Curious . . .

[radams]

I have four 6v house batteries cabled as two pair of series connected batteries giving me 12v per pair and then the pairs connected in parallel. My plan was to put one Battery Tender on the whole shebang to keep the batteries topped off. When I got to looking though there is one positive cable and two negative cables going through the wall and into the bowels of the coach.

What's with the two negative cables and does it matter to the Battery Tender?

[paz]

Negative is the ground. Having 2 wires says your circuit is grounded in 2 different places. Possible connecting points for the ground wires are the vehicle frame, the inverter (if you have one), or to a 12V fuse fuse panel.

[Luv2go]

Another possibility is there is a separate ground to the frame and return from coach wiring, that's what our coach has.

Either way, there is no effect on the battery tender, just make sure your inverter is off and turn off your battery disconnect to keep coach loads from overloading your battery tender.

How about using the inverter or converter already in your coach and power adapters for your shore cord (50-30A and 30-15A) to keep the batteries topped off?

You may have to leave your battery disconnect on to use this method depending on how the inverter/converter is wired up. Also, your inverter may have a setting to keep it from drawing too much current from the 15A circuit.

Stewart

[radams]

Originally Posted by Luv2go

How about using the inverter or converter already in your coach and power adapters for your shore cord (50-30A and 30-15A) to keep the batteries topped off?

I wish I could but I have a very unreliable power source in the barn I am renting. I don't trust it to be able to put out much more than a couple amps.

[hamguy]

Originally Posted by radams

I wish I could but I have a very unreliable power source in the barn I am renting. I don't trust it to be able to put out much more than a couple amps.

What ails the wiring that would cause that? Perhaps it would be cheaper to rewire from the mains to the barn? BTW, wiring doesn't 'put out' current, it passes current.

And when you say unreliable, in what way is it unreliable?

[Gary RVRoamer]

2 amps at 120v yields nearly 20 amps of DC for charging, which is far more than you need to keep the batteries topped up. Just plug in the coach, make sure other 120v appliances are off, and let the internal charger take care of the batteries for you.

[radams]

Well, here's what I mean by unreliable power. I am renting a stall in a barn as are a number of other people and we are all on the same 110v circuit. That circuit has everyones lights, electric door openers, and who knows what else on it. Not a good deal, I know, but it's not my barn.

Last year when I hooked the coach up to the 110 I could hear the ATS cycling back and forth between the normal position and the shore power position. The inverter was going batty. It didn't seem good for the ATS or anything else in the coach. Fearing that something expensive was going to get fried I figured I'd be safer just keeping the batteries charged. The battery tender only draws a little over 1 amp so I'm thinking I've lowered my power requirements and increased my odds of getting it. BTW the ATS works fine everywhere else.

Am I thinking reasonable here or did the DW put something in my coffee again? Would appreciate any thoughts.

[Luv2go]

Originally Posted by radams

Last year when I hooked the coach up to the 110 I could hear the ATS cycling back and forth between the normal position and the shore power position. The inverter was going batty. It didn't seem good for the ATS or anything else in the coach. ....
Am I thinking reasonable here or did the DW put something in my coffee again? Would appreciate any thoughts.

No, DW is not putting something in your coffee again. I'd do exactly what you're doing, given the power situation in the barn. I suppose the barn owner has no desire to upgrade...

Stewart

[radams]

I appreciate the help and will sally forth! I'll tell ya', this forum and the people on it are the greatest. Thanks again.