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1377 messages, Last post on Nov 20, 2003 at 1:43 PM
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vince4, the stud A referred to is the output (top) stud on the aux relay. My experiment was to verify that the stud A relay output was connected only to the Aux battery when the switch is off. The owners manual says that stud A is protected by a "mega fuse" (whatever that is) behind the aux battery. Thus factory stud A behaves as it should, like your installation. Relocating the stud 1 red wire camper feed to stud A should work as you describe and be protected by the "mega fuse". It would be interesting to see just what this fuse is but I don't feel like moving the battery. It appears that GMC saved a few dollars by not rerouting the stud 1 (camper/trailer) feed to be from the aux battery when trucks were so equipped. If this is the case as vince4 describes, it is even worse because the main starting battery is not a deep cycle design and its life will be shortened being treated this way. The factory aux battery does not appear to be a deep cycle either, but one could substituted as vince4 did. Please somebody tell me GMC wasn't this stupid/shortsighted. |
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vince - After lying awake till all hours last nite after i posted my #626 message, i came to your conclusion about moving the camper/5th wh feed from the primary bat over to stud A. I'm going to advise my dealer today of the necessary change and request them to "?MAKE?" GM issue a Techincal Service Bulletin advising ALL dealers of this "SCREW UP" and provide PROPER INSTRUCTIONS on ----------- 1) Where to disconnect the POWER FEED in the Z82 Heavy Duty Trailering Equipment & the UY2 Camper/5th Wheel Wiring Provision. 2) Provide proper WIRING HARNESS with SHIELDING and INSTRUCTIONS for SAFELY RE-ROUTING the camper/5th wh feed TO Stud A on the Aux. Battery Relay. Short of getting this out of GM within the next 5 years i will require them to issue a letter for the same so that GM Legal Department can not later claim UNAUTHERIZED wiring changes. Will keep all advise on this move. Loren (75v) |
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The silver salmon are running and the Halibut are biting I hope to be there in a couple of days. This is a picture of Valdez Alaska taken this morning. If you look close you can see some happy campers out there. |
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Gm Tech. saying that Aux. bat not really intended to function with camper -- Dah!!! Stupidity at it best. I sent a letter in part repeated below to a Gm Corp. Sales Planner contact that provide lot of answers during my six month delivey wait. --After considerable discussion over the Internet last night it is clear that GM should have ran the Power Feed for the Z82 Heavy Duty Trailering Equipment & the UY2 Camper/5th Wheel Options to the auxiliary battery relay Stud A referred to in the Owners Manual on page 4-81 (terminal 'L' in the schematic you provided). I would request that GM be asked to ISSUE a TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN when customers order the Auxiliary Battery TP2 Option in conjunction with Z82 Heavy Duty Trailering Equipment and/or the UY2 Camper/5th Wheel Wiring Options ADVISING all DEALERS & CUSTOMERS how to properly and SAFELY reconfigure the power feed wiring from it's current location in the Primary Battery Circuit to the auxiliary battery relay stud A.-- His Response -- "Thanks for your letter explaining wiring problems with the TP2 Aux. Battery option. I can tell you that the factory option is on stop right now for revisions. The revisions will most likly result in a service bulletin to modify those already out. I'll send you another reply if I have any updates. In the mean time I will forward your comments to the brand Quality Team." 75v |
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| Be SURE when the red camper lead is connected to stud A to put an inline fuse of the proper size in. Otherwise your camper/camper wiring harness is only protected by the "mega fuse" (whatever that is) between the aux battery and stud A. I would hate to find out the hard way that it is way over amperage for the red camper lead. | |
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Oh the saga of the auxiliary battery is winding down. Hmm, we've about covered Maid-Rites too, what's left? When Mike gets back he can tell us all about year 2001 Maid-Rites, I hope he wasn't let down. 75v, I don't know how important it is to you to have the factory do the fix vs. living with it the way it is. Since it's not likely anything will happen soon, I would just go ahead and make the change myself. If you do a good job they aren't going to make a fuss unless something in that system goes bad, and maybe even not then. One out you have is to do the work such that it can be restored to factory. Don't cut off the ring lug on the red wire, just use a bolt to connect it to a second ring lug (or use a breaker like I did). Other than that it's one wire going across the engine bay. I agree with buzzb that the non-deep-cycle battery won't hold up to RV use for too long. Maybe when GM moves the wire they will start putting DC batteries in the aux position. I guess GM's thinking is that the extra battery really is just an auxiliary for self-jumpering or heavy loads and doesn't have anything to do with RVs. |
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| Another way to wire the batteries is to install a switch for the batteries. They are readily available at RV shops and battery shops everywhere. I put a dual battery setup in my boat and the way I tied them together was with a switch. They are a make before break switch and it allows you to run on one battery or the other and it allows both to be tied together. Took about 1/2 an hour to install. | |
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Not being willing to let the Great Battery Debate of 2001 "die out", let me throw my own 2 cents into the ring. If the aux. battery is supposed to be a "recharge reservior" for the main battery (i.e. you're supposed to turn the key to the "on" position for several minutes before trying to start the motor), wouldn't it be **better** to have a deep-cycle battery as the "aux. battery" anyway? But an even more fundamental problem with the "recharge reservior" theory is this: how do you know that the "main battery" is good? If it's shorted internally, it will just drain the "aux. battery" as well, and you're no better off than you would have been if you didn't even have the "aux. battery". If the idea is to be able to run the vehicle even if the "main battery" goes out for any reason, it's best to have the circuitry set up so the two batteries "swap roles"; in other words, the "aux. battery" is used to crank the starter motor and help regulate voltage (an important secondary role for the battery), while the "main battery" just passively re-charges, if it can. In this case, using two automotive batteries makes sense. I think G.M. may have committed another "d'oh!" with this one. |
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vince - Yeh - i'm going ahead with getting the wire moved to the relay. My official position to Gm and my Dealer is to get Gm to ackknowledge the screw-up and fix the problem, which according to the Sales Planner guy may be in the works. It's kinda like trying to wag the dog, but when customers start using the 'SAFTY' word the DOG sometimes starts listening better. BTW - Where is the camper feed wire connection actually at so i can disconnect it from the Primary circuit to extend it over to the relay?? Hey - The help/interest on this has sure been appreciated and it took this group about one nite to know what the solution was. The dealers only solution would have been 'ya gotta bring it in so we can test it!' I'll try to take good care of Mike and the Maidrite deal when he gets here. (  75v |
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