How to keep toy hauler batteries charged?
OK, So I finally got a toy hauler - an '05 Forest River Sandpiper Sport. 32', open design (No separate garage), no slides. I think it'll be perfect for my needs. The owner did a fantastic job of tr...
Forum Discussion
Congrats on the Sandpiper TH. In order for your converter to charge your batteries you must be plugged into shore power or generator. Yes, you can purchase the appropriate adapters (CW, Walmart) so that you can plug into shore power at home, but it can prove fatal to your batteries over time if you have a single charging stage converter, as it will eventually boil your batteries dry. Verify brand and model of converter and check online to see it's capabilities, I have a multi-stage converter (Iota) on our TH and it's always plugged in while stored in our backyard.
Sounds like you got a nice rig and a generator with low hours which can be good or bad depending on prior maintenance. If it hasn't been done recently, change oil, along with air, oil and fuel filters, clean and/or replace spark plugs (manuals are available online), and run genny for a couple of hours under at least 50% load. Our Onan has provided over 700 hours of trouble-free service powering our entire rig as if plugged into shore power. We add Stabil when getting gas and add a bottle of Seafoam periodically to keep gunk to a minimum. Never an issue with starting, no hunting, surging, or dying out after releasing the switch, and just use 85/86 octane (regular unleaded in our area) ethanol-laced gas. We love the versatility of our TH as we use it about half the time without bringing along any of the toys. Hope you enjoy yours as much, Happy Camping!!!
Sounds like you got a nice rig and a generator with low hours which can be good or bad depending on prior maintenance. If it hasn't been done recently, change oil, along with air, oil and fuel filters, clean and/or replace spark plugs (manuals are available online), and run genny for a couple of hours under at least 50% load. Our Onan has provided over 700 hours of trouble-free service powering our entire rig as if plugged into shore power. We add Stabil when getting gas and add a bottle of Seafoam periodically to keep gunk to a minimum. Never an issue with starting, no hunting, surging, or dying out after releasing the switch, and just use 85/86 octane (regular unleaded in our area) ethanol-laced gas. We love the versatility of our TH as we use it about half the time without bringing along any of the toys. Hope you enjoy yours as much, Happy Camping!!!
