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Old 11-27-2020, 08:46 PM   #21
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I was referring to the OP wanting to keep the battery charged by having the truck plugged in to the trailer. For the 12Vt flow to the truck will need the 12V pin in the trailer plug on the truck to be active and that plug may or may not work with the key position depending on the truck.
I guesss I'll have to find out if that pin is left on when the system is diagnostics - I would think it would be. The comment about the trailer charging the truck was from a GM truck website. I also assumed there was battery maintainer for the trailer when the trailer had shore power.
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Old 11-28-2020, 09:37 AM   #22
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Originally Posted by dedobias View Post
I guesss I'll have to find out if that pin is left on when the system is diagnostics - I would think it would be. The comment about the trailer charging the truck was from a GM truck website. I also assumed there was battery maintainer for the trailer when the trailer had shore power.

GM Vehicles. I have posted about this in another thread too. Trailer Pin 4 is 12volt Aux charging. Many GM vehicles (even the ones will full tow packages) are shipped/delivered with Pin 4 disconnected. You need to go under your hood and look at the wiring harnesses near your fuse box. You will find that one of the harnesses have a red wire terminated with an O loop buried in it. Hook that up to one of the fuse box's external positive unswitched terminals (you need to supply your own nut). Then your tow vehicle will be powering Pin 4, Aux charging to the trailer. Be advised, you can discharge your tow vehicle's battery, as this is an unswitched circuit.
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Old 11-28-2020, 09:42 AM   #23
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Found the thread where I posted pics of the Pin 4 power connection next to your fuse box.

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...er-216890.html
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Old 11-28-2020, 10:14 AM   #24
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Found the thread where I posted pics of the Pin 4 power connection next to your fuse box.

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...er-216890.html

Thanks for posting this thread. Good info to have for us GM owners.
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Old 11-28-2020, 12:12 PM   #25
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If the TV battery has less voltage than the trailer battery does the trailer battery (with converter powered) charge theTV battery via pin 4?
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Old 11-28-2020, 12:58 PM   #26
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If the TV battery has less voltage than the trailer battery does the trailer battery (with converter powered) charge theTV battery via pin 4?
That's a good question that I didn't think about. If I can find a schematic electrical diagram, I'll search for inline diodes.

Was going to add an under-hood switch on my Truck for pin 4. Will now add a diode too. I hear that Radio Shack will soon be back in business, but online only......
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Old 11-28-2020, 04:22 PM   #27
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That's a good question that I didn't think about. If I can find a schematic electrical diagram, I'll search for inline diodes.

Was going to add an under-hood switch on my Truck for pin 4. Will now add a diode too. I hear that Radio Shack will soon be back in business, but online only......

You are correct....



https://www.radioshack.com
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Old 12-01-2020, 01:15 PM   #28
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Originally Posted by emm-dee View Post
If the TV battery has less voltage than the trailer battery does the trailer battery (with converter powered) charge theTV battery via pin 4?
The trailer battery definitely will charge the TV battery in my 2019 Sierra.

We were on a 2+ hour ferry ride to the Outer Banks running 12v stuff in the truck using the Acc mode. I happened to look at the trailer battery monitor app on my phone and was shocked at the draw on the trailer battery. Hopped out and unplugged since we were dry camping for 10 days.

Don't know about the charge coming from the 4 pin.
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Old 12-01-2020, 02:17 PM   #29
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The trailer battery definitely will charge the TV battery in my 2019 Sierra.

We were on a 2+ hour ferry ride to the Outer Banks running 12v stuff in the truck using the Acc mode. I happened to look at the trailer battery monitor app on my phone and was shocked at the draw on the trailer battery. Hopped out and unplugged since we were dry camping for 10 days.

Don't know about the charge coming from the 4 pin.

If your lights and brakes were off, then the only means of draw was via pin 4. Installing a diode in line would stop the TV from drawing current from the TT. This is a simple exercise.
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Old 12-03-2020, 07:35 PM   #30
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Is your Ontario that much better than your cell phone? Unless they have changed things a bunch there are separate systems. Satellite for emergency and cell for normal communications.
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Old 12-03-2020, 08:20 PM   #31
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can also confirm no shutdown on my hotspot, i have the one that is really just onstar re-branded as subaru starlink but i turn the car on in acc mode and leave the rv plug connected at the neck of the trailer.
the camper has a wifi ranger on the roof and i just connect that to the car and that more than takes care of the wifi signal boosting, and its fast enough that streaming netflix or NBC in the morning has zero issues in most areas.

have had it going for as much as 2 days (i left the camper to continue riding the atv at that point, it stopped raining) and just let the converter and solar controller keep the vehicle battery charged while i'm parked.

i will say (from my experience in IT) that these hotspot will in general shutdown data communications if there is not a sufficient amount of data throughput to make it think it is being used.
they do this to reduce the connection overhead that the hotspot being connected to the cell tower incurs; its not much but if you times that by 10s of 1000s then it can take significant chunks out of a towers aggregate bandwidth.

so if you for instance run spotify or pandora and leave it going, that should prevent the inactivity timeout from triggering on most hotspots.
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Old 12-03-2020, 08:53 PM   #32
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We have a 2018 Silverado PU. It has a wifi hot spot that we use all day. I hook up our battery charger that I plug into a 120V socket, either the trailer's or the power post that keeps the battery charged. I just have to remember to shut off the lights and other current vampires in the truck.
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Old 12-03-2020, 09:01 PM   #33
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Here is my experience with using the Onstar (AT&T) WiFi in my 2019 Silverado 2500.
The WiFi does not turn off after a prescribed amount of time.
I also got in on the $15/month deal during COVID this year and the data is truly unlimited, unlike the data on your cell phone which chokes down to an un-usable data rate after you have used a certain amount.
We have a WiFi Camp Pro 2 that we simply put next to a window inside the fiver and then connect to the WiFi of the Silverado. We have watched several movies back-to-back without having to step out of the fiver to do anything to the truck.
My only complaint is that I have to leave the truck switched to the ACC mode with the keys in it. I was hoping that someone had a work around (re-wiring job) to turn the system on without having to use the key.
We have found that it works really good as long as we are in an area with a decent AT&T wireless signal.
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Old 12-03-2020, 09:06 PM   #34
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Why don't you just use your cell phone as a wifi hotspot. Much easier than trying to do what you are. Onstar is only on if the truck is... Forget about it and use the cell.
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Old 12-03-2020, 09:22 PM   #35
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Why don't you just use your cell phone as a wifi hotspot. Much easier than trying to do what you are. Onstar is only on if the truck is... Forget about it and use the cell.
The hotspot on your cell phone is not truly unlimited data. The data rate is throttled back to a level that is not usable for streaming or surfing after you have exceeded a set number (varies by carrier and plan). The Onstar data is truly unlimited.
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Old 12-03-2020, 09:27 PM   #36
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Why don't you just use your cell phone as a wifi hotspot. Much easier than trying to do what you are. Onstar is only on if the truck is... Forget about it and use the cell.

Well, for one thing, living in an area with no cell coverage 4 - 5 months out of the year, I don't pay for a plan (T-mobile) that includes cell data - I can use WiFi data (and calling). I also don't get OnStar coverage at the house. (~50miles to the nearest stoplight). For me, having the ATT coverage when near the "big city" or going down the road is worth it. In a campground, it is more secure than park WiFi. At $15/mo, it is cheaper than a cell with data plan.
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Old 12-03-2020, 09:29 PM   #37
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Got more info on the movement detection issue. Apparently it is not applicable to most models at this time, with "at this time" being the key. When the original Harmon Spark and Mobley devices that plug into the OBDI port were introduced they came with a SIM card installed. If they were plugged into a Ford then they were powered regardless of key position. In a Ram/Dodge vehicle they remained powered for 15 minutes after the key was turned off. Don't know about GM vehicles. The devices could be moved into the RV and powered via an adapter that supplied 12 volt power. Worked good, never went to sleep. This was vintage 2012 or so and later.

Later, AT&T discontinued the Mobley and now only offers the Harmon Spark for vehicles not equipped with the factory supplied wi-fi equipment. The normal monthly charge of $20 or so is the same for the plug in devices or the factory system.

Since the sim used in the original Mobley and Spark could be moved to a Unite Express or Netgear Nighthawk (against the terms of service but rarely enforced) AT&T changed the Spark to have a built in "sim" and it's not removable. At the same time the device was modified to have the shutdown feature activate if it detected no movement for 15 minutes.

So, the non-movement detect shutdown is a hardware feature which is currently not built in to current wi-fi equipped vehicles. It will appear at some time in the near future if AT&T has its way but current vehicles should not be affected (it's hardware, not a software update).
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Old 12-03-2020, 10:39 PM   #38
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The hotspot on your cell phone is not truly unlimited data. The data rate is throttled back to a level that is not usable for streaming or surfing after you have exceeded a set number (varies by carrier and plan). The Onstar data is truly unlimited.
I think you are wrong. I use mine for the time, I stream, do email and browse all at once. Nothing is throttled. I use T-mobile unlimited everything. They now are in the internet business and you can get just a hot spot for $60/mo. Check it out. If you have problems with things getting slow it us not throwing, but instead your own equipment.
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Old 12-04-2020, 05:56 AM   #39
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Don’t forget to start the truck every 15-20 minutes and drive it around the block. If the system senses no movement for that amount of time it will shut down.
It has been my experience that this is not true on my 2017 Silverado Crew Cab. On several occasions I have used the WiFi on my truck not only boosted through Winegard but WiFi Ranger also for well over an hour with the ignition set to accessory. One instance did drain the battery enough to make it turn over slowly so remember to start the vehicle to charge the battery. Do not stream your TV's or too many videos or AT&T will disable the account, it is monitored. Light usage for email has never been a problem for me though.
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Old 12-04-2020, 09:23 AM   #40
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It has been my experience that this is not true on my 2017 Silverado Crew Cab. On several occasions I have used the WiFi on my truck not only boosted through Winegard but WiFi Ranger also for well over an hour with the ignition set to accessory. One instance did drain the battery enough to make it turn over slowly so remember to start the vehicle to charge the battery. Do not stream your TV's or too many videos or AT&T will disable the account, it is monitored. Light usage for email has never been a problem for me though.
See the update in post #37.

I’ve regularly used over 200 gig a month on the AT&T Connected Car $20 plan with no problems (I’ve had it for four years). The only time I’ve noticed network management is in severely congested areas (ie, a Nascar race or a college football game or similarly crowded event). However, the same problems affect my normal AT&T cellphone which has a 50 gig unrestricted service limit. After 50 gig in a month the service doesn’t slow...it stops. Since starting to use both AT&T and Verizon hotspots my original plan rarely exceeds 5-6 gig monthly.

Using a combination of vehicle WiFi, hotspots and cellphone tethering one should never have a problem with data usage.
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