I have a 94 pre powerstroke F-350 crew cab diesel. I just bought an old 1983 camper it has a 4 pin plug on the front under the overhang. I assume it gets 12v from the truck batteries as there is no place for a battery in the camper. I have no interior or cab lights(outside lights) and no power to the water pump. there is no hot water heater in this camper. What is the besrt way to wire interior and exterior 12v system. It does have a converter with a switch from 120v to battery. any help appreciated. All the propane and 120v systems work for fridge and stove. I will be gone for a couple hours to get title change and tags. I will answer when I return, Thanks

 

Check that it doesn't have electric brakes. If it does, some newer trailers have their own small motorcycle battery to run them in case of a a disconnect.
But your '83 may predate that requirement.

Otherwise just tap off the existing left and right brake lights, and running lights to run the trailer lights.

 

Sorry it is a slide in camper bed length. Truck tail lights are showing on back. Did f-350's have a camper special option for wiring 12v accessories like lights and water pump? Or do I have to splice in manually somewhere behind the cab or near the front of the bed? Would I need one hot wire for overhead lights and one for water pump? It has a converter that has a switch that says battery or 120v. there is an old style 4 pin female round plug on front of camper behind overhanging bed and a fuse inline The slide in camper came off a chevy.

 

You may want to ask the question over on the towing forum. There some good rv tech over th were.

https://www.ford-

trucks.com/forums/1216405-1981-camper-special-f150-rare-or-not.html

You going to have to wire you truck to the camper or find a spot for a battery. The problem using the truck batteries is DEAD BATTERY AND YOUR ARE STUCK. The battery for the camper get and isolator it would allow the alternator to charge all the batteries but not let the camper drain the truck batteries

 

is the plug large wires, or small looking like a trailer plug?
my bet is what you are looking at is a trailer light plug for the stop/turn/running lights on the back of the slide in.
power leads are going to be large wires, 10 gauge or larger.

 

I will hook up a test battery today and run a hot wire from battery one at a time to each hot wire and one to ground maybe I can figure it out. The female plug is an old fashioned chrome round trailer plug with 4 pins inside in a square configuration. I have to change the inline fuse as I tried to put the correct size glass fuse inside and I could not get it to lock. I will change to a modern blade fuse today before I start. Maybe I can figure out which wire is for the water pump and which for interior overhead lights and maybe one for marker lights as there are no tail lights on the back of camper because the back of camper slides in between the truck tail lights. I have no idea how the converter works and how it is to be wired. No schematics for it. I will try to trace wires by color but I see no black ground wires and the fused wire is white. the other wires are red green and purple.

 

Contact Steve he he should be able to help you with the camper wiring and the converter

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/m...hp?u=534597://

 

I do not have enough money right now to get rid of the old non charger converter and get a new one. I have a blade switch that I installed on the second battery so when I use the lights (found out water pump runs but will not pump water.) I can camp with power the converter runs a couple of 120v plug ins and the electric side of fridge. I ran a hot wire from the blade switch mounted to the auxiliary battery under the hood of the truck so when I want to use the lights I can disconnect that battery from the #1 battery. I bought a female 4 prong old trailer plug and went direct from the battery to the camper with one #12 red wire and interior lights came on as well as the water pump and fan for a furnace. No marker lights but truck tail lights and brake lights work on the back camper fits just inside them. I do have weak batteries in the truck and when I disconnected the auxiliary battery the truck would not crank on one battery. so two new batteries a water pump and new converter charger in the future I will have to wait a while. Thanks for all your comments I will get back when I get going on it again.

 

When you can afford a seprate battery for the camper, you want to get some thing like this.

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories...hoCOMgQAvD_BwE

To make sure you batteries stay up , while camping take you battery charger with you and put it on trickle. I know it sounds funny if you are using the converter to plug in a battery charger but that is basic what the one with the charger does. Power Management is critical for any type RV

 

Thanks I do carry heavy duty cables but to have to get a couple new batteries soon though. They been cranking slow in the mornings and when I separated the two with a knife switch the one would not turn the engine over yesterday. When I replace the batteries would I be smart to put a deep cell boat battery in the aux spot or keep them both the same.

 

Keep them the same those are your start batteries. Some people have gone to a single group 31. If you stay with 2 they should be changed in pairs. Then you could go deep cycle in the empty slot and use it just for your camper.

If you are going to run the camper of your main batteries you could shorten the life, that why you need a battery charger not cables. A typical battery is considered dead around 12 volts. Each battery has 6 cells that produce 2.2 volts each. 6 x2.2 = 13.2 . So at 12 volts it is discharged 10%. Start batteries are not designed to be fully discharged. The are designed for short heavy load ( starting).

A gas motor only need one to start. The diesels need more amps to start

 

I've seen too many starters burn up from running one group 31, even on a powerstroke with lower compression,

I would keep the two in the truck and find a spot in a storage box in the camper for a couple good deep cycle batteries, plus there cheaper and made to do what you need, slow pull over extended time vs high pull over short time.

If longevity is key and they will be used periodically I recommend two six volt golf cart batteries ran in series to make twelve, if properly maintained you can get a decade out of a set, run you about $170 each depending on where you shop, they don't have to be golf cart either, just a 6v deep cycle with your desired capacity/space, sometimes the "golf cart" label raises the price.

A good person to talk to about six bolt batteries is anyone that uses scissor lifts, they use 6v batteries and see a lot of drain and charge cycles, someone should point you in the right direction to a good brand.

You could always add some solar panels later to offset having to run the truck if this is a live in situation, panel brand isn't really important, find a decent warranty and blow your savings on the converter, cheap converters never last or put out the correct voltage.

 

I thinks Sams golf cart batteries are around 80