How to keep a remote generator starting battery charged in the back of my pickup without using 110 volts?

[daveyjo]

I have a friend who has a 5th wheel, and pulls it with a pickup truck.  In the truck bed she has a 3,750 watt generator with it's own starting battery, which she doesn't use often,  but seems to often be discharged enough that the generator won't start.  Jumper cables will get it started, put are a PITA.  Is there some kind of regulated charger that she could hook up to her truck (say by plugging it into her cigarette lighter) that would charge her generator battery when the ignition is on?  It just seems like asking for trouble to hard wire her generator battery in parallel with her truck battery.  

Dave Jones, 2005 Scepter

[JDCrow]

Sure, there are multiple companies that sell battery chargers for towables (RVI, I have one on my toad, Roadmaster also has be)
 

she could splice off her cord going from truck to 5th wheel

https://rvibrake.com/en-ca/pages/rvi-how-to-videos-towed-battery-charger-plus?msclkid=62911f4605c41b3cd5587ce738b521d8&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP DSA&utm_term=battery charger&utm_content=products (catch all)

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by JDCrow

[Rocketman3]

Yes a Victron Dc-dc charger would work - (there are others).

Another way would be a small solar panel on the top of the generator (with a small solar charge controller. 

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

She could buy a Halo battery jump (?), $125. It is easy to use and it can be used for other vehicles.

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Tom Wallis]

You can hard wire it to the truck safely by adding a diode of the appropriate amperage to the positive wire. That does 2 things. It prevents any current flow from the generator battery to the truck and it will drop the charging voltage by 1/2 volt which helps prevent it from overcharging.

 

 

 

[JDCrow]

I also bought this and carry it everywhere. Starts my diesel pickup as well as anything smaller

S6 Pro Max Battery Jump Starter 3000A, Portable Jump Box for Up to 10L Gas and 8L Diesel Engine with LED Display, 12V Car Battery Booster Pack with 100W Two Way Fast Charging

On 12/19/2022 at 11:59 PM, Tom Wallis said:

You can hard wire it to the truck safely by adding a diode of the appropriate amperage to the positive wire. That does 2 things. It prevents any current flow from the generator battery to the truck and it will drop the charging voltage by 1/2 volt which helps prevent it from overcharging.

I believe the Roadmaster charge kit uses this 

[WayneC]

I have a Yamaha emergency generator for the house ,I put fresh high grade gasoline with stabilzer in it every year ,run it on load once a year for an hour, 5 years now never a problem with the starting battery, Santa probably needs to bring her a new battery. 

Wayne 

1999 Signature ceaser 

[MyronTruex]

Cigarette lighter charger

Plug this into an outlet. Pre-wire the generator end with a matching 2 prong connector. 

It is not designed for jump starting of course, just charging. I built an end to end one for my wife to carry in her car many years ago. It worked quite well the couple of times it was needed. Just passed it between vehicles and plugged them in. In some cases the ignition key has to be on of course.

About thirty minutes usually warms and wakes up a battery enough to spark things back to life.

[WayneC]

Missing the trees for the forest!

Wayne 

1999 Signature ceaser