Community Forums

acwade · 12-12-2020, 01:01 PM

I am a new owner of a Thor Freedom Elite Class C and am storing it for the winter for the first time. I rented a parking space with access to electricity because it said it could allow for a "Trickle Charger." I have 2 house batteries and a chassis battery. The source of electricity is at the back corner of the vehicle on the opposite side of the house batteries.

Should I look for a setup that chargers all three batteries? The trickle chargers seem to come in configurations to charge 1, 2, or 4 batteries. If I need to charge the chassis battery, can I charge the two house batteries in parallel using a two lead trickle charger? Am I better off to get a separate charger for the chassis battery- if I need it at all? Is there any advantage to using alligator-style clips versus rings that fit over the battery posts?

I live in upstate New York if weather has any bearing on this.

Thanks

for sharing your experience and advice!

Podivin · 12-12-2020, 01:05 PM

The two house batteries will charge as one battery, so you'd only need a charger for two batteries. In your case it's one battery and one battery bank, but it's the same thing.

Get a good three stage charger, with output for two batteries, that way it won't over charge the batteries.

Alligator clips vs post rings is really more of an issue of whether or not you're going to permanently mount it. If permanent mount using rings so that the leads don't come off. If temporary mount then use the clips. Either way you'll get power to the batteries.

WorldCat25 · 12-12-2020, 01:12 PM

I installed a cutoff switch (not the salesman's switch) in the positive line from the coach batteries (some unit s come with this). I have found that when I put the unit away with fully charged batteries, they have been almost fully charged when I return. Same with the chassis batteries. Don't know what the charge is but never had a problem starting them.

I do, however, visit the rig every month to run the generator so that might have something to do with it.

dssl · 12-12-2020, 01:19 PM

Battery chargers are generally by voltage not by number of batteries.

If your motorhome has an inverter/charger like most do then you can use an adapter to plug it in. If you turn everything off including your 12v salesman switch and your entertainment circuit breaker and the inverter then the power draw by the coach will be very low.

The chassis battery may or may not have a charge path from the inverter/charger. You can tell by monitoring the chassis battery voltage when everything is fully charged. If it ever gets bellow 12.5 it is not getting charged, if it's over 13 volts then it is being charged. If it's not being charged and it's a good idea to add a trickle charger, you want a 12 volt charger for this purpose.

acwade · 12-12-2020, 01:38 PM

Thanks to all who have shared their experience. What is a salesman's switch?

twinboat · 12-12-2020, 01:54 PM

No such thing as a salesman switch, they are erroneously referring to the battery disconnect switch near your door.

Not sure why an inverter/charger was mentioned. They are not as common as some think. 90% chance that you don't have one.

Post # 2 had it right.

Old-Biscuit · 12-12-2020, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acwade

Thanks to all who have shared their experience. What is a salesman's switch?

Battery Disconnect Switch...typically located at entry area

See pgs 64-72 for Battery/Charging Info
https://media.thormotorcoach.com/med...l-june2010.pdf

Plugged into an AC Power at storage your RV Chraging System should Maintain batteries

dssl · 12-13-2020, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

No such thing as a salesman switch, they are erroneously referring to the battery disconnect switch near your door.

Not sure why an inverter/charger was mentioned. They are not as common as some think. 90% chance that you don't have one.

Post # 2 had it right.

Sigh, lots of people refer to the battery disconnect relay switch as a salesman switch silly to say no such thing. I guess there is also no such thing as a stinky slinky either.

The only RV I have ever owned is a class A , I guess I wongly assumed all motorhomes would have an inverter. If the OP has an inverter/charger or just a charger really doesn't impact the advice I gave to use it to charge his house batteries vs an external charger.

twinboat · 12-13-2020, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dssl

Sigh, lots of people refer to the battery disconnect relay switch as a salesman switch silly to say no such thing. I guess there is also no such thing as a stinky slinky either.

The only RV I have ever owned is a class A , I guess I wongly assumed all motorhomes would have an inverter. If the OP has an inverter/charger or just a charger really doesn't impact the advice I gave to use it to charge his house batteries vs an external charger.

The OP stated he was a Novice. Why would he know any of that ?

dssl · 12-13-2020, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

The OP stated he was a Novice. Why would he know any of that ?

Get over yourself. I was not trying to imply he knew anything, i was only offering advice.

Persistent · 12-13-2020, 09:26 AM

Lots of good advice above. I hope you don't mind the "brother to brother" bickering. I like it. It keeps life interesting.

Three ways to maintain batteries for storage as posted above.
Complete disconnect
Use on-board charger
Use auxiliary maintainers

Battery voltage in all cases needs to be above 12.4 volts for storage. Be sure to monitor battery terminal voltage periodically until you know everything is working correctly. It is simple. Battery voltage in all cases needs to be above 12.4 volts and below 13.8 volts for storage.

Different models of RV's are wired differently. Sometimes the chassis engine start batteries are kept charged by the on-board charger and sometimes not. Sometimes batteries are still charging when the "salesman switch" is "off" and sometimes not.

Monitor the terminal voltage of both battery sets at 1 week, 2 weeks, a month, and 5 months. When plugged in, voltage should stay above 13.0 volts. You can stop checking. Check water level at least monthly.

If voltage is dropping, take action to recharge. Stay above 12.4 volts for long service life.

If voltage continues to be above 13.8 volts, your charger is overcharging. Some cheap maintainers are not regulated well enough. Some maintainers provide a short burst to 14.4 volts to stir up flooded cell batteries. Short burst are OK for flooded cell batteries. 14.4 is bad for most AGM batteries. It consumes water in flooded cell batteries.

I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!

Gary RVRoamer · 12-13-2020, 10:07 AM

Your two house batteries charge as one large battery, so connecting a "trickle charger" to either will service both. Some coaches also charge the chassis battery while the house system is at or near full charge, so yours may handle that as well. If not, you could use a second set of charger leads (if available) or simply connect jumper cables from house to chassis batteries to get the same effect. If you would post the year/make/model of coach, we could probably tell you if yours charges the chassis battery while on shore charging.

More or larger batteries can absorb more charging amps, so a charger rated for 2 or 4 batteries probably has a bit larger output amp capacity. That's a plus, but not an important one if all you are doing is keeping them alive during storage. For your 3 batteries in storage conditions (all coach power is off), a couple amps of charger output should be enough. 3-4 amps is generous.

Cat320 · 12-13-2020, 06:36 PM

Be careful if you buy a trickle charger. Some will keep a battery (or set of batteries) fully charged if they start out fully charged. But if not fully charged, they will not bring them up to a full charge. Others will work like normal chargers. Check the fine print on the box prior to purchasing.