electrical question

Good morning, Just purchased a small used popup camper to pull behind my 02 Dakota V6. The Dak does not have a trailer tow package or HD alternator. The popup has a 12V battery for interior lights etc. Is it a problem to charge this battery by hooking up a wire from the + battery terminal in the Dak or will this possibly overload the alternator? TIA for any advice.

Reply to
mowingy
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There is no cause for concern here at all with alternator. I would suggest that you supply 12 volts to trailer that is switched on when vehicle is running so that you do not run down vehicle battery when it is plugged in and vehicle is off and camper it used a lot. That or make sure to unplug trailer feed when using 12 volts a lot in it.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

snotard is not someone that you should put any confidence in at all. there are times when he is right, but it's just a coincidence. he posts so often that he's bound to be right once in a while. never the less, wait for another answer. other than sheryl, steve the boob and comboverboy, no one listens to snotard.

just a warning, that's all.

Reply to
theguy

i see no issue with hooking up the factory 12v supply to the trailer. your alternator i don't imagine would be in any danger.

Reply to
Chris Thompson

It depends. The stock alternator is a quality piece. It will last for a long time. 100K miles and 10 years is not uncommon. But the stock alternator is designed to handle the electrical load of the truck as supplied from the factory, and that's about it. If you've added some heavy duty electrical components to your truck (lights, stereo), it may be close to overloaded now. Adding a deep cycle battery with a heavy discharge could create a problem. Especially at night. Imagine this scenario. You've been camping all week end. The trailer battery is quite low. Now it's dark and time to go home. Hook up the trailer, turn on the lights, and drive away. Your stock alternator is trying to charge both batteries, and run all the lights. I would go to the bone yard and find an alternator from a truck with a tow package.

Reply to
.boB

Such inmaturity..... BTW, just look as the news groups and you can see who the reall BS kings are and who likes you hear themselves "talk" I guess it helps them feel complete.

No, this is just the ramblings of a very insecure troll. Most trolls like this do not even use real email ID's either because they cannot stand for anything but BS.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

look, sooner or later you are gonna have to look that word up and spell it correctly. now i am not a stickler on grammar or spelling, but you use the word almost daily. in that case, you should at least take the time to get it right.

yeah, thats it moron. what an asshat. i just like the fame of seeing my writing appear on the internet, in this ng. that makes me feel "complete". man, you are an incredible moron.

well, you are right when you wrote "this", as in referring to your statement. you are indeed a very insecure troll (well, ok, actually a very insecure moron, but i wanted to affirm your comments).

Reply to
theguy

Sooner or later you are going to have to grow up. I do not get upset about my typos or others either but the child in you seems focused on this.

tisk tisk, does name calling make you feel more grown up?? It must. SOme may laugh with you but others are laughing at your immaturity

No other san see because you are the one that cam out like a child calling names not me. Yes affirm that you are a child like troll that gets his fix with name calling and attacking things they do not understand

BTW, I will not answer anymore posts from you in this thread because honstly it makes me feel funny to even try to breifly converse with you on your immature level. My silence is not a blessing that you are right but rather a sign I am not going to waste my time with you anymore on this thread.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Reply to
SnoMan

Yup, just look at the newsgroup. Specifically look at my thread from yesterday titles OT: Blow out. Feel free to read the info that Snotard is spewing in there.

Really, what about you, when has anyone ever addressed you by your real name? Never as I recall, why because no one in here knows it because you don't use it. Contrary to your other statement, most in here do use a real and valid email address, though it is jumbled to prevernt idiots like you from spamming them. Might hypocritical of you to flame some one else for the exact same thing you do.

Reply to
azwiley1

I do not believe that you would have a problem with this, as long as the factory alt is not bad to begin with. Personally, I would opt for the high output (HD) alt as it would only serve you well to prevent any possible issues down the road.

Reply to
azwiley1

thats the thing.......i don't ever have to grow up. but in reality i try not to focus on you, it's just that you so stupid that i can't ignore the crap you write.

well, i served a purpose asshat. you finally spelled it correctly.

wow. now that was hard to follow assclown. just curious, did you graduate from american schools.......public education maybe? again, just wondering.

okey dokey snotard. now click your heels together and maybe you can go home.

Reply to
theguy

Any chance you could make this a goup wide thing as opposed to just this thread?

Reply to
azwiley1

nice point.

Reply to
theguy

No problem with the alternator, however: You need to isolate the trailer battery while the truck is cranking. Otherwise the trailer battery will try to help feed the starter. You can use a relay connected to the radio feed, the radio goes off when cranking. Or, connect the trailer battery through a switch and try to remember to flip the switch when you need to charge the trailer battery AND when you shut the truck off.

I'd go with a relay. Use heavy wire to connect the two batteries, and make sure the trailer has a ground wire to the truck. Don't trust the ball as a ground path.

If you need help wiring the relay, send me an email.

Al

Reply to
Big Al

Yeah, never ground anything with your balls! LOL

Reply to
azwiley1

punkinbread:

But mowingy already knows about the HD alternator, he doesn't have it, and it's kind of late to "opt" for it now. So what's your advice? Do you recommend that he go ahead and replace his?

Reply to
Beryl

That will be a good thing.

And he means *heavy* wire. The ground has to be just as heavy too.

The cranking relay won't isolate the two batteries while parked though. The danger there is being stuck at camp with two dead batteries.

Two batteries in parallel isn't the best setup either. The weaker battery will draw the stronger one down to its level. This may not matter much with a popup camping trailer that sees only occasional use, but is a poor design when two or more batteries are always tied together.

Reply to
Beryl

That was profound.

How heavy would you use?

Reply to
Roy

No, not really. But Big Al indicated that he thought otherwise (you didn't read?) so I thought it was worth saying.

Now, if we were talking about a motorcycle with a bitty battery, then yes, I'd isolate a big car battery from the starter motor.

*heavy*, Skippy! I think I already said that.
Reply to
Beryl

C'mon crotch cannibal, that was a question. How *heavy*? Or is it beyond you to answer? Look if ya don't know(seems ya don't) roll over, give the Idiot a slap on the ass wake him up and ask him. I'm sure by now you've done some research and have some sort of a answer, don't ya troll boy?

Reply to
Roy

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