I picked up a 18' open car hauler this Feb.

Since then I have purchased a ramsey winch for it Model #REP 5000.

The trailer has electric brakes and breakaway systems are mandatory in MN, so Im going to need a battery of some sort on the trailer itself.

I was thinking a deep cycle battery could be charged from a hot lead from the trailer plug. Im not sure what size battery I should get. amp hour rating, group size, etc

Any ideas on setting this up would be appreciated. Thanks, Tony

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You can sleep in your car,but you cant drive your house.
Tony. H . 406 powered , Mohave Gold , 72'Malibu



[This message has been edited by hoffbug (edited 05-10-2002).]

Tony. On my open trailer I have one of the super winches on it. Most trailers just come with a dry cell battery for the breakaway switch so I put on a battery for an electric handicap type scooter. I did not even bother to put a wire in to charge it. I only have to charge it once or twice a year, depending on how often I use the winch.

Thanks bcice!

How often do you use your winch? Im a little suprised that a battery that small could pull that kind of amp load. It sounds like a small deep cycle would work fine.

For the most part I will be driving the car onto the trailer. The winch is there just in case.

Tony--I have a RV repair shop and I do this kind of hook up about every day.The important thing to remeber is to be sure to put an automatic reset breaker inline with your charge line going back to the trailer.You need to use a 30 amp breaker with # 10 wire.Another thing that is really important is to make sure your ground wire is as big as the charge line.Be sure to use a deep cycle battery because they are designed to be drained over and over with out damage to the battery.Let me know if I can help--Danny

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by 67_SS:
Tony--I have a RV repair shop and I do this kind of hook up about every day
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How about using one of the 30 amp breakers that plug into the fuse block on most GM cars, think they would ok to use ?
They are pretty plentyful in the bone yards


My trailer came with a small motorcycle type battery for the break away brakes but when I put on my winch I put a regular car battery on it
I was going to run a "charging wire" back like I used to have for my camping trailer since I have a couple of extra terminals on the plug but never did get "a round tuit"

I just charge the battery once in a while but I also carry a set of jumper cables made out of welding cable that reach from the tow vehicle battery back to the winch and use them if the battery is low

now that I just got a different Suburban to tow with, maybe I'll finally do it http://www.chevelles.com/forum/redface.gif

[This message has been edited by Dean (edited 05-11-2002).]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hoffbug:
Thanks bcice!

How often do you use your winch? Im a little suprised that a battery that small could pull that kind of amp load. It sounds like a small deep cycle would work fine.

For the most part I will be driving the car onto the trailer. The winch is there just in case.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

For the most part Tony, we drive our car onto the trailer as well. Well.... at least we hope to. This trailer is mostly for my sons roundy round car so if we have to use the winch, we have a problem! A mechanic at the local GM dealer suggested that I use that type of battery if I did not want to put in a charging circut. I don't even know the specs on them but he said, " have you ever seen one on the side of the road dead?"

I have been meaning to ask about this for awhile, just never remembered. How do you wire up to charge the other battery on the trailer? Just tap off the vehicle battery with a 10g wire and run it back to the second battery's + post through the wiring connector? I buy a lot of non running cars and am constantly charging the winch battery on my trailer, it gets so that I have to jump the winch most of the time because the battery dies quick from so many winch uses. I would like the winch battery to charge while the trailer is hooked up, what do I do?

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Dave
70 chevelle ss396 conv
66 chevelle ss396 hdp/conv
72 chevelle
55/57/61 chevies
TC member #493
Never forget Earnhardt!

Dave.. I think a seven prong RV type plug is the way to go.. click on the plug image in the link to see a color coding chart

seven prong plug (http://www.wt4wheeling.com/tech/trailer.htm)

I believe the twelve volt is run from battery
positve direct or any direct battery feed that is fed with at least ten gauge wire.
such as a "hot post" on the firewall.

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You can sleep in your car,but you cant drive your house.
Tony. H . 406 powered , Mohave Gold , 72'Malibu

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hoffbug:
Dave.. I think a seven prong RV type plug is the way to go.. click on the plug image in the link to see a color coding chart

seven prong plug (http://www.wt4wheeling.com/tech/trailer.htm)

I believe the twelve volt is run from battery
positve direct or any direct battery feed that is fed with at least ten gauge wire.
such as a "hot post" on the firewall.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wait Guys! Go back and read Danny's (67_ss's)post. That brings back memories of when my kids were young and I used to tow a travel trailer. I distinctly remember having the breaker in there. On my car it was mounted on the inner fender, very close to the alternator. Sounds to me like Danny knows what he is talking about and he offered his help. I would take him up on it.

You are right! You definetly will need some circuit protection in there.. A stalled winch can pull upwards of 200 amps! That could fry a #10 wire. The 30 amp circuit breakers that are used on the newer power window circuits seem like they would be a good choice. What do you think Danny?

Just another way to skin a cat.
How often do you use the winch ?
Is it hooked up to your tow vehicle ?
If you anwser is just now and then and yes.
I like to keep things in the KISS mentality.
I installed a50amp polorized battery plugs to the winch Female and to my Trucks battery.( the truck plug end has a inline 30 amp breaker in the HOT lead)
I then made up a jumper 25ft married blk/red
10ga wire , with male polorized charger plugs on both ends.
No charging circuit,no extra batery,no ground return problem.
Just start the truck and with the 900 amp truck batery and the alt were in business.

On my truck I have a 12vdc relay, like a starter relay, wired into the accessory circuit. When I turn the ignition key on the relay energizes and provides power to my camper and to my trailer plug that charges both batteries. This way if I forget to disconnect trailer or camper, it won't drain my truck battery. The type of battery I have in my camper is a Lyon deep cycle lead acid battery and in my trailer I have a Blue Top Optimum dry battery that runs a 4500lb winch and interior light. Both batteries are over 2 years old and never over heated from charging. Plus my truck alternator has an 80 amp output.

I have considered mounting an old alternator near the tires and hooking some type of drive so that when the trailer is rolling the alt is spinning. That way I could hook up some spot lights to shine on the trailer. Kinda goofy, I know, but it's been a long cold winter here in Ohio. graemlins/clonk.gif