Leave Unit plugged into A/C to keep battery charged?

[dboliek1112]

I apologize as I know the answer's here somewhere, I just couldn't find it. I have a 2000 Winnebago Chieftain 35U Motorhome. In order to keep batteries charged during the winter, should I keep A/C power constantly on so the converter charges? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[red31]

disconnect leaving solar connected, let solar tend your batteries

[Dave_H_M]

Informative post Scott.

I was just gonna let Kayteg try and sink his teeth into one of Deltran Tenders. :B

[ScottG]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Tender is word I know from cooking, but what it has to do with battery?
I used battery MAINTAINERS for my off-season toys and they do help a lot by having floating circuit who keeps 13.5V all the time.
But on couple occasions the maintainer failed and killed the battery, so they need to be monitor at least monthly.
So leaving battery disconnected up to 6 month turn out the best way.
Golf cart batteries hold the charge even after 13 months in dry storage.

Battery Tender is a brand name of a popular maintainer. The name has become a common term of any maintainer. Kind of like calling an adjustable spanner a Crescent wrench.

[Kayteg1]

Tender is word I know from cooking, but what it has to do with battery?
I used battery MAINTAINERS for my off-season toys and they do help a lot by having floating circuit who keeps 13.5V all the time.
But on couple occasions the maintainer failed and killed the battery, so they need to be monitor at least monthly.
So leaving battery disconnected up to 6 month turn out the best way.
Golf cart batteries hold the charge even after 13 months in dry storage.

[Lynnmor]

Dave H M wrote:
i do the same as Lynmore. Cept I leave the tender on all the time. DelTran info says that is the way to go.

DelTran says that it may be left connected all the time. From their website:

How long can I leave the Battery Tender® Plus battery charger connected to a battery?

"In theory, you can leave the Battery Tender® Plus battery charger connected to a battery forever. That’s a really long time. Sales people like to say, “Just plug it in and forget about it!” However, practically speaking, it is a good idea to check on the battery at least once every couple of weeks. Strange things can happen. Sometimes a battery can have a weak cell that won’t show up until the worst possible time. Of course, that time is usually when the battery is connected to a charger, and you are out of town on vacation."

The full charge indicator comes on at 85% charged so I leave it float for some additional time, thus the three days. Since I have nine seasonal batteries, I constantly rotate the charger among them rather than buy a charger for each. With the quick disconnect pigtails, it is a simple matter to swap between batteries and I can disconnect entirely when storms threaten or will not be home for an extended period of time.

Those that use the converter should know that the detectors, radio, TV, refrigerator, thermostat, microwave and other systems are connected to the grid and are subject to damage even with a fancy EMS.

[dboliek1112]

SoundGuy wrote:

dboliek1112 wrote:
I have a 2000 Winnebago Chieftain 35U Motorhome. In order to keep batteries charged during the winter, should I keep A/C power constantly on so the converter charges? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Now that others have had their say I'll chime in with my own view I believe no one else has mentioned. 😉

During the season from April to Nov I park our trailer on the driveway here at the house and leave it plugged in 24/7. HOWEVER, I would not do this if the trailer's electrical system wasn't protected by an EMS w/surge protection such as the Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C I have. The reason - just as when camping irregularities in service power can and do occur, whether you know it or not, and can destroy costly electrical devices in the trailer, including the converter / charger. Right as this very moment my own EMS is displaying a PE4 error code, meaning a recent loss of ground which periodically seems to happen when there are power disruptions in the neighbourhood. In the years I've been protecting our rig with an EMS I've experienced low voltage that triggered the EMS and on one occasion one side of the incoming house source power going excessively high while the other side went excessively low, obviously a power distribution problem. The trailer in this case happened to be plugged into the side that went high so my EMS disconnected power to the trailer - had it not I'd have had some serious repair to deal with. All this being reality, I'd suggest that those not using an EMS only plug in as necessary to allow the converter / charger to restore the batteries, otherwise unplug and protect your trailer from incoming power line vagaries. If you do decide to ignore this advice then at least turn off all the breakers to everything but the converter so in a worst case situation only the converter may have to be replaced. Best solution though - invest in an EMS! :B

Good point and thanks. Ordered a PI EMS last night. Should have mentioned that'll be first step.

[Dave_H_M]

i do the same as Lynmore. Cept I leave the tender on all the time. DelTran info says that is the way to go.

My bet is that if we knew what percentage of campers stay plugged in all the time and what percentage not it may reflect different than the thoughts expressed here. :h

[Lynnmor]

In the off season, I unplug the RV so that no power problems or lightening strikes can cause problems. With the battery switched off, I connect a Battery Tender and charge it for about a three day period about once a month.

[j-d]

My $.02 is that there's a difference between "a full timer plugged in" and "plugged in for storage." Specifically, when the RV is in use, various loads are drawing the batteries down while they are also being charged. This reduces the chance of overcharging and boiling the electrolyte out.

I do not know when (year wise) Converter/Chargers became at least somewhat intelligent. Our coach is a 2002 with what I'm sure is an inexpensive OEM "IOTA" brand Converter/Charger/120-VAC Breaker Box/12-VDC Fuse Panel. I was SURE it'd boil the battery (single 12 Volt GP27 Walmart Deep Cycle/Trolling Motor battery) but it does not. Our first Class C, had the common 1980's MagneTek, and it boiled batteries big time.

[SoundGuy]

dboliek1112 wrote:
I have a 2000 Winnebago Chieftain 35U Motorhome. In order to keep batteries charged during the winter, should I keep A/C power constantly on so the converter charges? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Now that others have had their say I'll chime in with my own view I believe no one else has mentioned. 😉

During the season from April to Nov I park our trailer on the driveway here at the house and leave it plugged in 24/7. HOWEVER, I would not do this if the trailer's electrical system wasn't protected by an EMS w/surge protection such as the Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C I have. The reason - just as when camping irregularities in service power can and do occur, whether you know it or not, and can destroy costly electrical devices in the trailer, including the converter / charger. Right as this very moment my own EMS is displaying a PE4 error code, meaning a recent loss of ground which periodically seems to happen when there are power disruptions in the neighbourhood. In the years I've been protecting our rig with an EMS I've experienced low voltage that triggered the EMS and on one occasion one side of the incoming house source power going excessively high while the other side went excessively low, obviously a power distribution problem. The trailer in this case happened to be plugged into the side that went high so my EMS disconnected power to the trailer - had it not I'd have had some serious repair to deal with. All this being reality, I'd suggest that those not using an EMS only plug in as necessary to allow the converter / charger to restore the batteries, otherwise unplug and protect your trailer from incoming power line vagaries. If you do decide to ignore this advice then at least turn off all the breakers to everything but the converter so in a worst case situation only the converter may have to be replaced. Best solution though - invest in an EMS! :B

[dboliek1112]

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. First thing I shall do is determine the details of my converter... is it multi-stage or not... and then manufacturer's information.

Some mornings I wake up thicker in the head than other mornings. I hadn't even thought that full-timers stay plugged up constantly. The consensus appears to be that the AGM batteries won't get hurt being plugged in all winter. At the same time they won't lose much charge if disconnected. So I'll likely use my battery disconnect switches - which interrupt the positive side of both house and chassis batteries - and monitor the charge level. And if the battery output drops... I'll throw the switches and reconnect to shore power.

As always... thank you for wise and well thought out options and suggestions.

[dboliek1112]

2oldman wrote:

dboliek1112 wrote:
Also we just put new AGM batteries in.

Charge them, then disconnect them. AGMs can hold a charge a long time.

A few hundred posts on the subject:
Stay plugged in in storage?2007
disconnect? Oct 2013
Stay plugged in Mar 2014
Stay plugged in Jun 2014
Stay plugged in Sep 2014

Thank you. Read 'em all.

[JTLance]

DutchmenSport wrote:
Think about this? You plug in your camper when you are camping. Not uncommon to have it plugged in while camping for a couple weeks at a time, or even longer. Plug it in at home for several days in a row, or whatever. What's the difference between leaving it plugged in 2 weeks, or all the time?

Desulfation, read about it. Most newer chargers do it.

[Kayteg1]

My converter likes to go to 14.5V, what I know can be killing voltage when left for long time, so I let it charge the battery for a day and then disconnect for 6 months.
Good charger is worth lot of money as it can save and prolong battery life.
In my conversion I had 4-batteries bank for the house and 2 for the engine.
The house batteries were cheap golf-cart batteries from Walmart, but good charger made them lasting 12 years and I recall adding water 2 times in this period.