I have the tow package on my pickup and I've checked the fuses under the hood but my batteries aren't staying charged on my 5er. Does anybody know what fuse controls the charging of the batteries on a 5er? Is the charge just a small trickle charge or is it more then just a trickle? Thanks

 

Have you verified your plug is working correctly?

When the tow vehicle is running and your 5'er is connected, the batteries will charge. This setup won't take dead batteries and fully charge them (at least mine won't), but a long haul will give a decent charge to a partially charged battery.

My '97 with the tow package has an extra fuse box under the hood on the driver's side. Check those fuses. The box lid might give an indication as to what each fuse controls.

How old are the batteries? Is the fluid level correct? Terminals clean?

You might want to ask this question over in the 'Trailer' forum, too.

 

Thanks, There is seven plugs on the connection, six of them are used IIRC. The 12v one, I can't remember, is that for charging or for the brakes? I'll have to run a check on all of them and see. I have two year old lifeline gel batteries, I think that's what they are called, I know that they are very expensive. Terminals are clean. I'm just probably expecting to much because I'm running a converter and a small refrigerator inside the camper while I'm driving.

 

When I travel, I run my fridge on propane. All seven wires of the connector have a function. I tried to find a wiring diagram, but wasn't successful.

My factory tow package has a 'diagram' on the inside of the connector lid. It's hard to see, but it shows what each pin is for.

You could try searching for '7-Pin Connector Diagram' in this forum to see what comes up.

I had a similar problem with the trailer battery not charging while towing. Turns out there were several wiring issues, in the trailer AND with the trailer connector.

One problem I corrected was the trailer plug interior wiring showed signs of burning. I cut away the burned wiring ends and installed a new 7-pin plug. I've had no charging problems since I made that fix.

 

Here's what I think will help you. This is from the 'Towing, Trailer' thread. When I have trailer related questions and issues, I go there.

This is a specific link that shows what each pin activates:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/5...g-diagram.html

 

Check your 7 pin plug on the pickup and see if the 12V charge pin is hot. Mine was not, the wire in the harness was not connected to the plug and appeared to be set up that way from the factory. It was taped up inside the harness. Also, 12V refrigerators pull a ton of juice. Maybe the charge line is working and not keeping up? Can you run on propane instead?

 

The battery charge wire is NOT hooked up from the factory like on yours. It's that way on all of them. You need the 7 pin connector and you have to wire that one into it yourself.
When these trucks were built they knew battery charge was going to be used on campers but it wasn't yet in use by any camper manufacturers. They charged the brake emergency disconnect battery off of the brake lights back then. It only charged when the brake lights were on. If you have a new camper you should be set as far as the wiring on it for battery charge. If it's more than 5 years old or so then you have to do some rewiring for it to work like your truck was intended for.
I carry a slide in and I have solar panels. Also a big horse trailer. I wired the solar panels and the battery charge wire to a switch where I can switch from alternator charge, Solar battery charge and from either all batteries, including truck or just the camper and trailer batteries.

I can also run the camper on the truck batteries if I want. And the wires are heavy enough where I can start the truck on either the truck batteries, camper batteries or trailer battery.

It took a lot of creative and expensive wiring to do all this.

 

My wiring must be good, it worked today by stopping once and running my generator for 45 minutes to charge the battery's. My main refri runs on gas when driving. I have two mini refrigerators that I run off a 3000 watt convertor when I drive. It must be just a trickle charge, yesterday the convertor was buzzing after all day driving, today it wasn't. The key then to keep my two mini's running is to stop and give it a charge during lunch. Thanks for all the help and the diagram. I'm still going to check the wiring when I get to where I'm going. RRanch, do solar panels work going down the road?

 

My solar panel is wired directly in to the incoming power source. It'll charge the battery by itself, generally replacing juice that was used during the previous evening plus more, so it really does seem to be charging. I tested it once and IIRC, it's putting out 15.0 - 15.5 volts.

To test it once, I removed the battery and disconnected shore power. With only the solar panel providing energy, I was able to run the radio, heater, water pump, and some lights for several hours during the day. The water heater and fridge were on propane.

I haven't tested this for an extended (overnight) period. The load mentioned above is probably at the upper limit of what my one panel can handle.

I disconnected shore power today to see if the battery will lose any of it's charge. It's not a new battery, but it isn't ancient (in the trailer world) either. I want to find out if it's time to install the two 6-volt batteries my Dad gave me.

I'm glad to hear everything is working. I'm betting running a total of three refridgerators (main plus two mini's) at the same time is more than the one battery can handle.

 

The solar panels work great. They won't keep up with those refrigerators though. They will easily keep the batteries up running all the lights, a heater and refrigerator in mine though.
I'm not sure the wattage on mine but we have two of them. I'm real happy. They work whenever the sun is out and even if it's cloudy. Doesn't matter driving at all.

 

Craig, I'm running the two mini refri going down the road. The main big refri is on gas. I have two trailer batteries, lifeline gel batteries. Without the refrigerators (small ones) I once watched Satellite TV and ran all the lights for four hours before beap-beap from the convertor. I didn't know a solar panel would work driving down the road, that's good to know, RRanch. I'll have to look into that. Do you guys know a good source of solar panels? Thanks

 

Glenn, Harbor Freight has them.

 

Alright Jim, Thanks! I've been calling it a convertor, I always get that mixed up. I believe the proper term is invertor but I stand to be corrected.

 

I was referring to the solar panel question ...

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

OH, OK, I'll check it out.