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How to wire/charge a battery on a trailer

Metalhead47

Metalhead47

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OK so I've now spent at least 4 times the cost of the engine donor rig I bought just to acquire a trailer & get it "running" well enough to haul the damn thing to the scrap yard.:doah:

So I've got a good sized car hauler/utility trailer that I'm adding a small winch, some utility lights, maybe a compressor to. I plan to run these off a battery mounted on the trailer. How do I go about isolating/integrating the electrical systems of the two rig & trailer? Tow rig has a standard 7 pin plug, I'd like to use the constant 12v lead from that plug to charge the trailer battery when the tow rig is running. Is it just a simple matter of wiring the 12v lead to the battery + terminal like an alternator wire, then ground the battery & wire in everything like any other vehicle, or do I need to isolate the 12v stuff running off the trailer batter (the chassis is grounded to the tow rig thru the plug and most lights ground directly to the chassis). I'm probably just overthinking this.
 
Your over thinking it when you run your lights the systems becomes one anyway. Just run a 12Volt power source to the battery it will keep it charged. Your seven pin should have one already.
 
kgblazerfive said:
Your over thinking it when you run your lights the systems becomes one anyway. Just run a 12Volt power source to the battery it will keep it charged. Your seven pin should have one already.
Click to expand...

Ok, why is it all the electric brake breakaway kits I see include a DC-DC charger then?:confused:
 
Well if your trailer isn't connected to your truck and its sliding down the highway how do your electric brakes work.

When your connected its all one system, you can build a trailer as a seperate system but as soon as you connect the lights in the truck to it, it will become one big ground, may be more then one positive but it will be all one ground, electrically speaking.
 
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