Brakeaway battery charger

[HarleyScooter]

Thanks Chris, you have given me a lot of good info. I did not get to check yesterday, I was welding on the trailer all day. I hope to get to it today.
Scott

 

[Diamondpilot]

Thanks Chris, you have given me a lot of good info. I did not get to check yesterday, I was welding on the trailer all day. I hope to get to it today.
Scott

Hope you disconnected that battery or it may not matter????? I have seen a few fried from welding. Same thing with a trailer that was on the hitch of a truck why welding and it fried the battery of the truck.

Chris

 

[Iowachild]

Hope you disconnected that battery or it may not matter????? I have seen a few fried from welding. Same thing with a trailer that was on the hitch of a truck why welding and it fried the battery of the truck.

Chris

Good to do when ever welding on anything with a battery. Also once a work a fellow had a grounded ( 3 wire) metal electric tool laying on the welding table and when he struck the arc it fried the tool. Something to think about.

 

[HarleyScooter]

Good advice Mike and Chris. Yes I did disconnect the battery. I checked the truck plug and I do have 12 volts at the charging terminal. I did not connect the trailer to the truck but with the battery still disconnected I checked for continuity from the positive breakaway battery wire to the trailer plug 12 volt hot terminal and there was none. So until I can get the trailer connected to the truck to check it properly I am thinking there is no charger on this trailer? When I get all the modifications to the trailer done I will start a new thread with lots of pictures.
Scott

 

[Ken45101]

The problem with using the truck to charge the break away battery is that it is a slow process that will take hours of running to get it charged if it is discharged (which all batteries do over time). If your trailer sits for months (say over winter) and you hook it up, your break away battery may be useless for a long time and won't meet legal requirements or won't stop the trailer if it does break away.

OTOH, I have to admit that a few years ago I disconnected the break away battery on one of the horse trailers and brought it into the house to charge. It's still sitting in the house!

Ken

 

[Iowachild]

The problem with using the truck to charge the break away battery is that it is a slow process that will take hours of running to get it charged if it is discharged (which all batteries do over time). If your trailer sits for months (say over winter) and you hook it up, your break away battery may be useless for a long time and won't meet legal requirements or won't stop the trailer if it does break away.

OTOH, I have to admit that a few years ago I disconnected the break away battery on one of the horse trailers and brought it into the house to charge. It's still sitting in the house!

Ken

Yes there are times when I would use a small amperage 12 volt charger. I just bought a used trailer that had been sitting a few years and the battery was down around 10 volts. I connected it to a 2 amp charger for a few hours and the charge was right up where it should be. Using the trailer on a regular basis this summer should keep the battery charged via the truck circuit.

 

[HarleyScooter]

I was reading on the Tekonsha web-site about the little battery for the breakaway kit I have. They say (Due to the characteristics of this battery, after six to nine months of storage, the battery should be recharged. Charge the battery at the proper rate. Current should be limited to 1.2 amps or less.) When I read the 1.2 amps max I got an idea, now my plan is to buy and install a 12 volt charger and also install a two connector plug for my Battery Tender plus ( Battery Tender Plus - Batterytender.com ) These are good chargers, I use them on a lot of stuff. I think I will have all the bases covered with this plan.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Battery tenders are great products. We use them in boats and I installed them in my dads and uncles Corvettes. They are a must in Corvettes or Caddys or the battery will go dead in as little as 7 days just sitting.

I would still hook up just a regular wire to the charge the battery. No special charger needed. I do it all the time. Let your truck do its job and keep that battery topped off.

Chris

 

[wingbone]

I've been thinking of getting one of those solar panel battery charges to maintain my dump truck battery since I only use it every once in a while. Is this a good idea and would it do a good job on the breakaway battery as well?

 

[Ken45101]

I would think it would be okay ONLY if the solar charger output was VERY low current. Probably nothing more than 50 ma. Even then, I would not keep it attached full time, just for a couple of days every other month or so.

Anything that puts out enough current to charge your truck battery would probably be way to much for the little sealed break away battery.

Ken