Any Draw On my Battery?

[Gerry]

Hi, Just got the new Tug ready to haul the Lady-Bug. It is a 2000 chevy Blazer LT with high mile but well maintianed,

I just added the Charging wire back to the 7 pin connector.

What a job getting my 260 lb body under the frame of the Blazer but after alot of dirt and rust falling into my eyes I got the wire back there.

We are leaving late Sept. for a fall excrusion up to the lakes reagion of Maine and the wife is already asking if furnace is all set to go..hmmm Better check it out.???

We are planning a 3 nights at a place with shore power. If I remember to switch converter over to 120V, Is there any juice run of Battery???

The remaining 7 days we will be traveling and may not have shore power again.

Gerry the canoebuilder

[Brian B-P]

With the stock converter in my Boler, the battery is completely disconnected from the rest of the trailer equipment when the shore power is turned on... so there's no draw on the battery (but no charging either).

Converters vary, some require manual switching, and some charge the battery, but I would be surprised to find one which drew current from the battery when properly switched for shore power.

If someone bypassed the converter and connected any device directly to the battery, that of course would keep drawing power. In my case, there would be no charging to make up for it. Fortunately, I have none of those.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Neither of my previous converters had switches to turn off the battery (in fact, they both used the battery as a filter). IMHO, the only way the battery would be providing energy instead receiving a charge would be if the converter's output voltage were to drop lower than the battery's voltage. Of course, that would likely only happen with a faulty converter or with faulty shore power causing the converter to shut itself down.

[Gerry]

In my case, there would be no charging to make up for it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohhh, Great Brian!!!
I was hopeing that going to campgrounds, and hooking up to shore power for 2 days would recharge my battery then I would be all set to go to another remote campsite for a few days then back to shore power again.
My converter has a 3 way toggle switch...Bat...off...120
But it also has a pull knob on the other end that has to be pulled out for the 120 to work.
Seems redundent. Is yours like this Brian????
I suppose I can check to see if Battery is charging by putting meter on wires to my battery while hooked up to shore power.
I wish I knew how to read my cheap meter with the dial with settings for different volts and about 5 different graduated scales to read but I usually just use it for continuety tests.
I will post results of test.
Gerry the canoebuilder

[Gerry]

Yup, Brian, your right no draw on Battery and also NO CHARGE while hooked up to shore power.
Guess I will bring along a Battery charger and have it run of campground shore power when I have it.
Thanks for the heads up because I thought I was getting a charge out of my converter.
How long would it take for my alternator on my TV bring the deep cycle battery back up after 2 days of boon-docking???
We will be traveling about 40 miles between campgrounds...wonder if it's enough
Gerry the canoebuilder

[Brian B-P]

My converter has a 3 way toggle switch...Bat...off...120
But it also has a pull knob on the other end that has to be pulled out for the 120 to work.
Seems redundent. Is yours like this Brian????

No, that's an earlier setup common on 13' Bolers. In my case, I have an automatic relay (which sticks sometimes) instead of the "Bat-off-120" switch, and household-style circuit breakers (normally just left on) instead of a master 120V AC power switch. Either system works...

[Brian B-P]

...NO CHARGE while hooked up to shore power.
Guess I will bring along a Battery charger and have it run of campground shore power when I have it.

Although there was an optional built-in charger for my converter, and I had an opportunity to buy one, just using a separate charger seems like a better plan, and has often been recommended in this forum. So far I have only used a charger at home before the trip, but I do take one along in case I want to do this.

How long would it take for my alternator on my TV bring the deep cycle battery back up after 2 days of boon-docking???
We will be traveling about 40 miles between campgrounds...wonder if it's enough

I doubt that's enough, but it depends on how much charge you have used up, and on all the details of the tug and trailer wiring, and whether you're also running a refrigerator on 12V while hoping that the battery charges.

In a couple of days you could use tens of amp-hours, so even in a perfect setup to get fully recharged in the one hour or so of the drive would take tens of amps of charge current... which isn't going to happen. If it's not so much charge to make up, and the wiring is big (lower resistance means better charge rate), and your karma is positive , maybe the drive is enough...

I have never gone to the effort of really monitoring my battery charge level before and after a drive to determine how effective my tug connection really is. Another project for the list...

[Pete Dumbleton]

The problem with tug-charging, esp short distances, is not only the wiring losses to the egg battery, but also that the tug's charging system sees *both* batteries, one of which is charged, so it likely limits the charge to some sort of average.

[Gerry]

Thaks guys, you sure know your lectricity.
I will be bringing along my battery charger so I can recharge at the camps that have power.
Gerry the canoebuilder