TPMS booster and battery

[LuckyDuck]

Trying to decide on whether to pull the trigger on a clearance price for the TireMinder TPMS solar model. For anyone who has one, are you happy with it and does it stay adequately charged when traveling in cloudy weather? For $150 I can live with a less-frills TPMS.

More worrisome is it comes with a signal booster that taps into the battery. I don’t relish having a drain on my battery when I’m not traveling or hooked to shore power. Having to open the battery box and hook/unhook it regularly seems like a pain. Is there a better workaround? TM says it’s for trailers 25 feet or less. Is the booster really needed? An alternative, albeit pricier alternative, is the TST which seems to have a longer signal throw — maybe I wouldn’t need a booster for that on our 25’ 6” rig? Thanks for any advice!

[RedHorse1]

Lucky, I’ve owned 2 TM TPMS over the last 10 yrs. I think it’s a good system and will buy another if my current one fails. I had several false alerts with my first TM unit (on a 24’ Hybrid), the booster eliminated that prob. On the current 5th I installed the booster at the beginning, no prob. Both units had parasitic drain on the batt with nothing turned on. The CO, Propane and fire/smoke detectors usually bypass a batt disconnect switch and our 1st TT would drain the batt in a week or so. My booster only used power when the batt disconnect was on. In storage I now remove the batt and the prob is solved. TST is a popular system but I have no experience with it. IMHO you should have one or the other. After 2 dramatic tire failures and very little collateral damage for me a TPMS a required item. On both occasions the TM alerted me before additional damage was done. While I buy Harbor Freight tools for the trailer, tires and TPMS are things I don’t go cheap on.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

Lucky, I’ve owned 2 TM TPMS over the last 10 yrs. I think it’s a good system and will buy another if my current one fails. I had several false alerts with my first TM unit (on a 24’ Hybrid), the booster eliminated that prob. On the current 5th I installed the booster at the beginning, no prob. Both units had parasitic drain on the batt with nothing turned on. The CO, Propane and fire/smoke detectors usually bypass a batt disconnect switch and our 1st TT would drain the batt in a week or so. My booster only used power when the batt disconnect was on. In storage I now remove the batt and the prob is solved. TST is a popular system but I have no experience with it. IMHO you should have one or the other. After 2 dramatic tire failures and very little collateral damage for me a TPMS a required item. On both occasions the TM alerted me before additional damage was done. While I buy Harbor Freight tools for the trailer, tires and TPMS are things I don’t go cheap on.

Thanks! My battery disconnect (not a factory install) cuts all power, including the detectors. Maybe I can hook the booster feed behind that?

[colby]

LuckyDuck,

The system also has a USB connection that can charge if the solar can't keep up. I haven't had an issue with that model.

I also set up the booster at the front of the trailer, hooking the lines up so that my self-installed disconnect switch also shuts it down. Now one of my prep checks is to ensure that the green light of the booster is on before I start driving off with the trailer.

[LuckyDuck]

Good info. I had the dealer install my disconnect afterwards, but I would think the booster could be tapped in downstream. Thanks Colby.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Thanks! My battery disconnect (not a factory install) cuts all power, including the detectors. Maybe I can hook the booster feed behind that?

I put the booster in the basement next to a light and tapped into its power. I just realized that tapped into a light would not have parasitic drain when my batt disconnect was off.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

I put the booster in the basement next to a light and tapped into its power. I just realized that tapped into a light would not have parasitic drain when my batt disconnect was off.

I was thinking of that, but no light in the storage area of our trailer. I’m thinking an in-line fuse that could be pulled would be easy enough (it may come with one) or a waterproof switch.

[colby]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

I was thinking of that, but no light in the storage area of our trailer. I’m thinking an in-line fuse that could be pulled would be easy enough (it may come with one) or a waterproof switch.

I'm headed out to the trailer this weekend. I'll take a picture of where I put mine and wired it in.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by colby

I'm headed out to the trailer this weekend. I'll take a picture of where I put mine and wired it in.

Thanks a bunch! It sounds like TST and TireMinder have inline fuses which I could just pull as well.

[NjNewbie30]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Thanks a bunch! It sounds like TST and TireMinder have inline fuses which I could just pull as well.

I have the tire minder sys. The light is on small led light that is a minimal draw on your battery. I have had mine hooked up and turned on since I installed it. Never had any issue with it draining y house battery. Most of the time my rig is plugged in at home, but it has say for as much as a couple of months without being plugged in and not on a charger and the discharge of the battery was no more noticeable than the usual charge loss over time. I would not worry about that in your decision to purchase. In any event if I were you I would decide on one and install it if not for anything then for piece of mind...

[01tundra]

Before I rewired our trailer for the LiFePO4 batteries I simply mounted a weatherproof toggle switch on the tongue to turn the signal booster on/off.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by 01tundra

Before I rewired our trailer for the LiFePO4 batteries I simply mounted a weatherproof toggle switch on the tongue to turn the signal booster on/off.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thanks, that looks great! May I ask, what TPMS do you have? Like it?

[01tundra]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Thanks, that looks great! May I ask, what TPMS do you have? Like it?

TireMinder TM77 and yes I love it.

I'd recommend their Rhino signal booster, it's much better than their cheaper version.

It's already saved us once by letting me know that we had picked up a screw in a tire.

[norty1]

My TST signal booster has very low drain. It does have a inline fuse also. I have just disconnected mine when I am parked for a while.

Mine is on a 38.5' trailer and even w/o the booster it picks up a good strong signal but I feel better with the booster working.

[GABob]

I have the TST and yes, that little red light does drain the battery. Found out the hard way, and it of course screws with the leveling system when the power drops and you have to reset it. Cutoff switch was a smart move, but I opted for using a small solar panel mounted in the window as a trickle charger. So far so good.

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by norty1

My TST signal booster has very low drain. It does have a inline fuse also. I have just disconnected mine when I am parked for a while.

Mine is on a 38.5' trailer and even w/o the booster it picks up a good strong signal but I feel better with the booster working.

Thank you Norty. I’m kind of leaning toward the TST — I like that the display doesn’t go to sleep but stays illuminated. It seems the flow-through sensors would make life easier than the caps for things like topping off the air. And I’d probably still manually check pressure from time to time. Price is the same — any pros/cons?

[norty1]

When I upgraded mine from a rv 510 system, I considered the flow thru sensors but in reality, I hardly ever have to remove them except once or twice a year when the cold temps change drastically. I am a fan of the replaceable batteries as my old rv510 did not have them. The batteries in mine have lasted several years so far.

[LuckyDuck]

I’ll close the loop on my original post…I pulled the trigger today and bought the TireMinder 4-sensor solar-powered TPMS. It’s simple but good enough to handle our relatively small TT and I couldn’t beat the $150 price. I was impressed with the customer support — they answered a couple of questions both on the phone and email very quickly— before I even bought it!

Thanks to all my JOF friends for your always-good advice!

[norty1]

Keep us posted. I know of and read of many who are happy with the Tire Minder. Any good one really takes a lot of uncertainty out of towing.

[LuckyDuck]

Will do. It was worth the cost for more peace of mind. Even having just put on a new set of GYE tires, you just never know…