Hi Gus,

I'm trying to figure out the best way to get external power to power the internal outlets on the truck., We do a lot of camping and would be able to run a portable fridge as well as cell chargers and other things inside the truck. Usually we have a campsite with hydro but it's in bear country so you can't just leave stuff plugged in outside or leave our windows down to run an extension cord.

My initial though was to get a in vehicle batter charger, such as the CTEK 7002 or Gooloo S10. After speaking with CTek they are not sure if the charger would work while there is a load on the batter but they think it might, so not super reassuring. They say you can bypass the battery and run it in supply mode but I think I would need to disconnect the battery for that to work otherwise I'd be worried about damaging it.

Does anyone have any other ideas on how to power the outlets? Id love to get both the 120 and 12v powered but either one would work, the 120 would probably be better. I'm trying to figure out a no fuss solution, I want to be able to pull up and plug it in like you would your block heater and if we need to go somewhere all I have to do is unplug and go.

I was thinking maybe some sort of batter disconnect similar to what you would use with a generator (when you connect external power it automatically switches) or something like that but I'm not sure if such a thing exists for this application, perhaps there are such things for RV's and campers?

Any ideas would be very appreciated.

 

This may sound foreign to most but here is how I would try it, because I already have the equipment to do if I did.
A 40-amp 120 volt to12 volt adjustable power supply capable of manual adjustment for charging rate.
Connected from battery positive and ground>>>not the negative battery terminal.
Also consider the battery type. AGM or Lead Acid. They will require a different setting of the Power supply because you don't want to COOK the battery in the effort by force charging and excessive battery heating.
Test load the system for best charge rate under your actual camping conditions..
The power supply may even be enough to supply the load with the battery as the sink for regulation.
Provide separate 12 volt sockets for each unit and not connect to the truck power points.
Reason to not connect to the truck power point is that they are all under a fused and controlled power module that times off.
Trying to do this will bring a can of worms, hassles and failures.
.
I would not disconnect the battery under any circumstance because the system is under electronic control when the engine is running.
Diconecting the battery will cause the computer to reboot each time that is done with possible effects on the system and drivability from resets.
This is the general way I would approach the project with adjustment where needed.
.
The above is only a general setup and needs understanding that it's not an old battery alternator system of yester year.
You have to understand what the parameters are to engineer a workable and reliable system or damage is likely.
Or make the system for in trailer use with a separate high capacity and leave the truck system alone.
Good luck.

 

Thank you for the reply, Bluegrass, that sounds quite similar to what I was thinking of doing with the battery charger. The charger having the added benefit of having protection against overcharging but on the other hand it doesn't supply as much power. The portable fridge I'm planning to run only draws 45w and at most there might be a phone charger plugged in on top of that so I think the 7 or 10amp chargers should be able to handle it. Maybe I'll give that try first, now do I go for the much more expensive CTek 7002 or the more powerful and much cheaper Gooloo S10, kinda hard to get past that silly name.

 

If I nderstand correctly you are wanting to power the factory inverter using a battery charger. From what I remember reading the inverter can't carry much load, I don't remember what the rating is but I know people have said it tripped trying to charge a cordless tool battery. I would personally mount something like this ( ) under the hood, get the length cord needed, drill a small hole in the firewall or locate an existing grommet you could make a hole in and route to under the back seat area and wire to a power strip. As long as you have some basic electrical skills it should be easy. You could even get something with no wiring required but you would need to make a larger hole in the firewall to get a plug through. This way you would totally bypass your trucks electrical system and not have to worry about possibly screwing it up.

 

Thank you for the reply and the link, I had thought of going this route but I like keeping the truck looking pristine so the thought of installing some ugly plug somewhere wasn't super appealing though I am still considering it. The battery charger would just run the 12v cigarette lighter plugs not the 120's. I'm not sure how to get those to be always powered, the 12v you can switch in Forscan. The 120's run off of a 400w inverter, I've never had an issue with it, we've run slow cookers off of them many time when bringing food somewhere. When I installed my dash cam I ran the wring under the door step plates and it was a pain to get it all apart and put back together, clips were broken, choice words were said, don't make me want to have to take it apart again.

 

Did you look at portable CPAC battery backup or portable power stations? My son has a battery like this - - and it works great for all the things he runs on it. He says he can run an 18" fan on high for 18 hours straight before having to recharge it. The unit has a large capacity 530+Wh He also has a smaller one around 300 Wh. He uses them when we go camping to recharge his RC batteries / fans / small shop vac. The larger one takes 1-2 hours to recharge on 120v - but it does take a long time to recharge using the 12v in the truck.

 

get a solar generator with a lithium battery bank... you can either charge it up during the day with a panel or plug it in to the truck or a genny during the day to fill the battery. In the evening you're drawing down the battery.

 

This is what I have and use!! It works great

 

Those portable power stations were much first thought but then you have another thing to back when space is already at a premium and you have to deal with trying to charge it every day. I really just want a no fuss solution, there's just enough other stuff to do when you're camping without having to babysit a battery pack every day.

 

For the power station it self.. yes. it is a "BIG" toaster to pack. The Solar Panels lay flat, so they don't really take up much room

As for charging, Just leave it plugged into the solar panels. No need to babysit it. Solar charges up the batteries fairly quickly (depending on sunlight of course). Takes about 8 hours from a completely dead battery to fully charged.