lanerd wrote:
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
I don't disagree that a hard wired unit is fine but it sounds like you are comparing a cheap plug in battery minder to a quality hard wired battery minder.
I'm pretty sure your battery minder needs 120vac even if it's hard wired.
The issue you describe is not 120vac or if it's hardwired but the quality of the unit.
