Community Forums

Gadget Man · 12-12-2006, 08:25 AM

My Adventurer MH (still for sale in iRV2's classifieds by the way

) had a very good solar panel on the roof, that kept the coach and engine batteries charged year round, even when the rig was covered.

My newer Providence has the little panel attached to the top of one of the Coleman A/C units, which doesn't seem to work very well at all. But then again, I am powering a lot more batteries with this rig than I did with my Adventurer.

With this in mind, I am wondering if I should keep my shore power hooked up while in storage here at home, to keep the batteries charged. My only concern would be wearing out the electronics, by allowing them to run constantly.

Gadget Man · 12-12-2006, 08:25 AM

My Adventurer MH (still for sale in iRV2's classifieds by the way

) had a very good solar panel on the roof, that kept the coach and engine batteries charged year round, even when the rig was covered.

My newer Providence has the little panel attached to the top of one of the Coleman A/C units, which doesn't seem to work very well at all. But then again, I am powering a lot more batteries with this rig than I did with my Adventurer.

With this in mind, I am wondering if I should keep my shore power hooked up while in storage here at home, to keep the batteries charged. My only concern would be wearing out the electronics, by allowing them to run constantly.

RustyJC · 12-12-2006, 09:37 AM

If you have an intelligent converter/battery charger, then the risk of boiling the batteries dry when leaving the RV plugged in is minimal. We have the Progressive Dynamics Intellipower 9180 converter with the Charge Wizard accessory, and I only have to top up the batteries about every 6 months - our RV stays plugged in 24/7 while in storage.

Rusty

SacsTC · 12-12-2006, 10:38 AM

I have kept our motorhomes (now on the 3rd) plugged in 24/7 when we are at home. We have a pad with full hook-ups and use it as a guest room when we have company. I am in the habit of checking batteries at least once a month.

GStream40 · 12-12-2006, 11:28 AM

Our coach is stored in our community RV storage lot and there is no power available to plug into.

I always make sure the batteries are fully charged and use the manual disconnect switches that are installed in the compartment of the coach so that there is no drain on them.

Have never had a problem doing this, but the longest it has ever sat is two months before we were back on the road.

Ron

paz · 12-13-2006, 03:05 AM

I agree with what RustyJC said about needing an intelligent charger to keep from overcharging your batteries. A good alternative if your coach doesn't have one of its own is the BatteryMINDer, which is available from a number of sources including www.rvupgrades.com. Go to RVUpgrades and click on Battery Minder in the right column. They have several versions including a couple that have solar panels in case your RV is in a remote storage lot without AC power.

Gadget Man · 12-13-2006, 12:41 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by paz:
I agree with what RustyJC said about needing an intelligent charger to keep from overcharging your batteries. A good alternative if your coach doesn't have one of its own is the BatteryMINDer </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The BatteryMinder appears to be the same thing as a BatteryTender....please correct me if I'm wrong. I have a couple of those that I always use on my sea-doo's, but I wasn't sure if a battery maintainer would work on a multi-battery set-up. My engine has two 12V batteries wired in sequence, and the coach has four 6V batteries also wired in sequence. Will that type of device work on either bank of batteries?

Rich & Zara · 12-13-2006, 11:18 PM

Our RV is ALWAYS plugged to the AC and has been since January 1998. The only exception is when it is on the road.

Our 2nd set of batteries went in use in January 05. Therefore, what would serve us better to unplug?

Rich

paz · 12-14-2006, 03:36 AM

Reply to Craig P.:

I am not aware of the BatteryTender. It is possible they are from the same manufacturer marketed under different names.

I have the BatteryMINDer 1 amp model (this has now been replaced by a 1.33 amp version) and used it without problem with 2 6V batteries wired in series.

According to the instruction manuals, which are linked on the RVUpgrades web site, the BatteryMINDer can charge up to 4 batteries as long as they are all the same voltage, size, and type (AGM, wet cell, etc) and they are properly wired. A battery is made up of several cells and the BatteryMINDer sees the multiple 6V batteries wired in series (or 12V wired in parallel) as one big 12V battery with extra cells. Presumably, the 1 or 1.33 amp BatteryMINDer will take longer to charge the battery bank than the higher amperage model, but will do the same job of maintaining the atteries once charged.