Community Forums

bcovey · 07-23-2016, 11:05 AM

Yes, this is also a very good solution. In my situation, since I already had a good (Iota DLS-55) 3 stage converter/charger for the house batteries, the battery minder for the chassis battery was a simpler solution, at home. On the road, I use the inverter charger in RV parks since it is hardwired through the 50a plug.

bcovey · 07-23-2016, 11:07 AM

Oops. The Battery Minder is always used for the chassis battery.

Monacoach · 07-23-2016, 09:25 PM

The op stated that he knows there are chargers and trickle thingies out there. He was curious as to how he can keep his chassis batteries charged without purchasing any of the suggested items. Something simple and free to keep the chassis batteries charged while parked for an ETENDED stay.

Now change direction and come up with some creative ideas

BFlinn181 · 07-23-2016, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Monacoach

The op stated that he knows there are chargers and trickle thingies out there. He was curious as to how he can keep his chassis batteries charged without purchasing any of the suggested items. Something simple and free to keep the chassis batteries charged while parked for an ETENDED stay.

Now change direction and come up with some creative ideas

Start haunting garage sales for a battery charger. Plug it in to an outlet that will be powered by shore power or generator. You could also steal a battery charger, or buy a trickle charger from Harbor Freight. You can reduce the $6.99 price by another 20% with a coupon.

Starsekr · 07-24-2016, 12:25 AM

There are combiners, which are really two or three diodes incased in a metal heat radiator. There are also units using FETs, more efficient, more expensive. The chassis battery can be hooked up in parallel with the house battery, anytime the house battery is charged, the chassis is charged too. Downside. The cheaper diode chargers drop a volt or so, so while the house batts get 13.5, the chassis gets 12.5. FET only drops a couple tenths, but is a lot more$$. Trickle chargers are a lot cheaper and simpler in the long run.

Dtwallace · 07-24-2016, 12:55 AM

Three inch jumper made with 14gauge stranded wire, alligator clips on both ends.

Connect directly across the two large terminals on the jumper solenoid.

Remove before starting engine, or gen set, but will work while starting if you use your jumper switch to engage solenoid while starting.

Most would not recommend this method to you because there is a danger of things going wrong if you misunderstand the why and what you are doing.

The 14 gauge wire will not handle the current the larger wires can and will get very hot if you attempt to start your coach with low chassis batteries not using your jumper circuit.

But for only charging good batteries, this will work for a temporary connection the cheap way, and your solenoid is bi-passed in the process.

DTW

rbates1944 · 07-24-2016, 09:38 AM

The reason I thought about the booster solenoid was because it's always on while the ignition is, therefore is rated as a continuous solenoid. I guess the downside is forgetting to turn it off and running down all the batteries.

Thanks all for the discussions.