Community Forums

Chaztelli7 · 02-19-2022, 10:01 AM

Hello All!

My name is Charlie and I'm new to the forum!

Just purchased a 2016 Anthem after spending a few months in deciding which brand to go with. Excited about our decision.

Quick question to all.

We're keeping our coach in a covered storage facility with electrical hook up available.

In shutting down the coach and wanting to plug in to keep batteries charged, do I leave the inverter on or off?

Thanks ahead for any help or recommendations.

I'm sure you'll be hearing more for me in the future as I am a DYI kind of guy

)

RayandWendy · 02-19-2022, 10:07 AM

If all you want to do is charge the batteries then it's inverters off and one charger on.
Later...
Ray

Marcosdad · 02-19-2022, 10:09 AM

The only reason to shut down the inverters is in the event of a power failure, the inverter draw is not there hence battery life is longer. Entegra's storage guide sez to turn them off.

wolfe10 · 02-19-2022, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaztelli7

In shutting down the coach and wanting to plug in to keep batteries charged, do I leave the inverter on or off?

On most inverter/chargers, anytime there is a source of 120 VAC (shore power in your case) the inverter/charger AUTOMATICALLY charges the batteries. May be only house bank, may be both banks-- you need to verify.

Leave the inverter OFF. If shore power went off, the inverter would start depleting your batteries.

Check your inverter/charger's owners manual, as there have been posts where the charge function can be turned off. Clearly, that needs to be left ON.

Tell us what inverter/charger you have and what remote you have for it and someone with the same one may be able to clarify.

As far as other storage advice for a diesel coach, store with the fuel tank FULL to minimize condensation. If storing the fuel more than 3 months, add a BIOCIDE such as Biobar JF to prevent algae formation.

Gary.Jones · 02-19-2022, 11:23 AM

My inverters are always left ON. I leave my refrigerator on also as our coach is rarely not used for more than three weeks or a month so some items are kept cold in the refrigerator during that time.

I see no problem with leaving the inverters on all the time. Have been doing this with my 15 Anthem and now with this 19 Cornerstone.

Gary

wolfe10 · 02-19-2022, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

My inverters are always left ON. I leave my refrigerator on also as our coach is rarely not used for more than three weeks or a month so some items are kept cold in the refrigerator during that time.

Gary

Absolutely fine, as long as you verify that shore power doesn't go off.

If stored where you don't check it frequently, likely a different issue.

Chaztelli7 · 02-19-2022, 11:52 AM

Wow!! Guys!! Thanks for the quick response and also the different ways of going about it.

Super helpful. Since it's in a storage facility away from our house I don't get to just quickly check on it frequently. That being said I would have no way of knowing if the power source shut down or not.

With that in mind I guess I would shut down both ( Magnum) inverters.

According to the Entegra owners manual it indicates that it would first charge house batteries and once completed switch over to the coach batteries.

Do I have that correct??

brobox · 02-19-2022, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chaztelli7

Wow!! Guys!! Thanks for the quick response and also the different ways of going about it.

Super helpful. Since it's in a storage facility away from our house I don't get to just quickly check on it frequently. That being said I would have no way of knowing if the power source shut down or not.

With that in mind I guess I would shut down both ( Magnum) inverters.

According to the Entegra owners manual it indicates that it would first charge house batteries and once completed switch over to the coach batteries.

Do I have that correct??

I also store remotely. Turning the inverter off is very important, an interruption in power can cause the batteries to be totally dead in 8 -12 hours.....that is from experience, been there.

Also turn the shore power setting on the Maginum down to 5 amps. That a plenty to keep the batteries charged and the refrigerator running without the chance of tripping the shore power breaker if the coach tries to demand too much power at one time. I learned that one the hard way too.

Yes, the charger does charge one bank of batteries at a time. If you see 12.6 on the chassis batteries, don't get alarmed, it is just getting ready to switch over.

If your storage power is shared with others in storage, do be as conservative as possible as other depend it amp conservation as well.

Xmcdog · 02-19-2022, 01:04 PM

I can't answer your question but I see that others have. I can however welcome you to the forum.

Congratulations on your new coach. Wish you many happy miles.

greeneville1 · 02-19-2022, 03:17 PM

Welcome Sir. We hope that you really enjoy the coach. We use a monitoring system from Marcel. It is a wireless device that stays in coach and lets you know via e-mail if your power is lost, high temperature or high humidity occurs. It reacts fast and has high ratings. I believe that it is listed as Marcel.com. Stay safe.

Gary.Jones · 02-19-2022, 04:36 PM

Oh, and I guess I should have also said, my coach is stored in the driveway right beside the house and the there is also am 50 KW automatic generator which automatically turns on 45 seconds after a power outage, so no chance of the power being off lo9ng even if we are not at home. Sorry.... should have mentioned that in my response above.

Gary

RVFunlovers · 02-19-2022, 06:20 PM

Welcome to the forum.

We store remote in heated storage some but also in our driveway some. We store plugged up. We leave the inverter on and fridge running. But we have rarely stored more than a month straight. If I was putting the coach away for a long while I think I would fully power down.

If you do not have power or fairly reliable power I would store powered down for everything, turn off inverters, and trip all battery disconnects.

Like others have said systems are available to remotely monitor if you have wifi or cellular where you store the coach. I keep an Alexa on wifi on a non inverted outlet so I can tell if we loose power. I also use a device called temp stick that will text me if the coach gets to hot or to cold. Then temp stick runs on battery but I can tell if something is off.

Chaztelli7 · 02-19-2022, 06:23 PM

Thanks again All!

Brobox the storage facility works on both solar and hard utility power so not to concerned with eating to much power but would still be interested in reducing the draw and having the inverters work less. I'll check out my Magnum manual to see how to go about changing that draw amount.

Thanks again for all your help!!

oneknight · 02-19-2022, 07:30 PM

Question, as this is an interesting subject...

Does simply turning off the magnum charger (leaving the system powered and the charger on) actually eliminate any draw should the ac power go off?

I've played with the trying to stretch the battery, but no inverter =no refrigerator.

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