Joann,
I am not familiar with the circuitry in the Intellipower/Charge Wizard. You
might try e-mailing or calling Progressive Dynamics (the manufacturer)
http://www.progressivedyn,com
East coast ((MI) 8-5 EST) sales mgr: Ron Mill (269) 781-4241
West coast ((CA) 3-5 PST) sales mgr: Dave Dykehouse (805) 693-0421
My guess is that the Charge Wizard will monitor the VOLTAGE from the
battery (or batteries) to determine the charging rate. It could also monitor
the current from the charger or the load on the converter.
It will handle multiple 12 volt batteries in parallel. Therefore, if you
left your tow vehicle electrically connected to the trailer with the tow
vehicle engine off and NO diode in the line to the tow vehicle, the
Intellipower would charge both batteries, assuming either was in need of a
charge. I don't think the batteries have to be exactly the same.
However, the diode will likely foul things up, since it is usually installed
to prevent current flow from the tow vehicle's battery to the trailer
battery circuit when the tow vehicle engine is off. Thus the voltage reading
the Charge Wizard would get from the tow vehicle's battery would be zero
volts and would likely cause the converter to assume that one of the
batteries was dead (or did not exist) and therfore either go into full
charge mode (at least until the trailer's battery was fully charged) or a
charge mode relavent to the condition of the trailer battery .
Your best bet would be to write to Progressive Dynamics with a proposed
circuit diagram of the diode location and get their opinion.
Good luck, and let me know your response.
Oliver Filippi