Adding Battery to Trailer for Hose Reel

in-too-deep · May 24, 2011

Have a 12v hose reel on our spray tender trailer. It's wired all the way up to the truck battery so it doesn't have much power.

Wanting to add a deep cycle battery to increase current to the reel motor. Can I hook up the power lead from the truck right to the new battery or will it overcharge it?

Is there a type of a 12V trickle charger that will maintain the bettery from the truck's charging system?

I have a small 120V AC trickle charger but I won't remember to plug it in. Advice is much appreciated. Too muddy to plant here in NW central MN.

jackinok · May 24, 2011

if your truck is one of the newer ones with the kind of universal type trailer plug on back, its probably already wired for this .nearly all camping trailers and things that are equiped with 12volt systems are wired to charge off tow vehicle.I dont recall though which terminal is which ,but it would be easy to find that info on net.

in-too-deep · May 24, 2011

Thanks for the reply, but this is on a semi-tractor and we've already got it wired to the battery with a separate hook-up at the trailer connections. Thanks though!

KEB1 · May 24, 2011

RV's are set up to charge the coach or trailer battery through a relay that disconnects the second battery when the engine is not running. The idea is to connect the second battery in parallel with the vehicle battery when the engine is running and the alternator is available to provide charging current, and then disconnect it when the engine is not running so that loads on the auxillary battery don't discharge the vehicle battery.

Any RV supply place can sell you the necessary components along with the instructions on how to wire it.

The battery isolation relays look very similar to an older starter selenoid, but are intended for continuous use rather than the intermittant use that a starter selenoid gets.

Keith

in-too-deep · May 24, 2011

Great info, thanks Keith.

jackinok · May 24, 2011

If you already have it wired and its not charging enough,I would guess your wires are not large enough.you might try a converter to power your maintainer(dc to ac) but that would be a really ineffecient way of getting there. a dc to dc converter would work if you wanted to convert from say 24 or 48 volts to 12 volts and could be adapted to be a type of maintainer fairly easily.but it would run down your truck batteries also,so you wouldnt gain a whole not but headaches.since you would have to start truck frequently to charge anyway.

in-too-deep · May 24, 2011

I don't have a battery on the trailer at all right now, just
wires running up to the truck and there's too much current
drop. I'm adding a battery as kind of a reserve. Will the new
battery overcharge if hooked up direct to the truck batteries?

bobs old iron · May 24, 2011

on my truck, it has rear [bumper]r-v plug, should have 30-50 amps going thru it when key is on. i wouldn"t advise a deep cycle batt, you can if wanted to. they are a slow drain style, use a regular batt to get to juice to operate your pump, get better power for it. and what info others have given to go on. if you use trickle charger, put a note some where to remind you to plug it in, after un-hooking.

jackinok · May 24, 2011

no it wont overcharge,not as long as your truck is 12volt you could add as many batteries as you want basically.do it all the time on battery banks of 20-30 batteries.be aware of how far down you run batteries though, you can exceed the out put of your alternator,then you have a whole other set of problems.

in-too-deep · May 24, 2011

Perfect, thanks Jack!

Pat-CT · May 24, 2011

It would just see it as a 12v battery still. One thing you have to keep in mind is the length of the wire running mack to the battery, Just for resistance sake. I would get your wire that you need, and run an ohm meeter from end to end just to make sure. People do this all the time with snowplows, competition audio and offroad applications where excessive winching is expected.

Adding Battery to Trailer for Hose Reel

in-too-deep

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jackinok

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in-too-deep

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KEB1

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in-too-deep

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jackinok

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in-too-deep

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bobs old iron

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jackinok

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in-too-deep

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Pat-CT

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