As RCman stipulated, battery minders are not all that reliable. I too used them for my two quads and our three autos when we are gone for the summer. Of those five, I had two fail the first summer and another two failed the 2nd summer...all leading to destroyed batteries.
Yes, you have to plug in the coach to shore power but with a battery minder you'd have to run an additional cord for it to operate....unless you just happened to have a 120v outlet in your battery compartment.
The Trik-l-start needs no 120v and once installed, no further attention to it is needed. It is about 1/2 the size of a battery minder and can be mounted almost anywhere within the battery compartment. With the battery minders (from my own experience) you have to keep a close watch on them to make sure they are operating properly and you have to provide storage for it and the cord when not in use. No big deal, but I prefer the simplicity of the Trik-l-start.
I realize running an additional power cord is no big deal, but I prefer to install once and forget about it. I had one on my previous coach for five years and it never required my attention again.
Ron
