Breakaway system battery maintenance

[HawkBoler72]

HI,
I have the Tokonsha breakaway control system installed.
The box says "For use on single...axle trailers (Required 5 AMP/Hr battery)" and " "The battery supplied with this kit is rechargeable and must be maintained". I don't know how to maintain it.
Looked around and found no info.

The more I read, the more I think I need to read, and eventually, got more confused

Thank everyone for info.

Eric

[mary and bob]

You could use a 110V battery charger or battery maintainer when parked at home, or run a charge line from the tow vehicle so it is charged while driving.

[HawkBoler72]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

You could use a 110V battery charger or battery maintainer when parked at home, or run a charge line from the tow vehicle so it is charged while driving.

Thank you - Bob,
I believe when connected with the TV, it will be recharged while towing. The problem is during the whole winter. Does it meaning that I need to connect the 7 pin connector to a battery maintainer? Need a plug and have it connected then.

Eric

[Raz]

Only trailers without a house battery need a battery for the break away function. Perhaps all you needed to buy is the switch.

[mary and bob]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it setting for the winter, but an occasional charge wouldn't hurt. I recently installed a breakaway system, the cord to the 7 pin plug is wired into a junction box on the trailer tongue. I ran a short two wire plug from the junction box terminals that connect to the breakaway battery, so I could plug in a battery charger if the tow vehicle did not have a charge line.

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Raz

Only trailers without a house battery need a battery for the break away function. Perhaps all you needed to buy is the switch.

Good point Raz. The install I did was on a trailer with no house battery. Bought the breakaway kit from etrailer.

[HawkBoler72]

To both Raz and Bob,

They installed it for me. I don't know how the wires are connected. @ Calgary, -20 outside with snow covered. Should figure out the wire connection when possible.


Thanks!
Eric

[redbarron55]

I had one with the battery on m y Scamp that I installed, but the battery never showed charged and always showed charging.
I was afraid it would pull down the house battery and I hooked it up as just a switch and disconnected the charging circuit and battery.
Has anyone else had a similar problem?

[CampyTime]

I have a battery for my breakaway switch on my Scamp 13 standard. Its piggy backed to the house battery. I felt better doing it that way. However, I'm only charging on battery tender my house battery. Its in my basement. After I fully charged it, I put a shower cap over it and let it be.

The breakaway battery is on the trailer in cold storage. To me, theyre so cheap I just charged it up before storage and left it on the trailer. I could have taken it out of box, and brought it in house for winter, but didn't. My battery has a light which indicates if it's fully charged or not. I figure a couple years out of it and get a new one anyway. They're not as expensive as house battery. I have often forgot to charge up my lawn tractor battery over winter and it was fine, so I take my chances. Of it isn't happy this spring only being one year old, then in future I may take off camper and charge.

I've got so much before winter prep here in Buffalo area, something has to give! But for charging, I love my 4 stage battery tender from Wally. Round 60 bucks.

[CampyTime]

My breakaway battery always shows charging when plugged in to shore power. When off, shows fully charged. Maybe you had a bad breakaway battery? Yes, then I'd be concerned it would suck from house battery.

[HawkBoler72]

A lot to learn. Will figure it out when it gets warmer.

[Joe Romas]

If your trailer has a house battery DO NOT USE a break away battery.

The reason is because when you hook two or more batteries in parallel the weaker one will draw down the stronger one.

Look at a newer trailer and you'll see there's only one battery, the house battery.

On this link under the expert answer it says:
https://www.etrailer.com/question-44603.html

It is not necessary to have an additional break away battery if the battery on your trailer has sufficient power to keep the brakes applied for 15 minutes once the break away pin is pulled.

I knew the answer and went about finding documentation to back it up.
EVERY diagram I found showed a goose neck horse trailer that obviously did not help.

Looking at Tekonsha here you'll see only one battery.
http://www.tekonsha.com/support/inst...on/N2005-P.pdf

I should note that IF YOU HAVE A BATTERY DISCONNECT SWITCH on your house batttery it's very IMPORTANT you have the battery turned on for the breakaway system to work.

Joe

[CampyTime]

Thats all true Joe. This is how company did the set up for me. I do not worry about this though, because I only have breakaway battery hooked piggy back to house battery during charging if at home and only if needs it, and then only during travel. I disconnect it while camping.

[CampyTime]

Thank you for clarifying that for the OP. But the way I take care of it and monitor things, it's not the end of the world as I never use my house battery. Always on shore power. I only use in power outage situation at campsite. And I regularly maintain my batteries, keep an eye on fluid levels, etc. So my situation is different from someone who boondocks. Cheers.

[War Eagle]

Eric, just my two cents worth (that's 2.6 cents Canadian). First, and I think most important, always maintain fluid level in all cells. While winterized, I used to run an extension cord to the storage shed to charge the battery once a month or so - just to be sure. Then I finally got a solar powered 15W batteryminder with alligator clips and just let it do its thing. Works great in my situation. While towing, your tow vehicle will only maintain your camper's battery if: 1) your tow vehicle's receptacle is wired to supply power for that (we discovered one of ours was not and had that corrected) and 2) your trailer is wired to then deliver that power to the battery. A simple add-on system may not have been wired for that. Just be sure to check it.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Eric, just my two cents worth (that's 2.6 cents Canadian).

I had to think about that one a bit. Canada eliminated the penny a few years back. If you are paying cash, you get rounded up or down. So $.02 is essentially nothing. Which would indicate opinions and thoughts (penny for your thoughts) are worthless.

Then I realized your post was electronic. Electronic transactions go to the exact amount. That means opinions and thoughts are actually worth something on the forums. The riddle has been solved.