Another dumb newbie question

[Ole Buzzard]

Picking up our new 2104S on Saturday. I saw somewhere that when the rv is plugged into the tv the charging system of the truck will charge the battery on the rv.True? Will it full charge the battery?

[TURBS]

yes, as long as your tv has the charge wire hooked up and or the fuse in place .
Since you dont say what you have for a tv its hard to say.



TURBS

[Ole Buzzard]

2013F250 gasser super cab long bed.

[Engauge]

If your Ford is anything like mine when you picked up the vehicle there was a bag with a relay in it. This relay needs to be plugged into the fuse box to enable the charge circuit on the wiring harness.

[TURBS]

with the key on open your 7 way socket lid and probe the prong at 1 o-clock that will be your power lead.
if no power you may need to add the fuse OR relay to the fuse panel.

[TURBS]

[rockwood06]

GM has this wire but they do not hook it up, mine was laying behine the fuse box under the hood. I had to add the fuse then connected it to the fuse block.

[rockwood06]

By the way....there are no dumb questions here....if you have questions and you don't ask them then that is dumb....if each one of us knew it all then there would be no reason for this forum, so ask away

[asquared]

ok another dumb question, when checking the pin on the 7 way, how much voltage should it be?

[Toad Haul]

So...where does it go in the fuse box? Is it marked as charge circuit or something similar?

[Engauge]

Originally Posted by doverfel

So...where does it go in the fuse box? Is it marked as charge circuit or something similar?

Your owners manual should have a layout for the fuse box in the passenger compartment and the power distribution box under the hood.

My owners manual for the F150 FX4 show the relay located under the hood in the power distribution box. In the power distribution box location 9 is for the Trailer Tow Battery Charge Relay.

Make sure the relay is in place. When I picked mine up from the dealer it was in the glove box in a plastic back. The relay was only labeled with a part number and no description.

[Indymule]

My F150 required a relay in space 9 and a 30 amp fuse in space 21 in the box located under the hood. Manual clearly labeled them as Travel Trailer 12 volt.

[Sharpey31]

I ah no idea about this, I have a 2011 F150 FX4, how would I know about needing any of this my truck has been fine?

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by anaro

ok another dumb question, when checking the pin on the 7 way, how much voltage should it be?

Same as your truck battery voltage.



Turbs

[mjones12]

If my electric tongue jack is sluggish due to weakened battery, plugging into the truck seems to perk it up. Does this mean my truck is also wired to charge the battery during towing? Thanks.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Sharpey31

I ah no idea about this, I have a 2011 F150 FX4, how would I know about needing any of this my truck has been fine?

Post 2 - 5-6 tell you how to check and where.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by mjones12

If my electric tongue jack is sluggish due to weakened battery, plugging into the truck seems to perk it up. Does this mean my truck is also wired to charge the battery during towing? Thanks.

Yes it is.

If you have power at your plug as described.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by Texas flamingo

Picking up our new 2104S on Saturday. I saw somewhere that when the rv is plugged into the tv the charging system of the truck will charge the battery on the rv.True? Will it full charge the battery?

This question gets asked here a lot. You've already gotten answers on
how to make sure your battery lead is connected to the RV plug at the
rear bumper of your truck.

Your REAL question to me anyway is "will it FULLY charge your trailer
battery"?
My answer is probably NOT. The problem is your engine battery is
close to the alternator which has a built in voltage regulator. When you
start your truck, the alternator puts out slightly higher voltage to charge
the engine battery. Once the engine battery is full the voltage regulator
lowers the voltage slightly so as not to overcharge the engine battery.
Note I keep saying ENGINE battery.
The problem is the TRAILER battery is a long way down stream and there
are some voltage loss due to smallish wire size and distance and even loss
in the RV plug. The TRAILER battery might need hours of this higher voltage
to fully charge it but the voltage regulator in the engine won't see that
and it won't send that higher voltage that far downstream to give your
trailer battery a good charge.

Some folks here claim they get full charges while on the road. Many do
not. I've had 3 trailers and 2 trucks and even tho the battery lead was
connected thru the RV plug, I never could get much of a charge while
on the road.

On more than one occasion I have camped and run the trailer batteries down
further than I should have. Lights were slightly dim and REALLY dimmed
if the water pump ran. I drove at least a couple hours home or to the
next camping destination. Upon arrival our lights would be brighter but
within mere minutes they were back dim again. I don't get much charge
from the engine. My opinion is you probably won't either.

YMMV.

Happy Camping!