Battery/Generator question

The driveline if properly lubed is just fine with winter storage. Likewise the main engine. THe generator the problem is two folks
ONE: it is a carburetor not fuel injection at least not yet. and especially with E-10 they can foul this does not apply to diesels.

This is the major "Engine" issue

There are also electronic parts in the system that need to be "Conditioned" if you let them sit they .. one might say loose muscle tone if one wished to compare to a weightlifter. and then it takes quite a while to build it back up

Regular use keeps it "In shape".

I notice this more with portables When new the waveform even on a quality unit is kind of nasty. but after a tank or two of gas.. much nicer..

On the Contractor models it remains nasty.

camperdave wrote:
what about the driveline?

What about it ?

There is absolutely no problem with just leaving it sit for a few months.
With mine, the chassis battery charges when AC is present too.

In prior years, I ran my gen for 30 minutes and the engine for 30 minutes and moved it a foot or so each time.

Now that I have new AGMs all around, I would have no qualms about throwing the disconnect switch and just leaving it sit for 3 months.

K.I.S.S.

RJL wrote:
Thank you for the quick replies. Guess I'll just continue bringing the rig home once a month. Not that big of a deal, just being lazy I guess.

And probably totally unnecessary.

IF the batteries are initially fully charged, and properly disconnected, they should not lose more than 10% a month; less if AGM.

You should be able to recover that 10% with an hour's generator run with no problem.

Don't make this harder than it needs to be.

Some answers are much more complicated than they need to be.....and can be confusing and misleading.

One problem I see here is if you run the generator to charge the battery once/month, what about the driveline? Seems to me that bringing it home serves the purpose of getting everything up to temp and moving around once in a while, which is a good thing (take the long way home, let it get good and warm). Motorhomes like to move.

How often are you using the RV?

+1 for 100+ watts solar on the house battery. Then verify the house battery will maintain the chassis battery and you are good to go. Not sure I would even exercise the generator at that point. Just run it some during the next outing.

Hi,

I suggest that 30 minutes once per month is more than adequate for an rv that is in storage where the batteries are disconnected. (and connected while running the generator). That is, if the batteries are in good shape.

I suggest a 50% load on the generator.

What would not work is charging 30 minutes per day when the RV is being lived in.

If stored outdoors, you may try a small solar panel to maintain the battery.

Thank you for the quick replies. Guess I'll just continue bringing the rig home once a month. Not that big of a deal, just being lazy I guess.

Your questions tend to have no wrong answer as both YES and NO applies.

Can You charge them by running the generator YES but it will take hours.. How many depends a bit on how far down the batteries are. but a full recharge from 50% SOC (Deep cycle only) is about a six hour job. From 75%SOC (MARINE/deep cycle) one hour less. from 90% SOC. about 2 hours. (both types) this assumes the proper (C/30) size converter)

Does the grenerator charge the batteries NO. not directly but it powers the converter and THAT charges the batteries so the answer is yes.

See what I mean by no wrong answer.

The key point here is:
USE the battery disconnect switch.
Connect when you want it to charge.
DISconnect when it is just sitting.

If you do that correctly, then they should be charging any time that AC power is present, regardless of the source.

EVERY RV owner should have an inexpensive voltmeter so you can check and be sure instead of just guessing.

And I agree that a half hour probably isn't enough; an hour would be better.....both for the batteries and the generator.....but the gen will not go up in smoke if you don't do it "exactly right".