Electrical connection between truck and camper for lights

ripperj

Explorer
What do modern campers have on the camper side of the cable that runs from the truck 7 or flat four connector for powering the marker lights etc? My Alaskan had an old round 4 prong plug.
Thanks
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
The new campers I've seen lately have a 7-way round "RV" connector at the back, intended to plug into the factory trailer wiring of any full size pickup.

The standard 4-way trailer plug only supports brakes/turn signal, ground, and tail lights. No way to power or charge 12v stuff in the camper. Most new trucks have a factory wired 7-way connector with heavier power and ground, so it can be used to (poorly) charge the camper battery when the truck is running.

It seems that the 7-way round and 4-way flat have become the "standard" for trailer connectors in the last 20 years. You don't see any of the other plugs on new trailers anymore.
 

cchoc

Wilderness Photographer
It's basically hooked up to the camper battery via a separator so the truck can charge the camper battery but the camper battery can't drain the truck battery.
 

SoCal Tom

Explorer
I purchases a factory 7pin wiring kit for my Jeep. The power wire is connected direct to the battery. I intend to install a battery isolator so the jeep battery isn't drained.
Tom
 
W

Wandering Sagebrush

Guest
Hi Charlie,

Brenda said FWC was using the Attwood plug, which is probably the same as MARINCO. I found them at Walmart for about $20.
 

cchoc

Wilderness Photographer
Thanks, I read somewhere that the plug was a trolling motor plug but Brenda is a much better source than me for info. :sombrero:
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
I wired my pickup with #2 wire for the camper house battery connection and the rear, trailer mounted winch.

Anderson connections at both.

Capable of 100 amps

chassis128.jpg

chassis130.jpg
 

ripperj

Explorer
I was thinking of using those connectors on my camper so I could keep my batteries in the wheel wells, but changed my mind, I my still use them like you did, thanks for the pics
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Your welcome.

Even with more than 15' of cable between the alternator hot side and the camper house batteries, I only have a .12 voltage drop.

I can recharge the house batteries FAST if the engine is running :ylsmoke:
 

1stDeuce

Explorer
IdaSHO has it right -- If you want to charge a "house" battery off the truck, you need BIG cables to keep the voltage drop to a minimum or the battery won't charge well at all. For comparison to his 0.12v of drop from the truck to the camper, when I was trying to charge off the factory trailer wiring, I never saw more than 13v at the house battery, even when pretty much fully charged and not pulling any amps! That's ~1.5 v of drop at zero current, and more like 2.5v with even just 10a of charge current.

Best mod I made was an 85W solar panel and charge controller. Now I don't plug in the camper to the truck unless I want to run the fridge on 12v while cruising down the road. That said, I am still powering the fridge through the factory trailer wiring, and I'm only getting ~12V at the fridge when it's in 12v mode. (about 10A draw)
If I wanted the fridge to work better when in 12v, I would run some better wiring, but it stays cool enough that I don't worry about it. :)

I guess what I'm saying is that if you're going to the trouble of "properly" wiring to charge the house battery, it would be my opinion that you might consider a 100w solar panel and charge controller instead, so you don't have to deal with plugging/unplugging it when you load and unload the camper. (I do that a lot, so that's perhaps not a concern for you...)
Best luck!!
Chris
 

IdaSHO

IDACAMPER
Whats real fun with this setup is I can feed juice the other direction just as easily.


I can share the charge between the house bank and the truck batteries if needed for starting, or even charge the truck batteries with the camper solar :ylsmoke:
 

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