trailer harness issues, etc. So now I feel like I'm educated enough in all this to keep mine in shape with some preventative maintenance. Some brands offer an onboard charger with the trailers, but Moritz doesn't. Deep cycle batteries need more amps to charge properly and extend their life, so most 1.5 amp maintenance chargers are not the best for them. I plan to buy a 4 amp Noco Genm1 waterproof charger to mount in the trailer tool box, and add a through hull 110v outlet so all that's needed is an extension cord. I'll plug in the cord for at least a day after each day of use.
I've noticed that so far my battery does get charged nearly full by my truck's trailer harness after using it. I think this is what sets up most users for eventual failure. These batteries charge easily when new, and with minimal draw down first. Then after the battery gets some use and age it doesn't get a full charge before parking. That partial charge begins the sulfating of the battery and a quick spiral to lower charging, shorter cycles, and shorter life. Eventually we find a low battery with low capacity.
Anyway, that's what I've found in my research, and it matches what I've found in my own battery use with other equipment. I use a Battery Minder on all my other batteries with excellent results. I needed a reasonably priced waterproof onboard model for my trailer, and the Noco Genm1 seems to be a good option.

 

[Ford850]

Here's an interesting idea I found on keeping the truck isolated from the trailer while dumping so you don't blow the truck's fuse from the trailer pump draw.
Keep Your Dump Trailer Dumping- It Works, It's Simple And It's Cheap - YouTube
This not only temporarily disconnects the truck while the trailer is dumping, but it also adds a test light to show you the truck circuit is still active every time you dump. That way you'll know the truck charging circuit will be trickle charging, except when you are running the pump.