Camper wiring for 2007 Silverado 2500 HD

[tkredo]

I gave my son a camper for his 2007 Silverado 2500HD w/h Duramax 6.6L turbo diesel engine. We installed a new electrical connector, on the camper, and now have the running lights working.

A second electrical connector will be installed, between the truck and camper, for providing power and ground for the interior camper lights and other items.

This truck has two batteries. Which battery should we take the power from or is there a terminal block for this purpose?

Thanks for your help - tkredo

[moosetags]

First off, welcome to the Forums. We're glad to have you with us.

Regarding your trailer wiring, is there a reason that you are not using the truck's trailer connector?

[tkredo]

Brian, I have three reasons why I did not use the existing truck's trailer connector.

First - with no key in the ignition switch, I could not get power from any of the pins except for the brake light pin.

Second - the camper has two separate connectors - one for the running lights and one, located near the front of the camper, for the interior camper power.

Third - the camper has two 40 watt utility lamps which are use for back up lights. A 40 amp relay will be used for switching purposes and this requires a dedicated 12 gage conductor from the relay to the back up lights. Since the connector, located near the front of the camper, already has the three required conductors, (back up lights, interior power, and ground), it made sense to use this camper connector.

Actually there is a fourth reason - the original owner, of my son's truck, had a Lance camper installed and a six pin connector was installed in the front of the truck bed. The location of the two connectors are less than two feet apart. We will have to open up the wire loom and trace the conductors since only one pin is hot and the remaining are grounded. We will then change out the forward truck connector in order to match up with the existing camper connector.

Sorry - probably more info than you bargained for but now you have complete story.

Thank you for welcoming me to this forum.

tkredo from sunny Southern California

[CarpenterGuy]

welcome to the club!

why do you want to draw power from the truck to power the interior lights? i cant say i know alot about campers but if you had the truck off i would imagine it would run the battery down.

[tkredo]

In the old world of camping, the purpose of having two batteries was to use the primary battery for truck ignition and the secondary battery for camper use. A solid state isolator switch allowed the camper to use the secondary battery and then be charged when the truck is under way.

The purpose of my original question was to define which of the two batteries is the primary battery and if there is a dedicated terminal block for tapping power and ground instead of adding additional conductors to battery posts.

Again, I go back a few years - my camper truck is a 1965 Ford F250, 352 cu in with four on the floor. That was when you could find the engine, coil, starter and etc.. I could visually determine the primary battery or just disconnect cables until the engine would not crank over. Today, on some vehicles, if you change out a battery, you have to reprogram a computer.

So, since my son does not have a owner's manual, I thought I would be cautious and ask a couple of questions prior to distrurbing his electrical system.

I hope you are having good weather in Leeds - tkredo.

[CarpenterGuy]

haha the weather has been horrible. i cant get to cutting the yard.

The second battery makes sense now.

[a68vette]

If the truck has two batteries, the one on the right is the Aux. It is already isolated if it is factory. Look for RPO code TP2 on the RPO list (glove box).

[a68vette]

I can send you the schematic of an '08...may be similar, but not exact. Can also send description in service manual of the '08 on how it works. Again, this is an '08. he RPO should still be the same. Basically, when you hit the ignition, there is a relay that disconnects (isolates) the Aux from the starting circuit. After start, the battery goes back on-line for charging. There is an Aux sensor relay for that purpose in the circuit. There is also the connector on the left side in the frame/corner of the pick up box for the connections to a camper. It may already have the cable needed. It may be what is connected to the connector you see from the old camper. The cable is installed by the dealer as an option without any terminations. That is left to the owner to determine what connector to use based on the camper. I believe I also have the wiring schematic for that connector..may save you some time poking around. I do not think that the camper connector has changed from '07 to '08, but I do believe there is a change in the circuit for the Aux battery.

[tkredo]

Thanks for the information.

My son's truck is a 2007 Silverado LT 2500 series, Duramax 6.6 L diesel w/h turbo & intercooler.

This is what I have found out so far;

01 Went to the library and viewed the Haynes Repair Manual - electrical schematics cover all models including wreckers, ambulances and etc., which makes for difficult reading. Conclusion - right battery is connected an 'Auxiliary Battery Relay' which eventually ends up on the downstream side of 'Stud 1 Fuse 40A' which then goes to the 7 way trailer connector and camper/trailier provision (blunt cut). The left battery is connected to the upstream side of 'Stud 1 Fuse 40A'.

02 My mechanic states that the left battery is the auxiliary battery and should be used for camper lights and power.

03 I found a site called 'gmcanada' and it states that 'Express' vehicles with Duramax power have a primary battery underhood with a secondary battery located on the left hand frame rail.

In conclusion - I do not think I can go wrong if I use 'Stud 1' which is located on the left side of the engine compartment, adjacent to the left battery. However, I would really appreciate any information you think would be useful to me especially the schematic of the connector located in the truck bed.

Thanks again - tkredo