2020 Equinox Charging Battery While Towing

[Geeze]

I have a 2020 Equinox FWD that I will be setting up for towing. I wanted to share some information I was recently given about towing the late model Equinoxes. All my manual says is to put it in neutral and push the ignition button to turn on ACC mode when towing. Then to run for 5 minutes every time you stop for fuel with your towing vehicle. I wanted to run a charge wire from our motorhome to the car to keep the battery up while towing it with the ACC on. I decided to go with the RVI Towed Battery Charger and a note on their website said owners of late model Equinoxes should also pull the fuse for the rear wiper when towing. I contacted RVI to find out why that was necessary and their response was that even when the wiper is not running it still pulls 6 amps and the charge from the motorhome wouldn't be enough to overcome the 6 amp draw from the rear wiper and the battery will likely still go dead. They also recommend unhooking their Towed Battery Charger when the vehicle isn't being towed to protect the Equinoxes electrical system. I wanted to share this information with other Equinox owners. On my 2020 the fuse for the rear wiper is #48. Here is the reply I received
"
You'll need to pull that fuse because the rear windshield wiper has a 6A draw all by itself, even when off. If you leave it in, it will overpower the TBC+ and you'll still have a dead battery when you get where you're going.

One other thing we recommend on Equinoxes is to remove the TBC+ from the battery terminals when not towing. Because of the complexity of the Equinox and the difficulty presented by introducing third-party devices into the car, that helps prevent any possible issues that could come up between the car and the product."

[Rick_Jay]

I'm puzzled how the rear wiper, which isn't running, has a draw of 6 amps? How the heck much does it draw when it's operational? LOL

ON EDIT: I just found this which might explain the issue. Apparently the rear wiper might not "park" in the proper position when shutting off and attempts to correct itself continually, whether the wiper control is on or off.

Parasitic Draw on Equinox

~Rick

[Geeze]

Lwiddis wrote:
"I wanted to share some information I was recently given about towing the late model Equinoxes."

What was your source for the information?

RVI customer service was the source of the information.

[theoldwizard1]

Geeze wrote:
I wanted to run a charge wire from our motorhome to the car to keep the battery up while towing it with the ACC on. I decided to go with the RVI Towed Battery Charger ...

I am not impressed !

What you really want is a DC-DC charger. Mounted near the towed vehicle battery, it will provide the correct voltage to maintain the battery.

Geeze wrote:
... a note on their website said owners of late model Equinoxes should also pull the fuse for the rear wiper when towing. I contacted RVI to find out why that was necessary and their response was that even when the wiper is not running it still pulls 6 amps and the charge from the motorhome wouldn't be enough to overcome the 6 amp draw from the rear wiper and the battery will likely still go dead. They also recommend unhooking their Towed Battery Charger when the vehicle isn't being towed to protect the Equinoxes electrical system. I wanted to share this information with other Equinox owners.

Those statements are totally illogical !!

If you have not installed the device, return it and buy a Renogy or Victron DC-DC charger.

[Lwiddis]

"I wanted to share some information I was recently given about towing the late model Equinoxes."

What was your source for the information?