Storage question

[Hawkeye]

Is it better to leave your shore line plugged-in during winter storage to keep the batteries charged? Thanks

[Ed S]

I use a battery minder to keep all batteries charged.

A little story I was told about a new motorhome with auto gen. This was a new unit sitting in a building at the dealer with the invertor on. Not sure if it was plugged in or not but any ways for some reason the auto gen turned the gen on and it ran for three days without anyone knowing. The exhaust in a closed building made a real mess.

Now I turn off all power to the coach and use battery chargers. Mine is in a storage building for winter.

[akadeadeye]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Is it better to leave your shore line plugged-in during winter storage to keep the batteries charged? Thanks

I leave ours plugged into 110v power but I check the electrolyte level in the batteries every 4 weeks. The constant charging cycle will drain the water over time.

I also check the shore plug every week to be sure the GFCI button hasn't popped. It did once which meant the trickle loads on our house batteries had drained some battery power.

Don

[John H...]

Put battery minders or tenders on them and they won't be overcharged.

[bluepill]

Factory recommends NOT to leave on shore power for extended periods. I use a cheap home "lamp" timer set to come on for 2 hours per day.

Notes:
1. You must run a ground jumper with this setup since it is only a 2 wire timer.

2. The timer is limited to 15 amps. - You can't turn on heavy loads with it in the circuit.

3. Timer is NOT waterproof - It MUST be installed on a sheltered outlet.