Engine starting battery being charged while parked?

I've had the Trik L Start permanently installed for a couple of years. Works great.

I have a solar panel on the roof of my coach that trickle charges to my battery. This solar panel works even when the sun isn't shining. Good Question Happy Holidays to you.

Fleetwood motorhomes, except Flair and some class Cs, from 1996 on charge all batteries when plugged in or on generator. The change over was made in midyear 1995 so some Fleetwood motorhomes made in 1995 charge all batteries when plugged in or on generator.
All others can be made to charge all batteries when plugged in with a Trik-L-Start or like device.

Richard
95 Bounder

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

It is possible to add a Trik-l-Start to the system. If you want even more charging an Amp-l-Start can be used.

Yes! I just installed one of these in my Allegro. The chassis battery was draining as it sat. I keep the RV plugged into shore power 24x7 when it's parked at home. Some RVs have an option to connect the chassis and house batteries together via a dash-mounted switch. Mine does not. But I do have a solenoid that connects the chassis battery to the house batteries while the engine is running. It's mounted up front, near the chassis battery. It has connections for both the house batteries and the chassis battery. The Trik-L-Start has alligator clips - I just clipped one lead to the chassis battery, one to the house batteries and the third to the ground. It's very easy and seems to work well. I'll permanently install it one day, but right now the alligator clips work fine (I don't drive it this way, obviously).

Fleetwood MHs from 1999 on charge both house and chassis batteries when on shore power, gen, or when the engine is running. I cannot speak for other brands. Fleetwood kept all the electrical systems the same for supply parts, and construction purposes, not to mention repair work. Not everything you read on this form is factual, or true. It takes at least a 40 watt solar panel to charge the house and chassis batteries. Most have a 10 watt or less panel for the chassis battery to maintain it. If it is low, it will maintain it low, not charge it back to life. A charger with at least 1.5 amp output is required, and will take at least 24 hours to return it to starting condition.

As stated before "it depends".

There are some brands that come from the factory with them already installed,Fleetwood products such as mine and some Winnebagos come from the factory with a BIRD a Bi-Directional Isolator Relay Delay

It charges both batteries when either one is
being charged. When the coach is being driven,both
batteries will be charged from the engine's
alternator. When the coach is plugged into shore
power,both batteries will be charged from the
converter. If neither battery is being charged, the
batteries are fully isolated. The controller also
senses heavy loads on either battery to prevent
the wrong battery from being inadvertently
discharged.

In your search for that RV it would be something to ask about.

While sitting even while plugged in, if some type of charger is not hooked up to the Chassis battery it will go dead from the parasitic loads.

The Sahara has a solar panel that keeps the house and chassis batteries up.

Hi,

It is possible to add a Trik-l-Start to the system. If you want even more charging an Amp-l-Start can be used.

Ours has a battery shut off switch so nothing is drawing from the engine battery when parked. We usually leave it on though so we can start the generator from inside if we wish. We have not had any problems with it discharging while sitting, but we are parked in a warmer climate during the winter. We also have a shut off for the house batteries so could also use that and shut all batteries off if it were being stored.

Some do, some don't. Ours is supposed to but I don't think it's working. Ours as most do has an engine battery disconnect switch that I turn off when parked.

There is also a switch that allows to temporarily tie the house batteries to the engine battery to start the engine in an emergency. And if all else fails, I carry jumper cables long enough to connect the house to the engine battery