Our horse trailer has a battery set up if the trailer would break away from the truck it locks up the trailer brakes. This battery dies from not being charged. Could I run a wire from the trailer lights to keep this battery charged, it would only charge when the lights were on but being it basically gets non use. The battery is a sealed unit like used in ice fishing depth finders and cameras.
No. That will not charge the battery. You could run a charger to it that takes power from the trailer lights, but it probably will shorten the life of the battery due to short charging. Better off taking it out and giving it a full charge from time to time.
Tom,
Short answer, yes you can. You could also run an entire separate circuit so if you blow a fuse on the charging circuit, you still have trailer lights. If you tap into the trailer lights I would add a disconnect plug on the wires going to the battery in case it gives you troubles. That way you can disconnect the charging leads to the battery and still have running lights.
To me, this would be the ideal application for one of those little solar panels with the battery maintainer/charger. You can get them at Norther Tool and Fleet, etc.
Mount the solar panel on top of the trailer and run the wires down to the battery. Fix it and forget it. The install is easy and the life of the panel is about 5-7 years. A one square foot panel would be plenty to keep a battery charged all the time.
Grouse
you might be able to do it but i know that they make dc to dc battery chargers that are designed to do what you want to do… something to think about….a good friend of mine works for hilltop trailer sales (in the twin cities)and would probably be able to help ya with questions if you need…p.m. me and i will get you his contact info if ya want
Quote:
To me, this would be the ideal application for one of those little solar panels with the battery maintainer/charger. You can get them at Norther Tool and Fleet, etc.
Mount the solar panel on top of the trailer and run the wires down to the battery. Fix it and forget it. The install is easy and the life of the panel is about 5-7 years. A one square foot panel would be plenty to keep a battery charged all the time.
Grouse
This is a great idea my only concern is the trailer is parked in the shed most of the time. Would there be enough ambient light for the solar panel to work?
Thanks Mark that should work great.
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