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Old 01-17-2017, 10:00 AM   #1
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How to connect external battery charger

Hi - currently camping in Florida with what looks like a bad Xantrex charger/inverter. I'm thinking of getting a battery charger for the house batteries so I can at least keep dry camping.

2003 Journey 36GD

I have 3 House batteries wired in parallel.

How would I connect the charger? Positive on front battery and negative on the back one?

Would I have to disconnect any cables?

Thanks
Ben
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Old 01-17-2017, 10:09 AM   #2
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For safety reasons take a couple of pictures and post them here.

My inverter/converter went up in smoke a few days ago so I too am running on a small charger.

A ten amp charger will work if you are sensible at night with lots of lights on etc.

If you are anywhere near Auburndale I can offer assistance in person. I'm an Electronic tech.
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Old 01-17-2017, 10:14 AM   #3
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Yes pos on one side of the array and neg on the other. Easy Peasy
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Old 01-17-2017, 10:56 AM   #4
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Yes pos on one side of the array and neg on the other. Easy Peasy
x2 on this. We had to do that last summer, and it worked great. (Not dry camping, but dead batteries from power outage and blown inverter).
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Old 01-17-2017, 12:23 PM   #5
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Here is my setup and what I bought from Walmart. I wasn't sure what to get. Wasn't sure about using it in boost mode or not. I wouldn't use the engine start mode for sure.
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Old 01-17-2017, 03:44 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelm130 View Post
Hi - currently camping in Florida with what looks like a bad Xantrex charger/inverter. I'm thinking of getting a battery charger for the house batteries so I can at least keep dry camping.

2003 Journey 36GD

I have 3 House batteries wired in parallel.

How would I connect the charger? Positive on front battery and negative on the back one?

Would I have to disconnect any cables?

Thanks
Ben
My inverter fried itself about three years ago, so I got by the rest of that year with a 6-amp charger. We seldom used the inverter, so I didn't spend the $$ to replace it. I bought a new PD 60-amp converter and installed it in place of the inverter/charger. I've not missed the inverter, and haven't had any battery problems.
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Old 01-17-2017, 05:10 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by Kelm130 View Post
Here is my setup and what I bought from Walmart. I wasn't sure what to get. Wasn't sure about using it in boost mode or not. I wouldn't use the engine start mode for sure.

Just a recommendation, but it is best if the pos and neg wires for the coach come from opposite sides of the bank. Click image for larger version

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Old 01-17-2017, 07:20 PM   #8
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Since you'd be attaching a charger, turned off, connect the positive to any positive post on your parallel bank, and the negative to a nearby ground...or, if that's not convenient, then attach to anyone of the negative battery posts. And remember that you connect positive first, then negative. This prevents excessive sparking if you've turned on or plugged in the charger early.
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Old 01-17-2017, 07:33 PM   #9
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As for the boost function of the charger, it is probably only a short time boost, and not needed for your application.
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Old 01-17-2017, 08:49 PM   #10
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And remember that you connect positive first, then negative. This prevents excessive sparking if you've turned on or plugged in the charger early.
Since electricity takes a circular route the size of the spark will be the same on either connection.

It is recommended that the negative cable, from a charger or jumper, be the last cable hooked up and to a ground point, away from the top of the batterys.

This is to keep the spark away from the explosive gas's that batterys can produce.
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Old 01-17-2017, 08:50 PM   #11
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My converter quit on my Ellipse but the inverter was fine. Instead of spending $2K or more on a replacement, I bought a Genius 30A three battery charger from Amazon for $240. Great construction and warranty and it charges and maintains the battery better than the converter.
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Old 01-18-2017, 12:30 PM   #12
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Thanks everyone. I took the car charger back to Walmart and will look into the genius 30 amp charger.
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