Break Away Trickle Charging Cords

[AndySpill]

Sorry for the long post. You're often damned coming to a forum not doing your research, and equally damned if you show respect in doing so, but spend too much time talking about it.

I'll choose the second form of damnation.

Like many of you I trickle charge my 3.6L JL's batteries from time to time.

I've got the trickle charger installed under the hood and I wired a Noco AC Port Plug to an accessible area outside the engine bay where I can attach an A/C shore power cord. Mine's a non-drill version of this guy's better idea: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/fo...inlet-install-lots-of-pics.44466/#post-978506

...and it's not that I tend to forget to uplug the cord before driving away, or that couldn't go with some hard to miss interface like this one Noco on cowl ---although I've forgotten to unplug a few times---but it seems to me like there ought to be an ability to devise some clean/easy break away 120V A/C power cord that can allow the trickle charging owner to merely drive off, and have the charging connection break away cleanly.

I haven't seen one and thought you might have.

As per a prior post on this subject my research took me to auto eject plugs like those from Kussmaul, common on Emergency Service Vehicles, which ejects the shore line upon engine crank. In addition to the wiring to the starter, and the moving parts subject to breaking over time given this owner lacks a (firehouse) garage to park his JL in, and turning ESS off or devising a method for this relatively expensive auto eject plug to ignore a post ESS event engine crank is cumbersome.

I also came across Voltsafe's Winter product https://www.voltsafewinter.com/ , a magnetic 120V A/C power cord rated for up to 7 amps, but designed around the simpler electronics of an engine black heater and not rated for some of the potentially more complex circuitry of an appliance like a 7 amp or smaller trickle charger. Voltsafe's working on a 15 amp version of their (outdoor rated) product they tell me, that can energize more than engine block heaters, but its release date's unknown, particularly given the expense and time to market of getting any electrical product independently certified.

In the meantime I'm working on making a male and female 120V A/C power cord mating to be one that has near zero resistance to breaking apart when pulled, but for some tiny recessed rare earth magnets on each side keeping the ends together. This will like involve both loosening the female plug's grip and shortening the male's prong lengths.

Another route I'm experimenting with involves use of a covered IEC 320 male receptacle, which many of you know as the port on a full size personal computer's power supply, to which an IEC 320 power cord (that you likely own, but never referred to by its technical name) attaches. It seems to break away without modification, pretty cleanly.

Finally, kitchen fryers tend to have magnetic power cords for safety I've found, Fryer Power Cord, but the cord's end is brand specific, probably not ideal outside, and finding the corresponding part that attaches to the air fryer is hard.

...And this vaporware's probably not outdoor rated either: https://ilovehandles.com/shop/tug/ , while this 12V rated quick disconnect cord doesn't break away seamlessly in my "straight pull" testing.

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[jeep1]

I used magnetic connectors from Magcode. One side to the battery, one to the trickle charger. They work great. Little hard to find but definitely some options on Ebay including some with Norco X connectors already wired.

 

[Terrymo]

I know this is low tech, low budget, and boring, but here’s my weather proof/fool proof solution. Under $10 including paracord.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088KHX839/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[paffemt]

Back in the day before we had auto ejectors on the ambulances we had a short cord that plugged into the ambulance and that connected to the shore line cord. If you drove away without unplugging, the cords would separate. We used to kid crews with the short cord still hanging when they got to the Scene.

 

[AndySpill]

@jeep1 Hey Wayne: great setup, but it appears that the cord outside the vehicle is carrying 12V DC, right?

In other words, Magcode doesn't make an interface for 120V A/C current, does it?

If I've got this right the trickle charger sits outside the rig in this setup, attached (if 120V A/C energized) to a shore line and the charger's outputs connect to the Magcode?

I wish Magcode made an A/C 120V interface.

 

[Heimkehr]

...turning ESS off or devising a method for this relatively expensive auto eject plug to ignore a post ESS event engine crank is cumbersome.

...this 12V rated quick disconnect cord doesn't break away seamlessly in my "straight pull" testing.

Install this harness to create a memory function for the non-ratcheting ESS dashboard switch. Once turned off, ESS will stay that way until you decide otherwise. Done.

Yes, SAE plugs are designed to have a snug fit, with a bit of effort required for removal. That's what makes them popular in, for example, the motorcycling community, which depends on them for powering a variety of devices. And the ad copy actually says Quick Connect, btw.

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Yours was a good, data-intensive post. You've nothing to apologize for. ?

 

[jeep1]

@jeep1 Hey Wayne: great setup, but it appears that the cord outside the vehicle is carrying 12V DC, right?

In other words, Magcode doesn't make an interface for 120V A/C current, does it?

If I've got this right the trickle charger sits outside the rig in this setup, attached (if 120V A/C energized) to a shore line and the charger's outputs connect to the Magcode?

I wish Magcode made an A/C 120V interface.

Correct.

I have seen a couple 110V solutions that seem to target block heaters.

https://www.amazon.com/VoltSafe-Mag...mzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc

 

[GtX]

I put a NOCO shore plug in my front bumper for the engine heater. If I were to back out of the garage without unplugging it'll simply pull out.

I do hang a "remove before flight" tag on the steering wheel when connected too and have not forgot yet.

 

[Eyeball]

I don’t have a skin in this game but I am curious. What is the advantage of having the charger on the Jeep vs mounted near the outlet with the small cord going to the Jeep?

 

[AndySpill]

I don’t have a skin in this game but I am curious. What is the advantage of having the charger on the Jeep vs mounted near the outlet with the small cord going to the Jeep?

Hi @Eyeball :

I think that it's smart of you to raise this question because I feel that there's pros and cons to placing the trickle charger under the hood or by the shore power outlet.

With it's placement by the shore power outlet we're probably going to need an indoor/garage like setup, that's going to limit our ability to trickle charge in places other than our usual garage, but then you get to use 12V break away tech like that above by @jeep1 .

With the trickle charger under the hood, as I see it, your breakaway options are four fold as per above. One is the Volt Safe Winter. It is limited to 7 Watts, although the people at Voltsafe tell me that they are working on higher wattage products, and technically only rate their device for engine heaters, not trickle chargers--much that it worked fine with my trickle charger and most trickle chargers don't exceed these wattage limitations.

The next option, as I see it is the auto ejector route https://kussmaul.com/ejection-units . I think this route overpriced, somewhat trickier to install, as it has both power and ejection cable requirements: the latter connected to the engine starter circuitry (in ICE Wranglers at least). Run ESS with these and they're going to be spitting out out a plug that's not there on every ESS engine start unless you're able to differentiate a cold engine crank in the driveway, with shore power connected, from one that happens at a traffic light, miles from home.

The third option's an ICE 320. I'm not sure I want to use these outdoors.

Finally there's two good old fashion outdoor rater power cords. I shortened the male plugs to facilitate breakaway, but made sure the cords would stay together by putting tiny rare earth magnets in place of the female plug's 3 retaining screws--gluing it up instead, and put tactile notches in the two connecting plugs to be able to pair them up in the dark. While I pull the plugs out manually, if I forget, it's no big deal as they break away cleanly and easily.

 

[Heimkehr]

Finally, kitchen fryers tend to have magnetic power cords for safety I've found, Fryer Power Cord, but the cord's end is brand specific, probably not ideal outside, and finding the corresponding part that attaches to the air fryer is hard.

I've one such countertop kitchen fryer, with the magnetic cord interface that is functionally identical to what's in your Amazon link. "Secura Magnet" is something of a misnomer; the holding power is, in my estimation, barely adequate given its intended function (i.e., serving as a safe conduit for 120V.) I'd respectfully suggest that this solution not be considered for the use case that you're working on. Just a thought.

 

[BuffaloBill]

On my truck I installed a Battery Tender with its 120vac plug zip-tied to a tow hook. Ahead of the truck in the garage, I secured an outdoor extension cord, having a single receptacle in-line with the cord, to the garage wall. Should I back out of the garage w/o remembering to unplug it, it simply pulls apart.

 

[Vinman]

Wrap your extension cord around the drivers side mirror. You won’t drive away twice without disconnecting it.

 

[AndySpill]

The use of standard power cords and/or reminders is certainly fine.

But I was looking for a connection whose manual removal is optiona1, rather than recommended,

 

[spurly]

I used magnetic connectors from Magcode. One side to the battery, one to the trickle charger. They work great. Little hard to find but definitely some options on Ebay including some with Norco X connectors already wired.

This is a good idea. This would be a good use for the 4XE cowl charge port cover.

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