2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

Bruce

Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #15 on: October 18, 2013, 12:52:55 pm »

Wow, you folks continue to impress me with your knowledge and willingness to help us complete this battery maintenance feature.

Here is more feedback on what I've found, but first another question:

I'm still not certain what our next step should be. Do we just attach a single wire to a connection inside of the CR-V's wiring socket that will extend the 12v line to the CR-V's positive battery post, or do we also need to connect a wire to the negative lead to extended it to the CR-V's negative battery post or to ground?

I went back out to the PC to read the voltage available at the end of the coily cable. As Bob suggested, the 12v does not exist there when the PC ignition key is in the off position, but is there when the ignition key is turned on. So, unless something in that system fails, the Honda battery should not be drained because of being connected to the PC. We rarely leave the towd connected overnight as we usually drive it off the explore the local area, but disconnecting the cable would be a simple precaution on those times when the towd is left attached. The drain from accessories being on in the Honda while being towed is definitely an issue. Don't know how much current the Invisibrake uses during the trip, plus any other drains that we can't turn off.

As you've said, having the battery maintenance feature in place while towing should keep the towd's battery in good shape.

Bruce

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bobander

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Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #16 on: October 18, 2013, 01:44:36 pm »

Quote from: Bruce and Sharon on October 18, 2013, 12:52:55 pm

I'm still not certain what our next step should be. Do we just attach a single wire to a connection inside of the CR-V's wiring socket that will extend the 12v line to the CR-V's positive battery post, or do we also need to connect a wire to the negative lead to extended it to the CR-V's negative battery post or to ground?

Bruce

If I type fast, I can beat Ron on this one. Use a single wire from the socket to the positive battery post. Ford uses 12 gauge wire for this circuit so you should continue with that gauge. There is a fuse in line in the fuse box under the hood that protects the circuit.

Bob

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Ron Dittmer

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Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #17 on: October 18, 2013, 02:20:50 pm »

Quote from: bobander on October 18, 2013, 01:44:36 pm

Quote from: Bruce and Sharon on October 18, 2013, 12:52:55 pm
I'm still not certain what our next step should be. Do we just attach a single wire to a connection inside of the CR-V's wiring socket that will extend the 12v line to the CR-V's positive battery post, or do we also need to connect a wire to the negative lead to extended it to the CR-V's negative battery post or to ground?

Bruce

If I type fast, I can beat Ron on this one. Use a single wire from the socket to the positive battery post. Ford uses 12 gauge wire for this circuit so you should continue with that gauge. There is a fuse in line in the fuse box under the hood that protects the circuit.

Bob

Bob did beat me so I am left to say.....Sounds right by me.

Bob, Just clarifying...."fuse in line in the fuse box" You are referring to protection in the PC.

Bruce, the ground wire should already be in place to support lighting like tail lights and directional signals. I would not worry about the ground wire gauge because the setup most likely considers battery maintenance.

In my 2007 rig, I do wonder if there is an accessory or two (or 3 or 4) installed by PC USA sourced off that ignition-on-12v to tow vehicle. It would explain my situation, and might be the case with you guys too. You just don't know it yet.

« Last Edit: October 18, 2013, 02:25:36 pm by ron.dittmer »

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Ron (& Irene) Dittmer

Bob Mahon

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Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #18 on: October 18, 2013, 04:26:13 pm »

FWIW, I've installed a "Toad-Charge" unit in all 3 of my TOADs, fed from the ignition controlled wire at the 7-pin trailer connector at the rear of the Phoenix (also on our old Alpine). Never had a run down battery in the TOAD, despite using my Roadmaster Even-Brake (which uses a lot of juice).

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bobander

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Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #19 on: October 18, 2013, 04:32:55 pm »

Quote from: ron.dittmer on October 18, 2013, 02:20:50 pm

Bob, Just clarifying...."fuse in line in the fuse box" You are referring to protection in the PC.

Yes, the fuse box under the hood of the Ford where the relay is, thanks for clarifying Ron.

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Bruce

Re: 2012 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #20 on: October 18, 2013, 06:54:10 pm »

Bob, Bob, and Ron,

Thanks for your quick replies. You're amazing!

I think we have all the info now to accomplish our task--just have to see if and when we can physically do it.

Will let you know here when we get it done.

Bruce

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Bruce

Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #21 on: October 22, 2013, 02:54:23 pm »

I ‘ve learned more about adding a battery maintenance system in our CR-V during towing, so here is an update.

As I posted earlier, we had an InvisiBrake supplemental braking system installed in our new CR-V at the time we added the tow bar brackets. The installer gave me a quick demonstration on the operation of both before I left the shop. I thought I knew all I needed to get on the road without closely reading the Owner’s Manuals.

Today I was reading the Invisibrake manual looking for instructions on how to adjust the brake pressure in the toad when I noticed a section called “Preparing for towing.” There I found an extra (to me) step to follow when hooking up the toad:

“Turn the motorhome park lights on – this will activate the InvisiBrake charge circuit, which will provide a constant trickle charge to the vehicle’s battery during towing.”

Wow! I didn’t know of that step before (and didn't imagine that any battery trickle charger was included in the InvisiBrake), but usually turn on the motorhome driving lights when traveling, so that should have been sufficient to activate the trickle charger. I must have forgotten to use the driving lights during that last trip that ended with a drained toad battery (or the trickle charge system isn’t currently operable). Or the trickle charge is insufficient to maintain the battery with the drain caused by the toad’s other battery demands with the ignition key on.

We’ve learned how to minimize the display on CR-V’s “Navigation screen” and on long trips will restart and run the toad’s motor a while during rest stops.

Will post here again after more travel.

Thanks again for all of your help on this.

Bruce

« Last Edit: November 09, 2013, 11:46:42 am by Bruce and Sharon »

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Dick & Trish

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Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #22 on: December 25, 2013, 06:57:28 pm »

I had our mechanic install a fuse disconnect button on our dash. Roadmaster.com offers a simple kit for $15+_ and it is a easy installation for an experienced mechanic. Works great.

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Bruce

Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #23 on: December 26, 2013, 06:34:38 pm »

Dick,
Thank you for the post on the Roadmaster FuseMaster. I found the application list at:
http://roadmasterinc.com/products/accessories/electrical/fusemaster2.html

We haven't towed the CR-V on any long trips lately and have been careful to turn off most battery drain items when we have towed--so far no more dead battery at destination. Maybe the Invisibrake system is doing its job, too.

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Doneworking

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Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #24 on: December 27, 2013, 09:11:33 am »

I have never towed. Period. BUT, now that I have the 2350 as opposed to my Class B Roadtrek, I am very seriously considering towing something, hopefully a Jeep. The more I read and the more I research, the more "skeered" I get!! That is a lot more for me to learn it seems. I keep hearing about all these technical issues towing and finding out a whole lot of things I never knew or even thought about.

So, I am going to keep reading and learning and when I get my mind full of questions, I am going to start asking them on this forum. You folks are great. My wife may have a simpler solution: just follow the PC driving our current vehicle (Jeep GC that weight exceeds the towing capacity of our unit) and avoid the worries and expense of all the towing gear, reduced mpg on the coach, etc. Our camping is mostly within a couple of hundred miles during most of the year and we make one or two trips a year out to the mountains to avoid the summer heat. We normally stay a couple of weeks on each of those trips. So, I think we may just try having her follow me for our summer trip to Northern New Mexico from Oklahoma City next year and see how that works out before getting into the towing mode. Not needing to tow was a tremendous advantage in our Roadtrek, and in reality the PC 2350 is not that much larger of a footprint. We will, I bet, figure out a plan by summer.

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Bruce

Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #25 on: December 27, 2013, 12:00:01 pm »

Doneworking,
I suspect that your wife's idea is great if you want to keep your current jeep and not take long trips. The benefits to you of towing really depends on where you want to travel, what you want to tow, and how you want to travel in the local areas of your destination points.

We choose to tow mostly to have the toad available for shopping, exploring, etc. once we get to a new area without having to break camp with the PC. Plus, we can leave our pets safely in the coach while we go to places that don't allow them.

I'm sure that many members on this forum will tell you how easy it is to tow their smaller sized jeeps.

Happy traveling,
Bruce

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TomHanlon

Re: 2013 Honda CR-V battery discharged after tow

« Reply #26 on: December 27, 2013, 02:44:39 pm »

We tow our Jeep Liberty without any problems. You might want to consider renting a car for some of the longer trips. I think you will find, as we did, that the 2350 can go just about anywhere. It was nice to take the dog on the long day trips and not have to worry about going back to let him out in the middle of the day. Our current 2552 is not as mobile as the 2350 was. It is nice not to break camp when we have the jeep to run to the store.

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