Battery Power Connection

8/1/2015

Battery Power Connection

Jeff- C IL
19 June 2009
05:41 PM
There has been a lot of discussion about how to wire up the trucks for RV use.  Almost every type on conversion needs to connect to the Battery voltage at some point.  I would appreciate some feedback on ways people have done this, and where the best place to connect to battery power is on various trucks.  I've had a couple requests to make power/adapter harnesses for VN (2002-2004) Volvo's, so I'd especially like to know where to grab battery power on these, without causing corrosion.

Lets get some input on this topic as I would guess just about everybody deals with this issue!
Thanks Jeff

Scrap
19 June 2009
09:10 PM
Y'all are probably sick of hearing from me about this, but for KW owners, go to the electrical book.

For big power buy one of the cables from the top of page 58.  Run to a Mega Fuse and holder (p26) then off to what you need for your Smart car lifter, etc.  Note that for two battery circuits that are loaded separately (i.e. hotel stack separated from starting stack) KW doesn't tie together with a battery cable.  A DC/DC charger is used.

For medium power you can pull from the load side of a disconnect switch if you have one.  On pre '07 T6/T8/W9 you can jumper from the battery side of the first circuit breaker in the battery box to a new circuit breaker (top p24).  Then run your harness off of that.  On T2 (or IMOP the cooler way on any KW) you replace a couple of your battery tie jumpers with a jumper with pigtail (middle p58).  The 2nd wire molds in with the big wire on the battery end and the snap-on connector on the other end is a single pin Deutsch.  (Buy a set of black and red ones and maybe Jeff's trailer light harness will click right in? )

For light power (10A) on T2 you buy the fuse tap harness, tap it in, run one end to your spare switch, then click the other end into one of the spare firewall passthru's behind the CEP.  Go to the other side of the firewall and click into that side and run your harness.  For T6/T8/W9 you get some bullet connectors, wire your spare switch to a hot spare plug in the dash harness and your switch ground to the candelabra in the dash harness.  Route your load out of the firewall grommet and down to where you need it.  Route your load ground back to the firewall ground stud and not back into the cab.

If it is a med duty KW, download the body builders manual and have a Deutsch built that hooks into the body builders connector in the frame.  All the lights are taken care of with that.  If it isn't trailer lights then the above pretty much applies here too.

Phil D
20 June 2009
01:10 AM
Why would we get sick of hearing from you, Scrap?  We appreciate you taking the time to help us get things right.

Quote
For light power (10A) on T2 you buy the fuse tap harness..

Yeah, that reminds me . . . what's with those tap harnesses, anyway?  Kenworth gives us a boatload of extra 30A and 40A fused circuits, in our choice of BAT/ACC/RUN configuration in the CEP, and they even provide a really cool way to access them via those harnesses.  So, if we're tapping 30A and 40A circuits, why are the harnesses only available with small gauge wiring?  Even the taps that production uses (for example, the taps for a couple of FreedomLine functions) are undersized.  Inquiring minds want to know!

Russ Barnes
20 June 2009
09:36 AM
Scrap,
Great resource and timely too for some of the things I’m in the middle of, thanks!  I wish KW had more parts breakdowns like this available.  The local MHC parts guys are patient and super, but often busy taking care of drivers who are earning their living when I walk in needing some little gadget that is like a scavenger hunt to find.  I have often said if they would just sell a CD with the breakdown of my VIN number truck that I could search at home, I could have saved them and me a LOT of time.
J&V
20 June 2009
10:38 AM
Just purchased both the VIN specific parts DVD and non VIN service DVD for Net Proceeds.  Can't get either to run on Vista.  Both are back at Husky Trucks in Seattle.  Going in next week for a little tutoring.  I feel the same at the counter, every one else is still working.  Sam has taken me under her wing, best of service there!  Looking forward to using the disc's in the future
Scrap
20 June 2009
11:16 AM
Phil
A lot of their fuse and wire sizing has to do with the source, load type, duty cycle, a whole lot of testing, and a lot of theory that flies right over my head.  I'm probably a bit on the conservative side by saying 10A there, but that is fairly typical for dash switching of resistive trailer loads.  Mostly it is limited to the 20A trailer plug, so maybe it could be bumped to 15A?  The firewall passthru's are sealed MP280's good to 30A.

Russ
These are the rest of the catalogs.  The Smartsearch link just above them is also really good but you have to be really careful as well.  It's got it all, but what seems like a simple cab part could turn out to be a 1960's plywood cab floor that you just paid way too much to have built and shipped across the country.  ECAT is KW's parts CD.  It says it is for fleets, but I don't see why a single dude couldn't get one just the same.

NUKE8
20 June 2009
02:02 PM
Scrapmaker,
You shouldn't have put that Inline catalog out there, I'm droolin' in my keyboard!!!  - It's like a DigiKey catalog but for trucks!!  Hey, I was thinking of the same thing, I have two 6V flooded batteries tied in series for the condo and use a separate 120V charger when it's plugged in or on the GENSET, but all those 120V and 12V circuits are separate from the truck batteries.  Has anyone installed or played with the DC-DC chargers and know where I can get a good price on one?  I think that's the way to go, especially so I don't have to worry about the frig being on.
Ken.
Phil D
20 June 2009
02:13 PM
You guys are just now discovering Kenworth's online parts catalogs?  Man, you lead a sheltered life!

Either that, or I spend way too much time on the Internet, because I've found over the last year that I have a better idea of what's in 'em than most KW dealers' parts countermen.