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jtps · 02-15-2018, 12:54 PM

Sorry if I am a bit detailed but.....I have a 2000 National Tradewinds DP. 2 chassis batteries and 4 house batteries. All 6 are new! I have some parasites that drain the house and the coach. I am sure separate causes. I also need to replace the disconnect on the house. My question is this, I want to know your opinion about two different possible fixes. Is it feasible to mount 2 small profile trickle chargers in the battery compartment, permanently attached to the batteries and just plug the chargers in when plugged in or stored? Also, are the manual disconnects that just attach to the battery worth the little money one would pay? Thanks in advance

BFlinn181 · 02-15-2018, 01:10 PM

I'd check the onboard converter/charger and see if it has multiple stages, maybe no need to add trickle chargers. A physical 100% disconnect will prevent battery discharge to a much greater degree than the disconnect solenoids. I think they are worth installing, especially if you store without shore power.

nothermark · 02-15-2018, 01:13 PM

Probably and Yes

I'd be inclined that way.

The disconnects work. The simple one's don't cost much because there is not much there to run up the cost.

The various float/trickle chargers should be able to do the job. It depends on how much load is involved. I would try them and check the batteries every couple of days for a week. If they stay at the same level with the charger disconnected then you are not losing charge and probably fine. You will be messing with surface charge so the actual reading will not be as significant as the reading staying roughly the same. What you read will be higher than the resting charge usually quoted in state of charge tables.

If you go to multiple disconnect switches with no charger check the batteries every couple of days for a week then every week for a month. Plot that and you will have your discharge rate and can draw some reasonable conclusions about how long you can go between charges. Better to do some checking and charging than to be writing about dead batteries. ;-)