I have to say, Thank you for this well informative Video. I’m a self built camper Van and after all may electrical setup I still didn’t understand why was my cable over heating from the Van Battery to the House Batter, to the point of the insulation’s slowly melting. This is a 4/0 gauge wire. I have a cut out switch that I turned on and off when it get to hot. Your video made me understand clearly what I did wrong and easy fix. My Dc to DC it on the way. For the eight month living in the van and not having any issues, am gland thing are toning smooth. A++ for this video.
Great video! I bought a DC-DC charger, but every video is for Camper vans and not Tow Vehicle / Trailer! This explained a lot. One question: Can you not use the DC-DC charger over the 7 pin harness and avoid running the 8 gauge wire? What would the max amps to send over, probably 15 feet on that thinner gauge already built in?
Glad you found it helpful. I don't know exactly what gauge wire you have on your 7 pin connector, but typically the White (ground) wire, the Red or Black (power) wire, and the Blue (brake power) wire are all 12 gauge. The remaining Green (right turn/brake) wire, the Yellow (left turn/brake) wire, the Brown (tail lights) wire, and the Purple (reverse light) wire are typically 16 gauge. A 12 gauge copper wire is rated to handle about 20 amps over a 15 foot distance. So, if your charger is the 20A version, and you have 12 gauge wire, and you have nothing else on that circuit, you could probably get away with it. If you try it, you might just check that wire periodically. If it gets warm or shows signs of heat stress, you'll know it's overloaded. Good luck!
@someguyzgarage I bought the 50a version. It allows you to select current draw maximum. However I decided to just copy what you've done here instead. Bought some 4awg and will be wiring it up this weekend. Thanks for the response!
I know this is an older thread now. However, I asked Renogy if I could hook up my 20 amp DC charger to the 7 pin of my Ram 1500. Their response was positive. However, they did say I need to make sure all connections are tight to prevent overheating. Also I told them I would run the charger a max of 5 hours. The 7 pin positive on the Ram is protected by a 30 amp fuse. The DC charger can draw 50 % more than its ratings, so 30 amps is right there. I doubt, however, that it will draw its max unless the batteries are pretty low. So an option if you don't want to run heavier gauge wires.
Excellent video! It touches on all of the key, important reasons why you would want a DC to DC charger. I was hoping you could provide additional info on how and where you installed the jack/plug for the new cables you had to run and what that looks like (including how you ran the cable from the plug to the trailer...and how that looks like). I hope that's not asking too much. ;-) Keep up the good work! By the way, my application is installing the above from a truck to my tow-behind RV trailer's lithium battery.
Thanks. It's funny. Renogy claims the 16 AWG wire in the standard connector is sufficient. I'm not convinced. For a long feed 6 AWG would be ideal. I've been using the 8 AWG for over a year now, and it's not been an issue.
Good explanation of why it matters for each option. Then the video ends with a solid recommendation. Nice job.
Thanks! 👍
Very well done sir!
Thank you!
I have to say, Thank you for this well informative Video. I’m a self built camper Van and after all may electrical setup I still didn’t understand why was my cable over heating from the Van Battery to the House Batter, to the point of the insulation’s slowly melting. This is a 4/0 gauge wire. I have a cut out switch that I turned on and off when it get to hot. Your video made me understand clearly what I did wrong and easy fix. My Dc to DC it on the way. For the eight month living in the van and not having any issues, am gland thing are toning smooth. A++ for this video.
Thanks for tuning in. So glad it helped. Good luck with it!
Great video! I bought a DC-DC charger, but every video is for Camper vans and not Tow Vehicle / Trailer! This explained a lot.
One question: Can you not use the DC-DC charger over the 7 pin harness and avoid running the 8 gauge wire? What would the max amps to send over, probably 15 feet on that thinner gauge already built in?
Glad you found it helpful.
I don't know exactly what gauge wire you have on your 7 pin connector, but typically the White (ground) wire, the Red or Black (power) wire, and the Blue (brake power) wire are all 12 gauge. The remaining Green (right turn/brake) wire, the Yellow (left turn/brake) wire, the Brown (tail lights) wire, and the Purple (reverse light) wire are typically 16 gauge.
A 12 gauge copper wire is rated to handle about 20 amps over a 15 foot distance. So, if your charger is the 20A version, and you have 12 gauge wire, and you have nothing else on that circuit, you could probably get away with it. If you try it, you might just check that wire periodically. If it gets warm or shows signs of heat stress, you'll know it's overloaded.
Good luck!
@someguyzgarage I bought the 50a version. It allows you to select current draw maximum.
However I decided to just copy what you've done here instead. Bought some 4awg and will be wiring it up this weekend. Thanks for the response!
I know this is an older thread now. However, I asked Renogy if I could hook up my 20 amp DC charger to the 7 pin of my Ram 1500.
Their response was positive. However, they did say I need to make sure all connections are tight to prevent overheating. Also I told them I would run the charger a max of 5 hours.
The 7 pin positive on the Ram is protected by a 30 amp fuse. The DC charger can draw 50 % more than its ratings, so 30 amps is right there. I doubt, however, that it will draw its max unless the batteries are pretty low. So an option if you don't want to run heavier gauge wires.
@@rvhtravels Very nice! As long as your wires are good, connections are good, and you don't power anything else from that line, you should be fine.
Excellent video! It touches on all of the key, important reasons why you would want a DC to DC charger. I was hoping you could provide additional info on how and where you installed the jack/plug for the new cables you had to run and what that looks like (including how you ran the cable from the plug to the trailer...and how that looks like). I hope that's not asking too much. ;-) Keep up the good work! By the way, my application is installing the above from a truck to my tow-behind RV trailer's lithium battery.
Thanks. Episode 2 (the install) has all of that.
@@some-guys-garage - thanks! I'll check it out!
Great explanation. You have trailer brakes on your trailer?
Yes, trailer brakes are a must on a trailer that big.
Just get a victron dc to dc charger, set the tow vehicle voltage level through Bluetooth to operate w/o draining tow vehicle battery
I believe you're right... This circuitry is now built into some dc to dc chargers. I had the Renogy, so the voltage switch was an easy addition.
8 AWG wire from the alternator to the dc/dc charger? That's likely too small a wire & should be verified.
Otherwise good video.
Thanks.
It's funny. Renogy claims the 16 AWG wire in the standard connector is sufficient. I'm not convinced. For a long feed 6 AWG would be ideal. I've been using the 8 AWG for over a year now, and it's not been an issue.