Best way to keep chassis battery charged over winter?

Butch50 wrote:
We just bought our new coach and want to add the Trik-L-Start and this is what I was thinking of doing. Under the passenger seat is the continuous use solenoid that ties the alt to the coach when it is running to charge the coach batteries. I was just going to connect it to the terminals on the solenoid there and not have to run the leads to the batteries. Is there any reason that this will not work?

This is the preferred method shown in the instructions.

I live in a spot with cold winters, below freezing for 4 months and many nights below -18C (0 F)

Every fall I unhook both the chassis and coach batteries, charge them fully and move them into my unheated garage until May. Never had a dead battery and the rig starts right up. I have never had to recharge them in the spring.

Prevents a monthly drive, but I would need a pay-loader to move the snow out of the way anyhow and in my area the cold starts and salt from the roads would likely cause more damage than sitting covered in my back yard.

I'm in west Michigan. Winters get cold but not below zero for any length of time. I simply insure the battery is fully charged then disconnect the negative lead. My house batteries have a disconnecting relay. In the spring I connect the neagative lead and the MH will start right up.

I have had problems with a trickle charger ruining a battery after it became disconnected from 120 VAC. Also my MH is stored in a field during the winter so there is no 120 VAC source available.

Every year I store my MH inside, with no 110V available. A fully charged battery should make it through the winter with no problem. Last winter was very cold here and when I went to start the MH in June it started right up. The battery was new in '07. The 2 chassis batteries were toast because they had frozen and don't like that. They had also gone through 6 winters with the same storage.

I have solar. Charges house and chassis with à trick-l-charge.
No worries. No need to run cord at all.
Bob

Bobbo wrote:

harley-dave wrote:
I installed a trik-l-start to charge the chassis batteries whenever I have the RV plugged in. Works excellent. HERE

Dave

What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^

If I ever trade rigs, this will be one of the first 3 additions to it. I installed one after killing my chassis battery by letting it run down over the winter 3 times. I found the relay that connects the two batteries together with the dash switch and wired the Trik-L-Start from one side of it to the other, and grounded the Trik-L-Start to its body. In the past 4 years, I have never had another dead battery.

We just bought our new coach and want to add the Trik-L-Start and this is what I was thinking of doing. Under the passenger seat is the continuous use solenoid that ties the alt to the coach when it is running to charge the coach batteries. I was just going to connect it to the terminals on the solenoid there and not have to run the leads to the batteries. Is there any reason that this will not work?

I just came back to the MH after a long time with 5ers and truck campers so I have a learning curve here.

Thanks

I have also used Battery Tenders for years and I have had quite a few that I have had to send back for replacement on warranty. In fact I'm waiting for them to send a new one back right now to replace one I had on my ATV. I keep them on my garden tractor, ATV, Harley and vehicles when they are going to be sitting for a while without being started but they do go bad.

I use the Amp-L-Charge for two reasons.
1. I plug in the shore power and my three-stage converter charges house and chases battery all winter long with a maintenance charge.
2. When on the road and I use shore power, the chases battery stays charged no mater how long I am parked, and I can use the dash radio for as long as I want and the power is supplied by the Amp-L-Charge while still charging the chases battery. Works great.

I disconnect the engine battery. I also turn off the liability insurance for the winter so Incant drive it once a month. So I trot out the charger every couple of months and top up the battery. Temps go down to -40 here in northern Alberta, so I don't risk just leaving the battery all winter. I take the lawn mower battery into the house for the winter, no recharging, and they are almost fully charged in May when I need it.

Like others, I have a battery tender hooked up. I also don't let my engine sit for too long without running it to circulate the oil. So I fire it up every couple weeks for about 20 minutes.

The Trik-L-Start technically charges the chassis battery from the house battery. There is no 120v power going to it at all.

The 120v is for the converter to charge the house battery so it has power for the Trik-L-Start to siphon off.