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Camper wiring and auxilary battery hookup?

tsunami

By tsunami
in Audio, Electronics & Software

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tsunami New Member

tsunami

Posted
Posted

I have a 2013 Silverado HD 2500 6.0L. It came from the factory with the Camper Wiring Option.

I was able to install the wiring with a 7-conductor outlet in the truck bed.

 

However, the power lead is always hot. It is apparent that the Camper Wiring Option setup is independent of any auxilary battery wiring. My window 'sticker' mentions

the camper wiring option but nothing about an auxilary battery or its wiring.

 

I plan on installing an auxilary battery, along with a battery isolator selenoid, if needed.

 

I have been unable to find any OEM wiring schematic which shows from where the camper constant power feeds.

 

I have OEM IBC brake controls.

 

So to keep things simple:

1) what always-on power wire leads from the engine compartment to the Camper Wiring harness?

2) what is the easiest way to detach this wire so that it can be fed from an add-on auxilary battery?

 

 

 

Any assistance would be appreciated.

  • 2 weeks later...
slj2008 Senior Enthusiast

slj2008

Posted
Posted

check your main fuse block (under hood), there are two studs on the front one for trailer & other for brake control . remove wires and run to aux battery. yes you will have to add wire to them , plus fuse . Note : this was on by 2012 Chevy 1500 GOOD LUCK​​​

tsunami New Member

tsunami

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Posted

When I ordered my 2013 Silverado HD 2500, I included the "Pickup Camper Wiring" Option. I had assumed the option included the auxillary battery isolator solenoid and wiring. My previous Dodge Ram came with both the auxillary battery wiring and the camper wiring running to the truck box as one option package. GM has the two wirings as two separate options for the 6.0L gas engine. My dealer never told me that the two options were separate. My 2500 HD did come with the 'trailer' control option.

 

It took me a few days of Googling and YouTubing to get a complete idea of what I needed:

 

5/16 inch x 4 Gauge wire lugs to be swaged onto the battery connection wires

10 ft of 4 gauge red battery wire to connect main battery to battery isolator/auxillary battery + 10 ft of red plastic corrugated wire 'loom' to cover the wire.

150 amp 'barrel-type' inline fuse to protect new positive battery feed (swaged to new wire adjacent to main battery).

10 ft of 4 gauge black ground wire +10 ft of black wire loom to feed from main battery directly to auxillary battery. I found out that just grounding the auxillary battery to a common chassis ground is NOT allowed! The OEM Hall sensor will start to have problems!

150 amp Cole Hersee Smart Battery Isolator. I had first assumed that i could use an moderately inexpensive standard mechanic battery isolator/relay. I found a GM notification that warns that a diode has to be wired between the two smaller control studs on the battery isolator if a standard isolator is used...without the diode...power transients can occur in the isolator which will feed back to the alternator, and possibly do damage. The Cole Hersee Smart isolator costs about 3 times as much as a standard mechanical one...but the smart isolator does not engage for several minutes while the main battery is feeding power to the starter. This automatically removes the transient problem. In addition...it shuts down about one minute after the engine is shut off...also preventing any possible transient feeds. In addition, if you use a standard mechanical isolator you have to run a low amp wire from inside the main engine fuse box from a fused feed that only is active when the engine is running. The Cole Hersee does not need a 'sensing' control feed because its own internal system can detect when the engine has been started or shut off. The smart isolator also has a 'bump' wire that allows you to add a small 150mAmp switch wired to the auxillary battery...when activated the main 150 amp isolator circuit is closed allowing power from the auxillary battery to be used to help 'jump start' a dead main battery. No need for an additional jump start switch to by pass the mechanical isolator!

Another 150 amp 'barrel-type' in-line fuse swaged to the power wire running from the isolator to the auxillary battery.

An inexpensive battery hold down clamp from local GM dealer.

The Camper Wiring 12VDC power wire is (as mentioned by another member) wired to the 'outer' terminal lug located on the forward side of the main fuse box. It is the driver side (right)

red/black wire. The left-side (passenger) wire is the power feed for the trailer brake wiring assembly.

The camper wiring power feed wire is connected to the auxillary battery positive terminal through an added in-line 40 amp fuse.

There will always be power fed to the camping wiring...but only the auxillary battery will be drained down. To have an automatic cutoff for the camper wiring itself would require another

power relay control. I decided I did not want to add further complications to the circuitry!

 

Total cost was about $200.

 

 

 

 

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