2008 Tioga battery questions
I have a 2008 Fleetwood Tioga 31M. Will the original battery charger when using shore power, charge both of my batteries (Coach & Chassis)? Is it better to use something like the "TRIK-L-CHARGE" to ...
Forum Discussion
One way to keep the engine starting battery charged whenever the coach converter/charger is powered up and charging the coach batteries is to buy a small battery maintainer.
Plug the battery maintainer's input side into a 120V AC receptacle plug somewhere in the coach that is up front near the cab, and then plug the battery maintainer's 12V DC output cigarette lighter male plug ing into a 12V receptacle that comes stock in the cab's dash. If this receptacle is "always on" even with the ignition turned off - like it is in my RV's E450 cab - then it is leading right to the engine starting battery. The battery maintainer will then be charging the engine battery whenever the RV is connected to shore power with it's built-in converter/charger turned on and charging the coach batteries.
I keep a little battery maintainer connected up this way 24/7 whenever our RV is sitting in our back yard not being used but still connected to a 120V AC receptacle on the side of the house via an extension cord. This technique thus keeps both the coach batteries and engine starting battery up to 100% during storage ... and, it costs only what you pay for the battery maintainer. HOWEVER, make sure that the coach batteries are certified as not being harmed by having the RV's built-in charger/converer hooked up to them 24/7 for weeks at a time!
Plug the battery maintainer's input side into a 120V AC receptacle plug somewhere in the coach that is up front near the cab, and then plug the battery maintainer's 12V DC output cigarette lighter male plug ing into a 12V receptacle that comes stock in the cab's dash. If this receptacle is "always on" even with the ignition turned off - like it is in my RV's E450 cab - then it is leading right to the engine starting battery. The battery maintainer will then be charging the engine battery whenever the RV is connected to shore power with it's built-in converter/charger turned on and charging the coach batteries.
I keep a little battery maintainer connected up this way 24/7 whenever our RV is sitting in our back yard not being used but still connected to a 120V AC receptacle on the side of the house via an extension cord. This technique thus keeps both the coach batteries and engine starting battery up to 100% during storage ... and, it costs only what you pay for the battery maintainer. HOWEVER, make sure that the coach batteries are certified as not being harmed by having the RV's built-in charger/converer hooked up to them 24/7 for weeks at a time!
