RRinNFla
Northeast Florida
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I use my fiver about one weekend per month. There is no 120v available where I store the rig.
I have been having house battery problems. Even if I have been connected to shore power for a couple of days, as soon as I disconnect, I have no 12v power. I suspect that I need to replace the battery.
My question is about how to extend my battery life. I have searched some forums and blogs, and see two recurring suggestions, which seem to be mutually exclusive.
Some advise installing a low wattage solar panel to continually trickle charge the house battery. Others suggest using a battery disconnect while the unit is stored. Is there an advantage (other than cost) to one method over the other?
Richard
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tjar66
Portland OR
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I use the battery disconnect while in storage. Keeps the detectors from running down the batteries and you cant easily raise or lower the trailer with out power.
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jauguston
Bellingham, WA
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The best option would be to do both. Disconnecting the batteries from the coach will eliminate "phantom loads" that are hard to find and can draw your batteries down fairly quickly. A solar panel wired direct to the batteries will take care of the batteries that slowly normally self-discharge.
Jim
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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I would hope you have been using electric sites when camping. Driving back from camping will only recharge the batteries about 10 amperes for each hour of driving. Not nearly enough to fully recharge batteries. Batteries that do not get fully recharged within a few days after a trip can go bad within a year or two.
Mark
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RRinNFla
Northeast Florida
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jauguston wrote:The best option would be to do both. Disconnecting the batteries from the coach will eliminate "phantom loads" that are hard to find and can draw your batteries down fairly quickly. A solar panel wired direct to the batteries will take care of the batteries that slowly normally self-discharge.
Jim
So, the two are not mutually exclusive? If the positive cable is disconnected, how does the battery accept a charge? Or is there another set of cables?
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smkettner
Southern California
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15w solar and a switch is what I use. Make sure the battery is fully charged before you store it. Otherwise you will need 100+ watts to actually charge the battery in reasonable time.
Switch disconnects everything except the solar that connects right on the battery terminals.
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi RRinNFla,
Umm, do you turn the battery disconnect switch *on* when you unplug?
I'd go solar--but I'd go for 60 watts per 100 amp hours of storage.
For storage a disconnect switch and solar system are not mutually exclusive. They compliment each other extremely well.
Good Luck!
RRinNFla wrote:I use my fiver about one weekend per month. There is no 120v available where I store the rig.
I have been having house battery problems. Even if I have been connected to shore power for a couple of days, as soon as I disconnect, I have no 12v power. I suspect that I need to replace the battery.
My question is about how to extend my battery life. I have searched some forums and blogs, and see two recurring suggestions, which seem to be mutually exclusive.
Some advise installing a low wattage solar panel to continually trickle charge the house battery. Others suggest using a battery disconnect while the unit is stored. Is there an advantage (other than cost) to one method over the other?
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts solar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries 2500 watt inverter.
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cruiserjs
Aurora, CO, USA/ Mesa AZ/ openroad
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I use a battery disconnect switch ('knife" style) that I open whenever I store our trailer for more than a week. Have managed to keep enough charge on the two batteries to lift the trailer for hooking up and opening the slides for packing purposes over at least 3 months in AZ "winter' or CO summer.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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It sounds more to me like you're having problems with the converter instead of the batteries. When plugged into shore power even WITHOUT a battery at all you should have 12 volt power. Probably are only getting the batteries charged when towing so they don't last long and when plugged in they're going flat with no power from the converter to take their place.
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Veebyes
Bermuda
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Sounds like you may have battery problems. Load test them. A load tester, well worth having, can be had for about $40.
As far as long term storage goes, if more than a week, fully charge first then disconnect the batterys. If only a month or so in storage, you won't even notice the slight discharge.
Look at how long machinery is left stored outdoors with no preparation whatsoever.
My 5er is left for over 5 months each winter. Batterys disconnected. No solar panel. No trickle charger. No problems. Sure, in the 5 months there is noticable discharge. Reconnect. Recharge & we are good to go.
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