Electrical question

[John LaPatka]

Would I be able to maintain or charge my truck battery through the 7 pin trailer plug??  If I have the truck plugged into a trailer with a 12 volt battery and battery maintainer powered by a generator?  I’m looking to use the WiFi in the truck without having the truck running.

[Transient]

Ooh, good question.  I may be wrong, so I'm not going to be able to answer and will leave it to somebody with more knowledge.  I'm going to follow along for the basis of learning something.  I think I may know, but I could be surprised. 

[Supreme Pizza]

12 hours ago, John LaPatka said:

Would I be able to maintain or charge my truck battery through the 7 pin trailer plug??  If I have the truck plugged into a trailer with a 12 volt battery and battery maintainer powered by a generator?  I’m looking to use the WiFi in the truck without having the truck running.

 

 

Well, if you have an electrical tester, all you would have to do is turn the truck off, and then probe the terminals on the trailer wiring outlet. If any of them are 12V+, then yes you can charge (or more accurately"maintain") your battery that way. However, the power supply would need to be regulated, and not just 12V+ constant. You could use a battery charger or similar device as long as its "automatic".

 

 

 

[silveradosid]

you would have to have the key on, but yes you could

[John LaPatka]

10 hours ago, Supreme Pizza said:

 

 

Well, if you have an electrical tester, all you would have to do is turn the truck off, and then probe the terminals on the trailer wiring outlet. If any of them are 12V+, then yes you can charge (or more accurately"maintain") your battery that way. However, the power supply would need to be regulated, and not just 12V+ constant. You could use a battery charger or similar device as long as its "automatic".

 

 

 

I wired my trailer as such that the trailer battery is being maintained by the truck while connected.  So I guess I’m just wondering if it would feed back in reverse? I currently use a 2 amp automatic maintainer to maintain the battery in the trailer but I would probably need to get a larger maintainer then 2amp to keep up with the truck being on in accessory mode?  

[Supreme Pizza]

33 minutes ago, John LaPatka said:

I wired my trailer as such that the trailer battery is being maintained by the truck while connected.  So I guess I’m just wondering if it would feed back in reverse? I currently use a 2 amp automatic maintainer to maintain the battery in the trailer but I would probably need to get a larger maintainer then 2amp to keep up with the truck being on in accessory mode?  

 

 

 

A 2 amp trickle charger is not very "powerful" - pardon the pun. They mainly just .. maintain.

 

If you are using any significant power from the truck, you would probably want a more powerful charger.

 

You can also get a low battery alarm, or an automatic low battery disconnect - which cuts off the power if the battery is starting to get almost low enough that it would not be able to start the truck.

 

As far as the feedback is concerned - the power will flow both directions through a wire, as long as its not equipped with a diode.

[John LaPatka]

2 hours ago, Supreme Pizza said:

 

 

 

A 2 amp trickle charger is not very "powerful" - pardon the pun. They mainly just .. maintain.

 

If you are using any significant power from the truck, you would probably want a more powerful charger.

 

You can also get a low battery alarm, or an automatic low battery disconnect - which cuts off the power if the battery is starting to get almost low enough that it would not be able to start the truck.

 

As far as the feedback is concerned - the power will flow both directions through a wire, as long as its not equipped with a diode.

That is what I was thinking, any idea if there is A diode on a 2019 Silverado on that 12v wire going to the trailer plug?  Assuming I can check by putting a larger maintainer in my trailer and checking the amps at the truck battery with the truck turned off?  

[Supreme Pizza]

Just now, John LaPatka said:

That is what I was thinking, any idea if there is A diode on a 2019 Silverado on that 12v wire going to the trailer plug?  Assuming I can check by putting a larger maintainer in my trailer and checking the amps at the truck battery with the truck turned off?  

 

Just now, John LaPatka said:

That is what I was thinking, any idea if there is A diode on a 2019 Silverado on that 12v wire going to the trailer plug?  Assuming I can check by putting a larger maintainer in my trailer and checking the amps at the truck battery with the truck turned off?  

 

 

 

Ya, that's a good idea. That's probably the easiest and most direct way to do it. I would check the voltage at the battery. It will probably be something like 12.66 volts give or take. Then once the charger is hooked up, that voltage should go up. For example it might show 12.87. Then back to 12.66 when you disconnect the charger.