Battery Trickle Charge

[DavidT2252]

Just purchased a 2000 Coachman Santara.


When plugged in at the house, do all of the batteries in the RV trickle charge?
Thanks

[530ktm]

It all depends on your coach and what type of charger it has built into it. Higher end coaches will usually charge house and chassis batteries with a good quality charger, Magnums usually, but we need to know what yours has. You can also put a volt meter on your batteries after you plug it in and see what is going into them.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by DavidT2252

Just purchased a 2000 Coachman Santara.


When plugged in at the house, do all of the batteries in the RV trickle charge?
Thanks

Well David,
We'd need more info on the specs of the coach. Gas/diesel/engine etc. That kind of info will primarily dictate what *normally* comes with that type of coach. I.e. Inverter/charger or, CONVERTER or both or? As 530KTM suggests, a VOM or, Volt Ohm Meter would be very helpful in this scenario. But, you're still better off learning or knowing just what your coach came with from the factory in terms of both shore power charging and engine charging. In many cases, they are two, totally different systems.

An inverter/charger will charge your batteries when on shore power. But, not all inverter/chargers, charge BOTH sets of batteries. Many of the factories really screwed up when the earlier (around 2005 and below) coaches were made and supplied with inverter/chargers. They did not link the chassis batteries to the inverter/charger and, after a while of storage or sitting, the chassis batteries would go dead and not crank the engine. But, the house batteries were topped off.

As for *Converters*, well, they're job is to primarily supply 12V to componentry in the coach, as well as potentially charge the house AND MAYBE the chassis batteries at the same time. You'll need to find out which units you have and their respective specs on what they do.
Scott

[Gary RVRoamer]

The type or brand of converter/charger (or inverter/charge) has little to do with whether or not the chassis batteries get charged while on shore power. There has to be another component present to do that, known as a Battery Control Center (BCC) or a battery "combiner". This component monitors the charge level of the house and chassis batteries and directs a portion of the charging current to the chassis batteries once the house batteries are charged. The component may be factory installed, but there are aftermarket add-ons available too, e.g. The Amp-L-Start or Echo-Charge.



I'm not sure if your 2000 Coachman Santara was factory equipped like that or not. Easy way to check is to connect to shore power and then check the voltage at the chassis battery terminals. If greater than 13.0v, you have that feature. If less, you do not.