Toad battery discharge

[Bobbyba]

Travel from SC to AZ recently. We took our time traveling taking 7 days to travel. Everyday we started and ran the engine on our toad. ( 2016 Buick Enclave ). 10 days after we arrived in AZ we discovered we had a dead battery. Luckily our warranty covered the new battery cost. In 7 days we are planning our return trip. Any suggestions or ideas to offer to prevent a repeat of draining our toad battery ?

[Iggy]

So the battery failed because it was dead?
Did Buick check you r charging system in the car?
Did they tell you that the battery failed because a cell or two broke and the battery only produced 9 volts?
So I have no idea if it will fail again. Roll the dice.

[Bobbyba]

First went dead on Sat out of no where. Went to dealer and they took battery out of vehicle and checked and charged battery. Sun morning battery was dead again. Took to dealer today and they tested again and stated "battery will not hold charge so they will replace ". Did not offer if one cell or how many cells were dead.

[Iggy]

"battery will not hold charge"
It failed. Now you have a new one.
I would have them check your car charging system next visit.
Thank can be the only other answer.

[Bobbyba]

Thanks Iggy.

[grumpy0374]

What type of aux brake system do you have on the Buick?
You may not realize it, but when you hit the brakes in your rig, your also applying the brakes to the toad. Your brake system, if its a floor mount type, uses electricity from the battery to operate. Over a lond day of driving, the battery may be discharged.
You say you start the Buick, but for how long? If it's just a short time, or you haven't driven it, the battery will not go back to a full charge.
Thats why you may need a trickle battery charger that draws its charge from your rig via a hot wire either in your rigs trailes wireing or via a wire run directly from the rigs battery.
As an example, look up RVI2/RVI3 braking systems and look at their towed vehicle battery charger. It's only an example of the type of hook up you might look into, but their online instructions make it clear just what I'm talking about.
Have one on our Lexi, 3 years now, and still working off the OE battery in our 2013 Subaru Crosstrek.
Grumpy

[Flybob]

Originally Posted by Bobbyba

Everyday we started and ran the engine on our toad. ?

This is actually part of your problem. It takes a pretty good bit of battery power to start the car however running at idle for a short period of time will not replace the charge used to start the vehicle. You would need to drive it ( at speed) for a while to accomplish that. This in addition to the power used by the braking system will kill the battery as you have seen.

[Bobbyba]

What is the amount of time that you would suggest running/driving the car after a 6 hour tow? I ran the car about 20 mins everyday. But I will confess I did not unhook and drive much. I will be looking into a trickle charge unit for my braking system when I return to SC.

[grumpy0374]

It's not so much that you did a 6 hour tow. Once/twice normally wouldn't be a problem. But on a week long trip, only starting it for a few minutes at idle, did nothing to recharge the battery.
Driving it, at speed. for at least 30-45 minutes every other day should keep it charged. A trickle charger will keep the battery at charge while you are driving, and will maintain the charge.
It will not "over charge" the battery as most good ones will "read" that the battery is fully charged, and will only charge as needed.
As an alternative, you could get a Battery Tender Trickle Charger, which runs off 110 volts. At the end of your day, if your not driving the toad, simply plug it into the campground pedestal, 110 volt side and hook it up to your Buick's battery. This would trickle charge it overnight and you wouldn't have to worry about driving the Buick.
Grumpy

[mogman]

Had a similar problem with our Dodge Dakota. I found a 12v hot terminal on the 7 pin towing plug so I ran a wire to the toad batterywith a disconnect in the middle.
3 month trip to Alaska........no dead battery!!!

[swamprat26]

http://www.lslproducts.net/ToadChargePage.html

[JBP]

Have a lead run from the 7 pin connector on the coach to the car battery. Works good on my tow.