Parts Needed to Charge Trailer Battery During Travel

Question:

I have a trailer with a deep cycle battery I would like to charge while towing with my 2015 Jeep JKU. Will an ingnition isolator be all I will require? Obviously the wiring and connector. I have a Voltage gauge and it routinely reads 14.7or8. I have heard a lot about DC to DC Chargers from Australians but have not found much about them on N.A. sites Thank you

asked by: Brian B

Expert Reply:

Connecting your trailer mounted deep cycle battery to the 7-Way 12V pin on your Jeep via a solenoid like the # PK5231201 that you mentioned will provide a good maintenance charge while you're driving. The isolation solenoid will shut off the 12V feed when you turn your Jeep off so you don't have to worry about draining the battery.

Keep in mind that this setup will only maintain the battery's existing charge and won't have quite enough juice to actually charge it up from a depleted state. If this is all you need then you're good to go.

To actually charge the battery up during travel I do recommend taking a look at a DC to DC charger like the excellent Redarc (who are based in Australia) In-Vehicle BCDC # 331-BCDC1225D. This will connect directly to the Jeep's battery to provide 25 amps of current to the trailer battery (instead of the 10 to 15 amps that the 7-Way will give you). It also has a built-in battery isolator that will prevent the charger from pulling any power from the Jeep's battery when it's off.

I have attached an installation video that you can also check out to get a better idea of how it works.

expert reply by: Chris R