theoldwizard1
SE MI
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Joined: 09/07/2010
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I VEHEMNTLY DISAGREE !
The whole point of a DC-DC charger is to NOT require oversized charging cables ! It boost the voltage at the RV battery to the correct voltage to charge the battery using the standard vehicle/trailer wiring !
Even with your large gauge wire, you should check the voltage at your campers battery after about 10 minutes of driving and at high idle. If the battery is say 80% SOC, the voltage at the camper battery should be >14.0V.
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time2roll
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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Gdetrailer wrote:If a 300HP engine cannot stand a 3.5 HP (1%) alternator load without the need to alter the RPM it is time to scrap that engine design, it is junk.. This is about alternator RPM required to produce the power... not the capability of the engine.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675w Solar pictures back up
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NRALIFR
Truck Camping Out West
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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theoldwizard1 wrote:
I VEHEMNTLY DISAGREE !
The whole point of a DC-DC charger is to NOT require oversized charging cables ! It boost the voltage at the RV battery to the correct voltage to charge the battery using the standard vehicle/trailer wiring !
Even with your large gauge wire, you should check the voltage at your campers battery after about 10 minutes of driving and at high idle. If the battery is say 80% SOC, the voltage at the camper battery should be >14.0V.
Wiz, the standard trailer plug is only rated for 30 amps continuous, and I don’t think it’s even good for that. I’ve seen too many of them melted to believe they can sustain 30 amps.
The manufacturers all have wire gauge recommendations based on the length of the run and the DC charger output. For any DC charger over about 15-20 amps, you will very quickly exceed the capability of the standard trailer circuit.
I would recommend following the manufacturers recommendations for the input wires and fuses to the DC-DC charger you’re installing. The instructions for the 40 amp Redarc I’m using recommend 4 awg wires for the length of my circuit, which is between 25 and 30 feet.
![[emoticon]](https://forums.goodsamclub.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
2001 Lance 1121 on a 2016 F450
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NRALIFR
Truck Camping Out West
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Joined: 11/27/2005
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Here’s a YouTube video of a guy demonstrating BCP on his F250 Superduty. Not sure what year exactly his truck is, if he said it I missed it. But, based on the grill style, I’d say is in the 2012-2016 range. This is how my truck behaves with BCP enabled.
The drop in RPM’s when BCP is first engaged is normal. The Ford tech that helped me with mine initially thought something was wrong when we first engaged it because the RPM on my 2010 F450 would go UP when BCP was engaged. It took a phone call to his support line to find out that it was working as designed.
BCP Demo
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S Davis
Western WA
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Joined: 08/11/2005
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theoldwizard1 wrote:
I VEHEMNTLY DISAGREE !
The whole point of a DC-DC charger is to NOT require oversized charging cables ! It boost the voltage at the RV battery to the correct voltage to charge the battery using the standard vehicle/trailer wiring !
Even with your large gauge wire, you should check the voltage at your campers battery after about 10 minutes of driving and at high idle. If the battery is say 80% SOC, the voltage at the camper battery should be >14.0V.
I think some of your info is not accurate, you keep talking in these threads about smart charging and the ECM controlling voltage and now engine RPM. You have been stating that you can’t use vehicle charging effectively because the charging system will lower the voltage after a few minutes to 13 volts or so, now I will state here I don’t know about Ford or Dodge/Ram but all of my Chevrolet HD trucks since 2003 do not do this, the alternator keeps voltage steady all the time, I can drive for hours and it never changes.
This has been on four different Chevrolet trucks including a 2003 2500 HD gas truck and three 2500 HD diesel trucks, 2009, 2013 and 2019, so when you are making a blanket statement that something will not work because of smart charging you are misleading people IMHO. Also as stated before in this thread all the dc to dc chargers I looked at for my install recommend larger wire from the vehicle charging system, now admittedly I was only looking at 40 amp or larger dc to dc chargers. I am not trying to start an argument just stating my experience with GM HD trucks.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi all,
Here is what happens on my class C e-450 v-10.
I sometimes use the water heater on the electric setting while driving at highway speeds (50 mph).
After 20 minutes the voltage starts to sag.
I then turn OFF the inverter which stops charging.
After 40 minutes I turn back on. After a time the voltage drop reaches 12.3 and I turn off the inverter.
* This post was
edited 01/13/21 09:21am by pianotuna *
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp hours of AGM in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.
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StirCrazy
Kamloops, BC, Canada
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Joined: 07/16/2003
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S Davis wrote:theoldwizard1 wrote:
I VEHEMNTLY DISAGREE !
The whole point of a DC-DC charger is to NOT require oversized charging cables ! It boost the voltage at the RV battery to the correct voltage to charge the battery using the standard vehicle/trailer wiring !
Even with your large gauge wire, you should check the voltage at your campers battery after about 10 minutes of driving and at high idle. If the battery is say 80% SOC, the voltage at the camper battery should be >14.0V.
I think some of your info is not accurate, you keep talking in these threads about smart charging and the ECM controlling voltage and now engine RPM. You have been stating that you can’t use vehicle charging effectively because the charging system will lower the voltage after a few minutes to 13 volts or so, now I will state here I don’t know about Ford or Dodge/Ram but all of my Chevrolet HD trucks since 2003 do not do this, the alternator keeps voltage steady all the time, I can drive for hours and it never changes.
My ford will, but only if the batteries are topped off, if there is a draw on the batteries the voltage will stay up untill the battery is charged. this type of system was not on the fords untill .. I want to say around 2011ish, probably be simular with the gm. I dont see the battery guage move inside the truck as they are just an idiot guage, but if I watch the multimeter in the driveway after a while it will drop off to cover just the accessories you have running and a trickel to the batteries to keep them topped off. makes batteries last longer I guess.
Steve
2014 F350 6.7 Platinum
2016 Cougar 330RBK
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S Davis
Western WA
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I have a digital volt meter to keep track of the truck voltage, it runs between 14.4 and 14.6 volts, I have driven up to about five hours straight and it never changes.
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RSD559
Northern Utah
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Joined: 07/09/2003
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I have the Renogy 50 amp DC2DC that I will be putting into my 2015 F-350. I'm connecting the relay that powers it to an upfitter switch. I only plan on using it when the truck is rolling, but plan on having the high idle set up as a just in case. Note on the Renogy 50 amp charger, if you have solar also connected to it, and there is voltage on the solar side, the charger will only charge 25 amps on the DC2DC side.
2020 Torque T314 Toy Hauler Travel Trailer- 38' tip to tip.
2015 F-350 6.7L Diesel, SRW.
2021 Can Am Defender 6 seater. Barely fits in the toy hauler!
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otrfun
On The Road
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Joined: 09/08/2012
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S Davis wrote:I have a digital volt meter to keep track of the truck voltage, it runs between 14.4 and 14.6 volts, I have driven up to about five hours straight and it never changes. The battery voltage on our '16 Ram 3500 Cummins drops down to 13.9 - 14.0v once the batteries are fully charged. It typically takes at least an hour or so of steady freeway driving to get the batteries fully charged. Around town (which typically results in more battery loading and less charge time) the battery voltage hovers between 14.3 - 14.4v indicating the batteries are receiving a fair amount of charge current.
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