Toad charging line

[Fred Cook]

I am having problems with my Chevy equinox battery dying while towing it. I have a charging line going to it but it still dies completely. Stopping every 2 to 3 hours to turn start the toad motor is a PITA. I was wondering if it would be OK to run a charging line directly from the chassis battery to my car battery as it is being towed. Maybe a size 8 wire. Would there be any problems doing this?

[Carl Boger]

No problem running directly to the battery, that is the way mine is set up.  You can also probably get away with a 12 gauge wire and a 20 amp fuse.  I also wired in a diode so the 12 volts can only go into the toad battery not out of it on the charge line.

[David T. Richelderfer]

When we had our Avalanche set up for towing, the guy doing the work ran a fused 12v hotline from the umbilical cord's 12v line to the Avalanche's battery.  In our setup, there was a completely new set of wiring and lights (tail, brake, and turn signals) installed for towing.  What I don't know is if the hotline to the Avalanche's battery is regulated or needs to be regulated depending upon the state of charge of the battery.  My concern has been that a long day or several days in a row of driving may burn up the Avalanche's battery.

[Fred Cook]

No problem running directly to the battery, that is the way mine is set up.  You can also probably get away with a 12 gauge wire and a 20 amp fuse.  I also wired in a diode so the 12 volts can only go into the toad battery not out of it on the charge line.

This how mine is set up now minus the diode. The hot wire is one of the wires that plugs in to the coach to operate the toad lights. I am wondering if there should also be a dedicated ground wire from the coach to the toad battery. I’m also wondering if that hot wire has enough amps to keep the battery charged.

[Bill Lampkin]

Sumtin' fishy here; Is it just time for new batteries for the toad (4 years old?) What on the toad is drawing so much current as to deplete the batteries? A small clamp on DC ammeter would answer that question.

https://www.amazon.com/UT210D-Digital-Current-Resistance-Capacitance/dp/B0753FY711/ref=asc_df_B0753FY711/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=254239495834&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=576168963150492181&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032900&hvtargid=pla-450742515090&psc=1

I would think that a 12 ga wire could easily charge your toad at 5-10A, you would have to do a voltage drop calculation on the round trip wire length (say 20' each way) to be sure, but 5 to 10a should do for charging.

[Eric Maclean]

David
Your coaches alternator has an internal regulator as does your inverter charger so anything connected to the coach or chassis batteries receives a regulated charge .
To accomplish toad battery charging while under way you only require a 12 volt positive line and a ground wire from the coaches chassis battery to the battery in the toad usually this is done through the tow umbilical cable .
The limiting factor for charging is wire size usually done with a 12 or 14 awg wire and a 20 amp fuse to protect the wire if for some reason the toad battery where dead or very low on  charge amperage would exceed the wire capability and the fuse is there to protect against this  or a short circuit which would cook the wiring and or start a fire.
If your considering using larger wire remember you have to do both the positive charge wire and the ground wires have to be equal size or larger to handle the other loads IE lights.
Below is the wiring configuration for a 7 pin RV plug


https://www.google.com/search?q=7+pin+rv+plug&oq=7+pin+rv+plug&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l4.7863j0j8&client=tablet-android-lenovo-rev2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#imgrc=ZiTJiKE0W3NU6M

Hope this helps Eric

[Eric Maclean]

Fred
For towing your Equinox  General motors requires you to remove the #32 fuse to avoid battery discharge ( there is a switched fuse harness that can be installed in place of this fuse to make it easier ) also Place the key in accessories position and turn off all accessories ( radio etc) and place the trans in neutral.
By doing this it allows the ECM and body control module to go back to sleep so to speak lowering the parasitic load and saving the battery.

https://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/09/how-to-properly-tow-a-chevrolet-equinox-with-an-rv/

https://www.roadmasterinc.com/products/accessories/electrical/fusemaster.php

Eric

[Guy Pryor]

https://www.campingworld.com/rvi-towed-battery-charger-plus-for-flat-towing-123057.html?gclid=996d91198c7110d90563f1dbbb36638a&g

I put one of these on my toad about 5 years ago and it is working great. But I was a little surprised at the price today since I only paid $25 for mine.

[Michael Rump]

Here is another suggestion;

Toad Charger
LSL Products
P.O. Box 681072
San Antonio, TX  78268 USA

[Bill Lampkin]

In the RVi info on their website, it says "2019-present Chevy Equinox must pull rear windshield wiper fuse." Well, I guess that is the source of the high current draw. $125 from RVi direct.

[Fred Cook]

Thanks to all for your responses. I am definitely going to purchase a toad charging system.... just need to decide which one. I am surprised by the need to remove a fuse. The manual says nothing about that.