Why this warning label?

[oldpa]

On our ’03 sightseer 30B, under the battery cover is this warning label.
“ Warning: Disconnect batteries before connecting external charging equipment”

I would like to hook up my 6 amp smart charger to the house batteries when we are dry camping and running the generator to speed up the charging time.

The built in converter/charger only puts out about 2 amps and I would have to run the generator many, many hours to re-charge the batteries.
How do you guys do it?

Thanks, Greg

[WilleyB]

Quote:

I would like to hook up my 6 amp smart charger to the house batteries when we are dry camping and running the generator to speed up the charging time.

Hi Greg, man you must not use much power when you are dry camping.
Afraid my set up is all my own incl. the generator. Actually when we are on the go The shore power cord is disconnected from the wiring. The RV's 110 AC is then plugged into the inverter. When it becomes necessary to charge the house battery (two US2200's) I plug the shore power cable into the generator AC output, then plug the charger (a B&D 40 amp Vector) into the shore power cord. It takes about 2 hours to get a decent charge into the batteries. I'm afraid a 6 amp just just wouldn't cut it for dry camping for us. We use the micro wave; toaster; and the coffee pot and they all draw a hefty load of juice from the batteries. If it was just lights 6 amp might be ok.

Cheers
Willey

[Luv2go]

Greg:

They are worried about unregulated chargers ruining the electronics in things like your water heater and fridge. Your smart charger will work fine, it limits the voltage and will not damage the electronics. Like Willey said it will still take many hours with the 6Amp charger if you are running anything but lights off the batteries (even the forced air furnace eats up a lot of battery power).

For example, if you have 2 group 24 batteries (I'm guessing about 80A/H each) at 50% charge they will take at least 9 hours to charge using both the 6A and your built-in 3A charger. Actual time will be more as the chargers will not put 9A in for the whole time.

I'd recommend a charger like his, one in the 35-40A range. When I used one like that (a vector 35A smart charger in our old coach), it took only a couple of hours to get a good charge (from 50 to 95%) in the batteries.

It takes a lot longer to get the last 5% charge into the batteries because of the way they charge, so put the smart charger on it when you get home and leave it on at least overnight to insure the batteries are fully charged. Your batteries will be happy with you.

Also, make sure to check the electrolyte level and only use distilled water if they are low.

Stewart

[oldpa]

Thanks for all the help. I did some reading up on batteries/ converters/chargers and can see now that my old stock Parallax 7345 is not up to the task even with a 6 amp add on charger.

I’m thinking of replacing the Parallax with a Progressive Dynamics PD9245 that will give me up to 40amps of charging as needed.

I downloaded the manual for the Progressive and have a few questions about the install but will start a new thread for that.

Greg

[WilleyB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpa Thanks for all the help. I did some reading up on batteries/ converters/chargers and can see now that my old stock Parallax 7345 is not up to the task even with a 6 amp add on charger. I’m thinking of replacing the Parallax with a Progressive Dynamics PD9245 that will give me up to 40amps of charging as needed. I downloaded the manual for the Progressive and have a few questions about the install but will start a new thread for that. Greg

Hi Greg, right on 100% , the PD9245 is an excellent choice and is the better route to go. I went with the B&D because it was available, I believed it could do what I wanted and I didn't have the time to get and change to PD 9260 smart unit. which was first choice. This would have been a major modification in our little rig that I didn't have time for. The converter is part of the fuse and breaker panel in our rig.
After using the B&D Vector this past summer, I do believe that the 9245 will do the job for us too.

Cheers
Willey