Posted 2013-09-24 6:14 PM (#154941) Subject: Leave the trailer plugged into truck
Veteran
Posts: 236
Location: Little town in Pa
When you go to your primitive camp site and park for the weekend, should you unplug the power from the truck or leave it plugged in? My thought is if you do something stupid like leave a bunch of lights on in the trailer, at least you did not drain your truck battery, only your trailer battery. My better half contends that you should leave the truck plugged into the trailer while you are parked so the truck will "trickle charge" the trailer batteries and you can be sure that at least you can get the gooseneck jack up.
Posted 2013-09-24 7:37 PM (#154942 - in reply to #154941) Subject: RE: Leave the trailer plugged into truck
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 430
Location: TN
My mechanic told me to never leave the trailer plugged into the truck for long periods of time while the truck and trailer are sitting, so I always unplug.
Posted 2013-09-24 8:13 PM (#154943 - in reply to #154941) Subject: RE: Leave the trailer plugged into truck
Veteran
Posts: 136
Location: Watertown, TN
I always unplug mine. My truck turns off all power to the trailer plug when the key is off but I don't want to take the chance of dead truck batteries in some of the primitive camps we've been to. And seems like these days we have the campground mostly to ourselves.
Posted 2013-09-25 2:18 PM (#154953 - in reply to #154941) Subject: RE: Leave the trailer plugged into truck
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 322
Location: Fort Madison, Iowa
Unplug.. Found out the hard way once on a three day camping weekend and had to call the hubby to come jump start my truck. I'm considering getting a small solar panel to put on my trailer to trickle charge my battery so I can use my jack if I need to.
Posted 2013-09-29 9:58 AM (#155038 - in reply to #154941) Subject: RE: Leave the trailer plugged into truck
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
We have an older Ford diesel that only supplies power to the trailer when the motor is actually running. Not all truck brands and models follow this example. Since it only takes seconds to pull the plug, I would recommend disconnecting the trailer whenever it will be sitting attached for any length of time. It's a lonely feeling to be the last to leave and only hear a dull click when the starter is engaged.