Community Forums

Quickuc · 07-19-2017, 08:02 AM

When plugged into shore power is it best to leave house batteries on or off? Wether your at an rv park or at home. Also when using generator should shore power be off 1st?

mrboyer · 07-19-2017, 08:12 AM

Leave on all the time. Exception, when in storage not plug in to shore power, the transmission has a constant load unless the batteries are turned off as are the LPG detector.

OLYLEN · 07-19-2017, 08:28 AM

As a general rule batteries on when RV in use as in camping with or without power or underway. Should not hurt to start Gen with shore power on but to be safe(I do) unplug or turn off shore power before starting gen. Also turn off high load in RV before starting gen. Such as A/C or micro or electric heater any 12 volt items should be fine on as they go threw battery bank.

LEN

MSHappyCampers · 07-19-2017, 09:48 AM

Hi !

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Leave the batteries connected all the time so the shore power will keep them charged!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

Mr_D · 07-19-2017, 09:58 AM

Leave it on all the time.
Unplug shore power before starting generator.

georgelesley · 07-20-2017, 05:54 AM

We had a 2000 Newmar that you had to unplug from shore power and insert the plug into a receptacle inside the utility compartment when running the genny.

Interestingly I just had the "should I unplug from shore power before starting the generator" conversation with a mobile rv tech a few days ago. We called him out for a no power situation. He said the genny is king and the transfer switch will instantly default to the genny source. He told me he does it all the time with their rv so there is no power loss to the rv when preparing to move. He said he has been doing this many years now with no problems.

I do not see why we will have to do this as we always have all 120 power off before unplugging and unplugging is the very last thing I do anyway. He said something about keeping DW's computer going without interruption or something like that.

Not trying to start any fuss here, just more interesting information I just became aware of a few days ago.

RKins · 07-20-2017, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgelesley

We had a 2000 Newmar that you had to unplug from shore power and insert the plug into a receptacle inside the utility compartment when running the genny.

Interestingly I just had the "should I unplug from shore power before starting the generator" conversation with a mobile rv tech a few days ago. We called him out for a no power situation. He said the genny is king and the transfer switch will instantly default to the genny source. He told me he does it all the time with their rv so there is no power loss to the rv when preparing to move. He said he has been doing this many years now with no problems.

I do not see why we will have to do this as we always have all 120 power off before unplugging and unplugging is the very last thing I do anyway. He said something about keeping DW's computer going without interruption or something like that.

Not trying to start any fuss here, just more interesting information I just became aware of a few days ago.

This is indeed interesting. I've never heard of this and start my generator while plugged into shore power - especially 30A shore and I need to run both roof AC, so I hit the genny start.
I haven't had any problem - am I just lucky? I thought that was normal and that the xfer switch would handle it.
I'd like to hear more.

texkayaker · 07-20-2017, 05:10 PM

In my Onan manual it states, do not start the generator while on shore power.

Quickuc · 09-25-2017, 10:37 AM

We are wanting to rv from colorado to cali. Never been on a trip over 11 days. Thinking about March , my question is what are the chances of finding rv parks to stay at without making reservations
That way we dont have to rush!!!! Going via I-40 or I 10

Stever53 · 09-25-2017, 11:03 AM

We took a 4 week trip to the Midwest and only made reservations where we new we'd be for several days. Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma, we'd start our day and around noon we'd figure out how far we wanted to drive that day 300-350 miles, then we use Rv Parky app and plug in a city find a rv park call and make a reservation for that night. Didn't have any problem with finding any rv parks on the way.
Good luck and safe travels

spyderRV · 09-25-2017, 11:03 AM

If you have a three stage charger like the Progressive Dynamics with it's charge wizard, every 20 hours or so it goes into equalization mode and is supposed to prolong the battery's life.

https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/charge-wizard/

georgelesley · 09-25-2017, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RKins

This is indeed interesting. I've never heard of this and start my generator while plugged into shore power - especially 30A shore and I need to run both roof AC, so I hit the genny start.
I haven't had any problem - am I just lucky? I thought that was normal and that the xfer switch would handle it.
I'd like to hear more.

I spoke to a mobile RV tech about running the genny while plugged in. He said he does it all the time to prevent any power interruption to DW computer. He said the genny is the king in this situation and the power transfer switch takes care of disconnection shore power instantly.

I think Newmar just made us go out and switch the plug from shoe power to the genny to save the cost of transfer switches.

texkayaker · 09-25-2017, 06:48 PM

I always read the manual, some engineer wrote it. There are reasons why they put things in there. I worked for a mobile repair man for a few years. He had over 25 years experience at that time, always said read the manual.