Community Forums

drycamp · 10-02-2016, 05:55 AM

Hi to all,
With winter fast approaching what do you do for your batteries? Leave RV plugged in? Put a tender on coach batteries? Or take all the batteries out?
Thanks
wayne

vettenuts · 10-02-2016, 06:09 AM

I usually leave mine plugged in and check water levels every month on the house batteries. This may not be an option this year so I am interested in the responses you get. Also curious if the coach can be driven with the coach batteries removed.

70ChevelleSS · 10-02-2016, 06:38 AM

Make sure they're fully charged, hit the battery disconnect switch and forget about it. A fully charged good battery with no load on it will stay charged for months. In fact it will stay charged longer in cold weather than in hot weather. If you have a smart converter charger you could leave it plugged in

Larrikin · 10-02-2016, 07:48 AM

Never thought about the batteries removed question. I suspect you can drive just fine. Shut off your 12v disconnect and try it out. I suspect the backup camera system may be on the coach 12v but you don't really need that.

lonfu · 10-02-2016, 09:49 AM

I shut off batts, hook up garage roof solar charger directly to batt system. There are many parasitic amp drains when your batt system is left on. On some coaches when you shut off the batts the batt charger is disconnected too, so best thing to do is have a plug connected directly to your bat terminals for your storage charger.

I've had really good luck with Xtreme xc100p charger/ conditioners. I like the 4amp one the best. It reconditions your bat with pulsing dc and maintains a full charge as well. Got mine from amazon. They lengthen ones battery life by at least 20%. I've got 18 batts on the ranch so this cuts my batt cost significantly. Each batt seems to last 1 to 3 years longer when I use this charger about once per year. Yeah, I know sounds like an add, but it seems to work better than my old 35 amp timed cart charger.

pcurt23 · 10-02-2016, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drycamp

Hi to all,
With winter fast approaching what do you do for your batteries? Leave RV plugged in? Put a tender on coach batteries? Or take all the batteries out?
Thanks
wayne

When I had a class c with two batteries I took them out for the winter. Now I have a pusher with 6 batteries and I leave them in. With a hard disconnect the house batteries will go 5 weeks before needing to be charged, the engine batteries the same. Since you are supposed to exercise the genny, I use that exercise to keep the batteries charged. I live in Michigan.

This results in running the genny about three times over the Winter before the next season starts.

Now that we go to Florida in the Winter I only have to charge the batteries one time.

NMRVer · 10-03-2016, 06:04 PM

If you are worried about it, just disconnect the negative lead and connect a battery tender to prevent over charging.

rsn48 · 10-04-2016, 08:40 PM

You should run your generator an hour a month, I will probably run mine about two hours a month, roughly once every two weeks just to keep the batteries good. I don't have electricity where I store my Winnebago but it is covered. So my generator will keep the batteries topped up.

rarebear.nm · 10-04-2016, 08:52 PM

I live in Santa Fe, NM and leave mine on board with the smart charger in charge of keeping the batteries topped off. My 5th wheeler is parked at home with full time shore power. Never any problems with this setup. We're prone to pull the rig out of storage mode a couple of times during the winter. So I like leaving things close to being ready to go at all times, except for the water system. That only takes me about 20 minutes to winterize or de-winterize as needed.

**"007"** · 10-04-2016, 10:57 PM

What MH do you have? If its a Newmar leave plugged in all winter and check your battery water levels, not necessary if you have AGM type, your Bird system will monitor your battery charging for you.

Cat320 · 10-06-2016, 03:14 PM

If you have reliable power, leave the coach plugged in.

stevemoores · 10-06-2016, 03:50 PM

Might depend where you live.

It can reach -30 here. I lost a battery last winter when I left it in and a parasitic load let it drain.

I could leave them in and disconnect the leads, but now I just take them out and leave them in my garage. I put a charger one them maybe once a month.

I think if you're somewhere you could plug in then you could leave them in, but for me I didn't want to risk having to buy a new battery, so removing them is the best option.

Steve