how long let b sit before starting
I'm getting a zion(roadtrek promastr). i will have to store away from the house. anyone do this and have problems starting the van after-1 week,2 weeks,3 weeks etc. if you have no outside pow...
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My E-series van can sit for at least three weeks, keeping the ECM, driver information system, and plain old radio alive. But it doesn't have an on-board navigation system/entertainment computer/communications system to keep alive, and has a very large starting battery. My daughter's van, which has all that stuff and a smaller battery, can't sit for more than a week.
My Honda Fit, which has something that looks like a motorcycle battery, and no more electronics than my van, will get marginal for starting after three weeks, which is why I take it to the airport only for shorter trips.
My motorhome on E-series chassis, same battery and ECM, no driver information system, and with radio disconnected, can usually be started after sitting two months, particularly in warm weather. Any longer, I either disconnect the starting battery or expect to boost or recharge before starting. It does have a phantom load for sensing whether a door opens, for the electric stair.
If I start the motorhome during the long storage period, I do it on a nice day when I can drive at least 100 miles. Yes, that's about $25-40 worth of gas, but it is a whole lot better than letting the thing idle for 15-30 minutes and shutting it off still partially cold.
Then I bring it home and put both the starting batteries and the house batteries on a charger until brought up to full charge, which can take 8-10 hours for the starting battery (at a 10 amp rate) and at least overnight for the battery bank in the house, which has a lower voltage charger that does not bulk charge well.
My Honda Fit, which has something that looks like a motorcycle battery, and no more electronics than my van, will get marginal for starting after three weeks, which is why I take it to the airport only for shorter trips.
My motorhome on E-series chassis, same battery and ECM, no driver information system, and with radio disconnected, can usually be started after sitting two months, particularly in warm weather. Any longer, I either disconnect the starting battery or expect to boost or recharge before starting. It does have a phantom load for sensing whether a door opens, for the electric stair.
If I start the motorhome during the long storage period, I do it on a nice day when I can drive at least 100 miles. Yes, that's about $25-40 worth of gas, but it is a whole lot better than letting the thing idle for 15-30 minutes and shutting it off still partially cold.
Then I bring it home and put both the starting batteries and the house batteries on a charger until brought up to full charge, which can take 8-10 hours for the starting battery (at a 10 amp rate) and at least overnight for the battery bank in the house, which has a lower voltage charger that does not bulk charge well.
