Shore power

[gasdad]

Do I need my battery connected if I'm attached to shore power 100% of the time??

[68Streamline]

Yes If you have an inverter/charger. This will keep the batteries topped off ( fully charged)

[MamaKim]

Only if you want to use the 12 v battery power for your lights with your converter or if you have an electric slide, in which case you would need battery power to slide them in and out. I don't think electric slides will work on the shore power. Ours don't anyway. Otherwise, no. The converter is only useful for boon docking where there is no shore power. We recently had trouble with our converter and found that its pretty much useless to us as we do not boon dock or stay where there is no shore power. The only reason we use our battery and keep it hooked up is to power our slide. If you do not have electric slides and do not plan to boon dock (use your battery powered converter for electric rather than shore power) then you do not need a battery.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by gasdad

Do I need my battery connected if I'm attached to shore power 100% of the time??

Yes, for 2 reasons. 1. You will have no 12v power in the TT with the battery disconnected. So if you are using it, absolutley.

2. If you are storing it with 110v power, the the battery needs to be connected to keep the battery charged.

If you are talking about the electric battery disconnect switch (when stored), most RVs will continue to charge the battery with this turned off. To check yours, turn the switch off. Wait about 30 mins. If you have in excess of 13.2 v at the battery termimals, you battery is being charged. If it is 12.9 or less, it is not being charged.

The converter is there to charge the battery when there is 110v available, whether it's shore or generator power.

[f1100turbo]

Although a battery is not required it will put more stress on your converter.
Your battery acts as a buffer and really should be installed .
Why would you not want the battery installed?

[f1100turbo]

Originally Posted by clyon51

Yes, for 2 reasons. 1. You will have no 12v power in the TT with the battery disconnected. So if you are using it, absolutley.

2.
If you are storing it with 110v power

That's not true.
If your plugged into shore power you will have 12v power within the camper.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

That's not true.
If your plugged into shore power you will have 12v power within the camper.

Really? If you have a BDS, turn it off, if not, pull one of the battery cables. Now tell us what you have with shore power.

[f1100turbo]

Originally Posted by clyon51

Really? If you have a BDS, turn it off, if not, pull one of the battery cables. Now tell us what you have with shore power.

The op said "do I need a battery if I'm hooked to shore power 100% of the time?"
Answer is no.
The converter will supply 12v even if there is no battery OR the bds is disconnected.
Although I wouldn't recommend not using a battery you in fact can and still have 12v when hooked to shore power.

[f1100turbo]

Originally Posted by MamaKim

Only if you want to use the 12 v battery power for your lights with your converter or if you have an electric slide, in which case you would need battery power to slide them in and out. I don't think electric slides will work on the shore power. Ours don't anyway. Otherwise, no. The converter is only useful for boon docking where there is no shore power. We recently had trouble with our converter and found that its pretty much useless to us as we do not boon dock or stay where there is no shore power. The only reason we use our battery and keep it hooked up is to power our slide. If you do not have electric slides and do not plan to boon dock (use your battery powered converter for electric rather than shore power) then you do not need a battery.

With all do repsect your post doesn't make sense and is somewhat wrong.

1) most newer units DO require a battery for slides. When using slides there's is to many amps for the converter to handle.
2) the converter is what charges your battery for any 12 v electrical device used in your camper. How do you think your battery remains charged when using 12 v ?

3)the converter ONLY works when hooked to shore power so I'm not sure how you think its only used when boondocking? Since when boondocking you don't have shore power unless you have a generator. But then of course you again have shore power.

[Dr4Film]

If you have a converter/inverter equipped coach, when the batteries are completely removed from the coach, all electrical functions will continue to operate when connected to ample shore power EXCEPT for starting the engine or anything else that requires chassis battery voltage.

I found this out when I removed my bank of house batteries and my chassis battery to clean and repaint the battery trays.

If your coach is NOT equipped with a converter/inverter, your 12 VDC electrical system will NOT function including your fridge even if it is on LPG because it needs 12 VDC for the control board to work.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[clyon51]

Never seen an RV where the coverter was wired to the output side of a BDS, completely defeating it's purpose. I guess I've seen stranger things though.

[f1100turbo]

Originally Posted by clyon51

Never seen an RV where the coverter was wired to the output side of a BDS, completely defeating it's purpose. I guess I've seen stranger things though.

The bds only has one function.
To disconnect the battery/s from the system.
Your converter should never be disconnected with a bds.
I don't see a valid reason that it ever should.
Thoughts?

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

The bds only has one function.
To disconnect the battery/s from the system.
Your converter should never be disconnected with a bds.
I don't see a valid reason that it ever should.
Thoughts?

In essence, no. I'll explain my system. When you hit the BDS, ALL 12v power is cut off to the 12v distribution center. This makes it easy to start working on the 12v system, without going outside to disconnect shore power. So in essence, this is a 12v power disconnect as well as a BDS. On the other hand, the batteries are still being charged if on shore. So in reality when on shore, the converter is getting powered and the batts are getting charged in both systems. You just can't use the BDS and expect to maintain power in the coach with mine.

The only difference I see is when not on shore, no battery power is getting by the BDS to the converter or associated wiring. Of course you also have a total 12v disconnect. I can guess why this is prevalent in the MH industry and not in TTs, but that's irrelevant. There are RV systems out there if you use the BDS, your batts won't even charge, figure than one out

[Xjaywalker]

Originally Posted by Dr4Film

If you have a converter/inverter equipped coach, when the batteries are completely removed from the coach, all electrical functions will continue to operate when connected to ample shore power EXCEPT for starting the engine or anything else that requires chassis battery voltage.

I found this out when I removed my bank of house batteries and my chassis battery to clean and repaint the battery trays.

If your coach is NOT equipped with a converter/inverter, your 12 VDC electrical system will NOT function including your fridge even if it is on LPG because it needs 12 VDC for the control board to work.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

Glad I found this thread.....Thank you for your input. I am sure there are a lot of threads on this website about this, but I am new to MH's and don't even know what a BDS is? So, my question I have is this: It seems like when connected to shore power (30 or 50 amps) we get fault errors and overheating error lights up on the main control panel. Then the battery level indicator goes red, then the charger kicks in and starts to recharge. This damn thing goes all night long. Is this normal? Also, when extracting the levelers should we us ethe shore power? We unplug and then try to bring them up and they are slow and get stuck. Thx