How to Wire Up a Trailer with a Breakaway Battery and Auxiliary Battery to Prevent Backfeeding

Published 05/05/2016

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Question:

If i add two 6V GC batteries in series to get the 12V to my trailer, what concerns do i need to take into account with regards to the wiring and the breakaway battery currently in place. I want to use the GC2 system to run my interior 12V lights and vent fan, and possibly an auxillary 12V plug. I believe currently that system is wired into the breakaway battery. Should i completely remove it and leave the breakaway only to run the brakes, and isolate the rest of the 12V system to the GC2 setup, or can i just splice in the GC2 system without worry? Thanks

asked by: Ryan C

Helpful Expert Reply:

Typically people will let the breakaway battery run the breakaway system and then would use the accessory battery to power the interior lights etc. This tends to work the best since your breakaway battery needs to always be charged and interior lights could potentially drain the battery of the trailer.

Since when you charge two batteries on the same circuit you have the potential to end up draining both the solution is to install a diode on the circuit to prevent this like the part # RM-690.

I attached a diagram that shows how this would be done.

expert reply by: Jameson C