Converter vs. Charger, Whats in a name?

westend wrote:

Itching2go wrote:
Thanks, Jumper, for putting this out there, and thanks, Mod, for breaking it into paragraphs. One question for the group. I purchased a Sears 'intelligent' charger for a dry camping trip to Yellowstone. My thought was to use the 'fast charging' feature of the charger in the mornings to bring my battery up to full charge more quickly than would have been done with the on board converter. Just to make sure that I didn't upset anything in the on board 12VDC system, my practice was to isolate the battery (group 31) via the battery disconnect switch, and then attach the Sears charger directly to the battery. This brought the battery up to full charge in much less than an hour. Downside, of course, was that I had no internal 12 volt electric during this window. Question for the smart folks... Was this a prudent thing to do (isolating the battery), or not necessary?

The way most TT's are wired, if you isolate the battery, you could power the trailer's 12V system with the onboard converter.

To know if isolating the battery and using the standalone charger is prudent, one would need to know the highest voltage present when the charger is in use. If it didn't exceed 15V or so, there would be no need to isolate the battery.

Thanks, Westend. Perhaps wasn't clear in my note, but when following this practice, I was not connected to shore power (dry camping). The 'intelligent charger' was running off of the generator, and while I could have done so, I did not also have the generator providing AC to the trailer at the same time. As a result, there was neither battery power or AC power available to the rig.

As for the highest voltage present, I did not check this, but as I consider your comment, I certainly should have/could have. Makes sense that if the charger voltage exceeds 15 volts or so, would be best to isolate, but if less, no need. Something to look at. Thanks!