How to Connect Auxiliary Battery to Popup Camper 7-Way for Off Grid Camping

Question:

Is there adaptor available to connect end of popup camper trailer 7-way blade type plug to deep cycle battery? Send 12 volt power through the auxiliary.

asked by: Daniel B

Expert Reply:

If you were wanting to just plug in your current 7-Way on your popup to a 7-Way that is connected to your auxiliary battery then you could install the Hopkins # HM47210 on your trailer. Then you would need to ground the white wire to a clean, bare-metal surface on your trailer and run some 10 Gauge Wire # 10-1-1 from the Red wire on this connector to your battery.

Even though this would work it wouldn't be as clean as just hardwiring your battery into the 12V Power circuit on your trailer. This would be the wire that is connected to the pin in the 11 o'clock position (see attached picture).

This will allow you to draw power off of your battery without having to connect the 7-Way on your trailer to anything. When you needed to use power it would be ready to go. The best way to keep your battery charged is to use the CTEK MULTI US 4.3 Universal 12-Volt Battery Charger # CTEK56830 when you have access to AC power.

Since you did say off-grid camping this leads me to believe that you may not have access to AC power for long periods of time. In this case you would want to install the Redarc BCDC Battery Charger # 331-BCDC1240D and use a solar panel like part # 34273836 to slowly charge it.