Basic wiring truck to camper (no camper battery)

[Log Hog]

After a first outing with the new to us 2003 Hawk on the new 1500 RAM ecodiesel we are very happy with the setup and it is time to wire it permanently, where we have an outlet on the RH side of the bed and can plug the camper into the truck electrical. For now (only running LED lights and the fan), the truck battery will suffice. No battery on the camper. The camper came without battery and has factory wiring and the Marinco male plug with 2 wires going into the camper.

I already bought a Marinco female connector for the truck bed. How do I wire this up?

I was thinking about buying a 16 gauge outdoor extension cord to make an integrated wiring loom and running it from the female plug in the bed to the battery. Install a 10A fuse right behind the positive battery terminal. Is this sufficient?

There may be a camper mounted battery and solar in my future. For that, do I need beefier gauge wiring? If yes, I may just run the beefier wiring now, so I don't have to rewire the section out to the bed in the future. (I am aware that the camper battery wiring requires more elements). What gauge wiring would be beefy enough for all future needs?

Does this make sense?

Thanks,

George

 

[W6USA]

Hi George-
FWC uses 10 gauge wire. Some Do-it-yourselfers have run 8 gauge. Take your pick.

How to wire: There is a hot and ground from the camper (current colors are white/hot and black/ground.) Run the ground directly to the truck battery negative lug, and the hot through a 30-amp thermal breaker then to the truck's positive battery lug.

Thermal breakers are about $5 at the auto parts store. Mount it on the firewall or somewhere near the battery; the brass stud goes to battery and silver goes to camper.

 

[Log Hog]

Excellent. I will wire 10 gauge then and see what 2 strand I can get. So, what's the advantage of the thermal breaker? Just the fact that I will not need to carry fuses? Can you send a link to the type of thermal breaker I should get? There seems a lot of different ones when I search.

Thanks!

George

 

[W6USA]

http://www.delcity.net/store/Auto-Reset-Circuit-Breakers-!-12V/p_198669

Circuit-breakers offer the following advantages compared to fuses.

• Circuit-breakers respond quicker than fuses.
• Circuit-breakers are more reliable.
• Circuit-breakers are more sensitive.
• Unlike fuses which only operate once and need to be replaced a circuit-breaker can be reset.

But I suppose a regular fuse would suffice.

 

[Trailbob]

I connected to the Chevy factory trailer/camper wiring harness for my Hawk, which currently has one battery. The Chevy factory wiring is 10 ga. If I ever re-do it, I would run 8 ga marine duplex wire. I think it would charge the camper battery better when driving. If you don't have a marine store nearby, I have have seen 10 ga and 8 ga marine duplex wire on e-bay that was sold in various lengths.

 

[llavaseur]

Don't forget about the exterior marker lights if you have them, they need to be tied into the trucks light switch. If you currently have an electrical trailer plug that will make it easier to tap into, you need a total of 3 wires if you have marker lights and want them working properly.

 

[Log Hog]

Thanks guys. No external lights. People keep mentioning these but I sure don't have them. Only reflectors. My model is a real base one, I guess, which is good = light.

I will keep you posted. Looks like next weekend's outing is canceled, so I will have time to do some electric work!

G

 

[BnKinAnacortes]

New guy with similar question. Today we bought a 2006 Keystone and will be installing it on our F250. The FWC Keystone has a 3 wire Marinco male plug. We have a 7-wire plug from the factory that we've used for years to get power to our trailer brakes and lights and emer brake battery. I hope to get a 3-wire female plug and connect it to a length of 3 wire cable then to a 7 wire plug for our receiver on the truck. Does anyone know what the 3 wires on the camper go to so I can match ground, power etc? We will pick the camper up in a week or so, we still need to buy and install the bed eye-bolts.
Thanks

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

New guy with similar question. Today we bought a 2006 Keystone and will be installing it on our F250. The FWC Keystone has a 3 wire Marinco male plug. We have a 7-wire plug from the factory that we've used for years to get power to our trailer brakes and lights and emer brake battery. I hope to get a 3-wire female plug and connect it to a length of 3 wire cable then to a 7 wire plug for our receiver on the truck. Does anyone know what the 3 wires on the camper go to so I can match ground, power etc? We will pick the camper up in a week or so, we still need to buy and install the bed eye-bolts.
Thanks

Typically, they are power (12 vdc), ground and clearance lights. You can find the 7 pin layout on the internet. FWC currently uses the Attwood trolling motor connector.