Progressive Dynamics pd4045ka

[BonesD]

Could some one tell me where on my PD 4045 KA converter to hook the 12 volt supply coming from the 7 pin connector attached to the tow vehicle?

All the other wiring is in and functioning but I would like to be able to charge up my trailer battery while on the road. I have two wires left from my 7 pin harness that I suppose is a hot an a negative/ground. However, I have not metered them to determine that yet
thanks

[Travelin2]

You can readily see the Battery + and - in this diagram...…

[redbarron55]

When I installed my PD4045 I had a "clean" installation with no existing wiring.
I installed a terminal strip for the + and a ground bar for the - behind the unit.
Here is a picture of the mess I made to terminate both the power and grounds.

It is just as important to have a good ground as a good + power connection.
I chose to terminate the cable from the 7 pin TV connector at the terminal strip on the right and did it in pin order to make it easier to troubleshoot. I connected the brakes, lights and power (ground too) here.
I chose to run the power from the TV through the 12 volt buss and connect it to the terminal strip in the left. The # 1 fuse position in the 12 volt buss has a 20 amp plug in circuit breaker that goes to terminal #1 behind and a jumper to the trailer strip on the right.
With the long run to the TV battery don't expect the TV to provide a lot of help keeping the battery charged.
If you look closely you might see the ground jumper to the cable that goes to the battery. Later I installed a power measuring shunt to get total amps, volts and power for the complete system.
I wired the trailer with two conductor cables to each consumer of 12 volt power for future troubleshooting and circuit integrity. Since there is no terminal strip on the PD you will need to either install a terminal strip or crimp then in the wires directly.
If you do either be sure to number them and it is a good idea to label than on the front while you remember.
By the way the wheel well behind is steel and welded into the frame on my Scamp so it is a pretty good ground where the stock Scamp has a fiberglass wheel well and it is insulated from ground. The lack of easily obtained grounds is one of the big long term problems with single wire power to anywhere.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by BonesD

... I have two wires left from my 7 pin harness that I suppose is a hot an a negative/ground. However, I have not metered them to determine that yet

Meter it and check pin assignment. Because your exterior trailer lights (running, brake, tail and signal lights) all require a ground (negative) connection to the tow vehicle, I suspect that your two "leftover" wires from the tow vehicle do not include a ground (negative). The ground wire from the umbilical to the tug would have to be already attached for all those lights to work. I would sooner guess that one of the loose wires is for the back-up lights, since they are often not used. But you have to check.

The other free wire might well be the charge line positive. You can pick up the negative side in a number of ways since it shared connection, such as redbarron's method (which I also used). Just be sure the wiring is of sufficient gauge and type.

[BonesD]

Thank you RedBarron

Travelin2
. I see those two terminals at present have the power leads from my trailer hooked to those two terminals.

Are you saying to piggy back ,the hot lead and ground coming from my truck through my 7 pin connector straight to those two terminals?



Will I need to mount an interrupter between the truck and the panel to keep from bleeding the truck battery while parked? I guess I can pull the 7 pin loose.
I think I would rather be able to switch it off so I don't have to worry about early morning departures.

Thank you both

[redbarron55]

There is a color code that should be used on your cable:
GREEN = Right Stop/Turn Lights
YELLOW = Left Stop/Turn Lights
BROWN = Tail/Running/License Lights
BLUE = Electric Brakes
RED = Battery (12 Volts)
ORANGE = Backup/Auxillary Power
WHITE = Ground
What I am saying is that you have (IIRC) 12 terminals that come from the PD4045 DC buss.
The first two are higher current and I used the first one to feed the power from the TV to the buss.
You could connect it directly to the battery using an inline fuse.
Either way it will work, but fusing the line on both ends is necessary to protect the wire and vehicles from a short circuit from both ends. The fuse should be close to the battery or the BUSS.
Verify the correct wire for the power and ground.
Ideally the ground through the plug would be solidly connected to the frames close to the connector to eliminate losses in the wires and because this is an important part of the whole system.
The voltage drop from the battery to the battery in the trailer limits the effectiveness of charging from the TV alternator much of the time.
Re reading your post on the two "extra" wires it is likely that they are the +12 volt for battery charging )RED) and the Aux/reverse light wire (ORANGE).
The use you choose for the orange is up to you and it can be backup lights or aux power to whatever you wish.
In Europe there is wiring for the battery and refrigerator and the battery is switched with the car ignition and the refrigerator stays powered.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by BonesD

Could some one tell me where on my PD 4045 KA converter to hook the 12 volt supply coming from the 7 pin connector attached to the tow vehicle?

All the other wiring is in and functioning but I would like to be able to charge up my trailer battery while on the road. I have two wires left from my 7 pin harness that I suppose is a hot an a negative/ground. However, I have not metered them to determine that yet
thanks

I think one needs to be pretty careful when installing devices that exceed the factory installed wiring capacity.
The DC wiring is designed for 20 amp maximum. The Progressive Dynamics PD 4045 is designed to out up to 45 amps. More than twice the wire carrying capacity. Could be dangerous. See the specifications for the 4045 here.

[redbarron55]

Each circuit should be fused to protect the wire and thus the vehicle.
The fuse may be smaller than the capacity of the wire, but not larger.
The output of the PD4045 is through the fused buss and the fuses should be selected to protect the circuits.
In my case I chose a 20 amp circuit breaker to tie the battery from the TV to the DC Buss and from there to the battery or the rest of the trailer.
I have a relay in my TV to disconnect the battery with the ignition off to prevent draining it's battery when not running.
Every circuit should be fused close to the source of power.
To be safe the lead from the battery should be fused close to the battery as well.

[BonesD]

I will have to sort out all of the above information.
I already have reverse lights wired in and functioning.
The black wire is a heavier gauge wire and is carrying 12 volts all the time the key is on. My circuit checker shows it hot an refers to it as 12 volt. Checking this with the blue wire returning to the tv.
it shuts down when the tv is turned of so no reason for a cut off on the circuit, so no bleeding should occur.

I piggybacked the black(pos) wire onto the positive bus where the positive from the trailer battery is connected. I then hooked the blue wire to the common white bus connector along with the negative battery input from the trailer battery. This by itself with out the trailer battery involved will not run the 12 volt lights or other 12 volt accessories. Seems like it should.?

Wrong or right at this point I have not let the smoke out but with tv running the voltage drops to 5 something volts. I would hope to see much higher as the tv battery is brand new, alternator working, and trailer battery is over 12 volts so it shouldn't be drawing to much.
I'm afraid a lot of the terminology used above is foreign to me so my comprehension is also limited. Thank you

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by BonesD

..o it as 12 volt. Checking this with the blue wire returning to the tv....

Blue is usually brakes (+) but anything is possible.

[Travelin2]

Originally Posted by BonesD

Thank you RedBarron

Travelin2
. I see those two terminals at present have the power leads from my trailer hooked to those two terminals.

Are you saying to piggy back ,the hot lead and ground coming from my truck through my 7 pin connector straight to those two terminals?



Will I need to mount an interrupter between the truck and the panel to keep from bleeding the truck battery while parked? I guess I can pull the 7 pin loose.
I think I would rather be able to switch it off so I don't have to worry about early morning departures.

Thank you both

Bones, Yes those are the correct lugs to connect. I have a 2013 GM tow rig and it has a 40 amp fuse on the trailer charging line in the under-hood fuse box. It does stay hot so yes, in my case, if I want to isolate the trailer from the tow vehicle I would have to unplug. When just stopping overnight I never do because we never use that amount of power that would prevent cranking. You could install a relay in that circuit if it's a worry to you but I would suggest you use it as is for awhile without unplugging, living normally, then check your vehicles battery voltage after a night. You will be surprised I think.

You mentioned using a Blue wire for a ground and are only showing 5 volts in that circuit with good batteries. The ground wire coming from the male 7 pin connector should be white. Blue should be for brakes so you may be grounding through the brake magnets in the wheels. That could be the reason for the 5 volt reading. Not an ideal way to go for sure. If there has been previous owners of that trailer, I would suggest that you check out the wires from the 7 pin male plug all the way back to where you are terminating at the converter to see if a previous owner installed some wire of the wrong color to do an extension. Sometimes one must use what's available, not what we want, with the plan to "Make it Right when I get Home". Then when one gets home it falls into the category of "IF it Ain't Broke don't Fix it", so we don't want to beat up on a previous owner too much because we weren't laying in the mud beside him when he "fixed" it. Good luck and let us know how it all works out.

John

[redbarron55]

I would suggest getting a friend with a multimeter and checking the wiring to the trailer plug pins and verifying the connections.
While some cables might not follow the color layout, most do and you should make certain that they do.
You can never be sure what travesty has been done in the name of expediency.
While you are at it verify the TV end as well as there could be offsetting errors present.

[BonesD]

I installed the 7 pin cabling several years ago. The Trailer already had a 4 pin system installed and functioning. My Toyota Tundra came with a trailer package so it had a 4 pin and a seven pin factory installed. I wanted reverse lights and the charging option so I purchased a twenty food cable with pigtail on it be end and a 7 pin connector on the othering
I ran it straight to the back an tied in all the appropriate wires to the existing lights, replaced the tail lites with a LED fixture and a reverse light. All is good and I can use either the 4 or the 7 pin should I need to use another tow vehicle with only a 4 pin.
I understand that some cables are not properly color coded but if I remeber correctly all matched up. My trailer does not have brakes on it. I will have to see if I still have the literature on the cable to see what the Blue wire is indicated for
I guess I can hook up the meter too it and depress the brake pedal and see if I get any action. As it is with the black and the blue disconnected I get a 12+ voltage reading thriough the two wires from the TV, the black being the hot. Hooking them to the trailer battery drops the voltage to 5.9.
Maybe I am expecting to much
The key to TV shuts downs the hot wire so I should be good and have no bleeding.

[Joe Romas]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

There is a color code that should be used on your cable:

Actually there are at least TWO color code standards and it's very muddy trying to figure out what is what... One easy way to tell is the RV standard has green for tail and running lights.
https://chuxtrux.com/n-100-towing-10...explained.html

There's the "Traditional RV" standard and the "SAE J2863" one that in some listings is marked as commercial or traditional..
The 7 pin cable on my 1999 Casita came with the RV standard colors. But at any rate the signals are on the same pins, just different colors.

To answer the original question, the + and - leads from the truck go to the battery. As to needing a interupter, some vehicles have them already and some don't. Also a muddy subject even on the same year and make pickups.

Blue is normally for electric brakes and black is normally the positive lead.