Forum Discussion
aftermath
Jun 25, 2019Explorer III
rvshrinker wrote:
That's an interesting link, over my head a lot of it... I have left our rig plugged into a 110 socket for months at a time. It runs the fridge and LED lights and in the winter the furnace on subfreezing nights, maybe 20 nights per year. Battery panel always says fully charged but I've never tried to look in closer detail. I've also never, gulp, checked the water level. Have had rig almost two years. I'll try to figure that out today.
We are building a true 30 and 50 amp hookup this summer.
When I first read this I interpreted "for months at a time" as basically meaning always hooked up. Before I did any winter camping I would have those batteries checked. Here is what happened to me. We bought our trailer used and the PO left it plugged in all the time. The converter was constantly overcharging the batteries and they were shot. When we looked at it, everything was working just fine and the monitor showed fully charged batteries. On the way home we stayed overnight and plugged it in. On our first dry camping trial it all came home, we had two bad batteries and a bad converter too. As long as you are hooked up your batteries will always show full charge. Unplug the trailer and wait a few hours and then check them.
So, to charge batteries you don't need a big generator but you do need a good converter and two good batteries. We have a Honda 2000 and a few hours a day works for us.
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