wickerman Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have a 1991 Toyota Warrior and want to know if I can hook the "truck" battery to a charger while the coach is hooked to 110 shore power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 IF it was me i would unhook the cables off the starting battery to charge it aways disconect the ground first and put the ground on last BUT SOMBODY MAY SAY ITS OK I CANT TELL YOU THAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I have a 1991 Toyota Warrior and want to know if I can hook the "truck" battery to a charger while the coach is hooked to 110 shore power? Yes; You asked what time it is, and I'm about to tell you how to build a clock, sorry. When your plugged into shore power, there is a battery charger that is charging your coach battery, it called a "converter". If you have one of the standard mechanical isolators, it is not energized and you will need to charge your truck battery with a separate charger. Charging the truck battery with a battery charger shouldn't cause any problems. I've thought about making a relay circuit that would energize the isolator anytime the MH is plugged into shore power, that way it would also charge the truck battery and coach battery while on shore power. I think if someone were to do this, you would definitely want to have one of the newer 3 stage converters, they have the ability to automatically adjust the charge voltage so they will not cook batteries. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Waiter, I recently installed a new converter (& isolator) and was wondering about charging the starter battery when plugged into shore power. I am not an electrical engineer and don't know how to do it correctly. A friend suggested using a temporary jumper wire between the output posts on the isolator, this would work but it would not be "the proper way to do it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totem Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I did this once using my solid state isolator... I had just lost another duralast alternator and had barely made it to a camping trip to Rose Lake in Mi from Indianna. I was on my 3rd alternator from auto bones in 2 weeks and by then had installed the dual voltmeters into the dash. half way up there the battery and brake light came on and the voltage dropped to 12.7... it was still dusk so I figured screw it I'm going for it and will deal with this tomorrow if I make it. it got all kinds of country dark so i pulled a fuse to one of the headlights and markers as i was in the boons. made it there on one headlight and wipers (of course it rained.) rig sputtered and died as i pulled into my spot. batteries were low 11.9 plugged into shore power... got my trusty jumper cables from the kit, jumped + to + on isolator, looked at voltage; they were both charging. went to bed. woke up drove to autozone and let them hear it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Simple answer yes you can charge both batteries if you jumper the isolator. But most stock chargers have not got much in the way of output so it would be a slow process and you would not want to leave it on charge for any great length of time because of the poor voltage regulation of the stock charger. Using a relay would be a little tricky because it would defeat the purpose of the isolator unless it had a 120 volt ac coil and only closed when it was plugged in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I replaced the stock converter and put in a Progressive Dynamics unit. It is one of the three stage units that is suppose to be safe to leave on. It charges and then goes into standby and periodically checks the condition of the batteries. I have checked the voltage with a power draw and eveything off, the voltage stays very constant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Bob C, et al; I'll draw up a little diagram this weekend and may even hook it up on mine if I have time, The prerequisite will be that you need to have a 3 stage converter for this to work. A 120 volt relay that will disconnect the alternator control wire on the isolator, and then force the isolator to energize from the coach 12 volt circuit (instead if the alternator IGN circuit) The 120 volt relay would be wired so its energized only when on shore power. If you were in a pinch and needed to do this in an emergency like Maineah, I would simply get a short wire with alligator clips on each end and clip it onto the coach side and the truck side of the Isolator, OR , just physically tie the two wires together (remove the wire from one of the Isolator post and put it on the other post so the coach and truck batteries are now tied together without energizing the Isolator) JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wickerman Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks everybody! I just wanted to double check as I was not 100% sure would hate to hear a loud (aka expensive) bang, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Bob C, et al; I'll draw up a little diagram this weekend and may even hook it up on mine if I have time, The prerequisite will be that you need to have a 3 stage converter for this to work. A 120 volt relay that will disconnect the alternator control wire on the isolator, and then force the isolator to energize from the coach 12 volt circuit (instead if the alternator IGN circuit) The 120 volt relay would be wired so its energized only when on shore power. If you were in a pinch and needed to do this in an emergency like Maineah, I would simply get a short wire with alligator clips on each end and clip it onto the coach side and the truck side of the Isolator, OR , just physically tie the two wires together (remove the wire from one of the Isolator post and put it on the other post so the coach and truck batteries are now tied together without energizing the Isolator) JOhn Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Just bridge 1 and 2 with a relay John the exciter circuit is diode blocked back to the switch inside the isolator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I have a 1991 Toyota Warrior and want to know if I can hook the "truck" battery to a charger while the coach is hooked to 110 shore power? You can jumper the isolator solenoid or take 2 jumper cables daisy chained to reach from one battery's positive to the other battery's positive. I have done this to extend the house battery but it could be used to jump the truck starting battery without having to remove the house battery to get it closer to the truck battery. As for hooking a regular battery charger to the starting engine, I would recommend isolating the truck battery from the house battery to be sure -- note the isolator should not energize when a battery charger is put on the starting battery. I disconnect a battery terminal as a rule of thumb anyway - would not want to fry an alternator diode by back channeling a spike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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