Stay N Charge Icehouse Wiring Change

[Ronsay]

Upon installing the Stay N Charge wiring on my truck and icehouse, I noticed that the plug ends on both units are the same so that you cannot use the system without plugging in the center wire to both plug ends.

There is a simple fix for this, I cut one of the ends off the center wire about 10" in and did the same on the icehouse end. Just switch the two plug ends using a yellow wire or butt connector and the Stay N Charge will hook up like a trailer light hookup without having to mess with the center wire. If you ever need the center wire for the extra length, it will still work.

I believe when Jim built this unit he was only thinking of boats with the plug on that end having to be hooked up to the center wire to hook to the truck, with the plug end being the same on both units a person wouldn't have to worry about which end he grabed in the dark to hook the units up.

To me it is more convenient to just hook up one plug and not have to worry about wrapping extra wire up to keep it organized.

Note: I have two batteries in the icehouse hooked up parallel and my F-150 was able to charge the batteries at an idle. This will make fishing alot easier this Winter.

This is a wiring change that I did on my own without anyones recommendation.

Ron

[JIM PAYNE]

Hey Ron just got home and i got your message. You are correct the units were built for boats originally and they needed the middle for the trailer neck. I will have them look at the connecters before we make the next run. Thanks for the imput i am always looking to make things better for the end user. Thanks again

[tightlines]

Hey Ron: How long did you have to idle the 150 to get a full charge on 2 batterys? I bought my Stay N caharge last y ear and will be installing this week.Thanks for the heads up on the wiring...Doug

[Ronsay]

Hi Doug,

I go in the icehouse alot and installed ceiling fans this off season and wired into the 12v system. I also use the lights alot and have tested the furnace which is fan forced air.

I hooked up the Minn Kota automatic battery charger to each battery and it showed the power on light so the battery's were down some, I did not charge the battery's since early Spring. I then hooked the battery's up in a parallel series and hooked the Stay N Charge to them. I let the truck idle for 20 minutes and unhooked the plug connector from the truck, I re-hooked the charger to each battery and the charging complete light was on for each of them.

IM sure the battery's were down some as I used them on and off during the Summer without re-charging them. I believe the Minn Kota charges the battery to 80%, so they had to have been at least charged to that point.

I have the 5.4 liter engine and the amp guage goes between 8 and 18, while the icehouse was plugged in, the guage stayed above the halfway point, probably around 14 amp's. I don't know how acurate the guage is but the lights and furnace turned on with authority when I tested them afterward.

Ron

[Tahoe2349]

Tightlines:

I'm not sure if a Chevy or Ford makes any difference but I can give you an example for a 5.7 Chev/Tahoe (not sure on alt/amp).. System is hooked up like Ronsay described with 2 deep cycle in parallel.

1. Upon first connection I ran my batteries to below 30% charge and run the truck(driving) for 40 minutes and both were at full charge..

2. Second test I over a period of a day turned on everything in my house and ran them down to 30% again..."idled" the system to charge with everything ON and I was at full capacity within (30) minutes with everything ON..

My house has (6) hole lites (4) ceiling (2) outside lights (1) radio) (1) CB (1) TV (1) 12V antenna amp (1) cell charger (1) Aqua View (1) Lx -3 (2)12V fans (1)12V digital volt meter (1) 12V digital clock (1) 12V toaster (lol)

After plugging in the Stay N Charge & turning all the above On I had full bright lights and everything powered for the half hour I idled the truck... Shut her down and unplugged the system, turned everything OFF and waited 30 minutes and "volt meter" read 14 volts (normal charge)

[Ronsay]

Doug,

I stated amps and should have said volts it was putting out, the amps would have been much higher than 14.

Checking on the internet, I saw alternators that would put out up to 65 amps at an idle, and were rated at 130 amps.

Tahoe, That's very impressive that you were able to charge those battery's that fast with everything on in the icehouse, you must have a high capacity alternator.

IM looking forward to early ice this year to try all the new toys out.

Ron

[Tahoe2349]

Ronsay:

I'll look tomorrow to see what AMP/ALT I have...

I believe they are 105 (standard) but I think there is like a (124) & (140) option as well.

The batteries are my dads old ones from last year so they were not junk and they were holding close to 30% charge when I lit her up like a christmas tree and the charger..Everything in the truck was off including running lights but even so I thought it was a good recharge myself !!

[JIM PAYNE]

Hey guys the meter on your truck is for volts and with the truck running it should read around 14 volts. They [commercial-or-naughty-word] units are only allowing a max of 30 amps and if the draw gets higher then that the circuit breaker would kick out. Most of the altenaters are over 100 amps and if you are running all your radios, AC and everything your are only drawing arond 20 to 30 amps so there is plenty amps left to charge a couple of batteries. You should really charge the batteries without anything running on the battery being charged just to make sure the wires are not getting hot. If the wires are warm to the touch then i would not try charging them when the tv and all the other things are on. An easy way to do this is have two batteries and when one gets low just unhook that battery and switch to the second one and hook the first one to the truck set up and let the motor run for 20 minutes or soo. I hope you enjoy the units this season

[Tahoe2349]

Good point Jim, although I loaded mine up I did not mention I was very particular to gradually turn on all my appliances and I was checking the wires for heat constantly.

RONSAY.. My alternator is a (105) amp (Delphi) which I've never heard of...