Pull battery for winter?

westend wrote:

stetwood wrote:

Trackrig wrote:
Up by Fairbanks I've had batteries last eight years and they sat in the rig every winter down to -60. If you don't have battery disconnect switch that kills absolutely EVERYTHING, then disconnect the battery cables and they should be fine.

Bill

Never that cold, but -20 or more most winters and never pulled batteries from tractors. I did learn the hard way though with the camper to pull the fuses and shut off the breakers. Radios, TVS and warning lights will draw power.

But are the alarms-propane and CO interrupted by a fuse or circuit breaker? Every one I've seen are always connected straight to the DC source, i.e. the battery.

Another aspect of this is--What is the optimum for battery longevity and is that important to the user? Most battery information states that having a float charge on a stored battery will increase it's life and result in less loss of capacity. Does it matter if your RV battery lasts 2-4 or more years than if left on it's own over the Winter? Will a user be OK with a loss of amp hour storage over subsequent storage periods?

I have 5 batteries in my RV, at present. and I plan to add two more. To me, battery longevity is important and I'd like to lose no capacity. Fortunately, my solar system does a great job of keeping everything charged while in storage.

For a user without a solar charging system, a float charger would accomplish the same task.

As would the built in converter. Top off the battery water, plug it in and forget it.

stetwood wrote:

Trackrig wrote:
Up by Fairbanks I've had batteries last eight years and they sat in the rig every winter down to -60. If you don't have battery disconnect switch that kills absolutely EVERYTHING, then disconnect the battery cables and they should be fine.

Bill

Never that cold, but -20 or more most winters and never pulled batteries from tractors. I did learn the hard way though with the camper to pull the fuses and shut off the breakers. Radios, TVS and warning lights will draw power.

But are the alarms-propane and CO interrupted by a fuse or circuit breaker? Every one I've seen are always connected straight to the DC source, i.e. the battery.

Another aspect of this is--What is the optimum for battery longevity and is that important to the user? Most battery information states that having a float charge on a stored battery will increase it's life and result in less loss of capacity. Does it matter if your RV battery lasts 2-4 or more years than if left on it's own over the Winter? Will a user be OK with a loss of amp hour storage over subsequent storage periods?

I have 5 batteries in my RV, at present. and I plan to add two more. To me, battery longevity is important and I'd like to lose no capacity. Fortunately, my solar system does a great job of keeping everything charged while in storage.

For a user without a solar charging system, a float charger would accomplish the same task.

Trackrig wrote:
Up by Fairbanks I've had batteries last eight years and they sat in the rig every winter down to -60. If you don't have battery disconnect switch that kills absolutely EVERYTHING, then disconnect the battery cables and they should be fine.

Bill

Never that cold, but -20 or more most winters and never pulled batteries from tractors. I did learn the hard way though with the camper to pull the fuses and shut off the breakers. Radios, TVS and warning lights will draw power.

stro1965 wrote:

Trackrig wrote:

stro1965 wrote:
Thanks guys. My rig stays beside my house where I have a 30 amp connection. I've always pulled the battery in the past but this year I think I'll just unplug it, use the disconnect switch and roll up the cord for the winter.

Does your disconnect switch really kill everything such as the CO2 sensor, propane sensor, possibly the refrigerator light? Mine doesn't so I don't bother with the disconnect switch. I pull the main battery cables.

Bill

I guess I don't know for sure, I assumed that it would.

I installed my own, and yes it is a true disconnect right in the middle of the positive cable to the main cone toon lug.

Trackrig wrote:

stro1965 wrote:
Thanks guys. My rig stays beside my house where I have a 30 amp connection. I've always pulled the battery in the past but this year I think I'll just unplug it, use the disconnect switch and roll up the cord for the winter.

Does your disconnect switch really kill everything such as the CO2 sensor, propane sensor, possibly the refrigerator light? Mine doesn't so I don't bother with the disconnect switch. I pull the main battery cables.

Bill

I guess I don't know for sure, I assumed that it would.

stro1965 wrote:
Thanks guys. My rig stays beside my house where I have a 30 amp connection. I've always pulled the battery in the past but this year I think I'll just unplug it, use the disconnect switch and roll up the cord for the winter.

Does your disconnect switch really kill everything such as the CO2 sensor, propane sensor, possibly the refrigerator light? Mine doesn't so I don't bother with the disconnect switch. I pull the main battery cables.

Bill

Thanks guys. My rig stays beside my house where I have a 30 amp connection. I've always pulled the battery in the past but this year I think I'll just unplug it, use the disconnect switch and roll up the cord for the winter.

I have mine plugged in in the yard now. Has been that way since new. OEM battery lasted 8 years. No special charger, just the OEM one. Guess it depends on your unit. I never gave it any thought, just plugged it in.

There is one issue with leaving it plugged in. If you lose AC power ( power outage, cord gets unplugged), you now have a load on the batteries. If you hook up to a good maintainer (that imparts no load when the AC is unplugged) and turn the house switch to off, this is a non issue. You don't have to ask how I came to this knowledge.

I have a permanently mounted 10 amp battery charger/maintainer in my battery bay. It's also my backup 12 volt supply in case of a converter failure.

Charge em, disconnect em, leave em.
Good fully charged batteries will have no problem over a cold winter. I've been doing that to boat and tractor batteries for the last 35 years with no problem. he key is to have NO load on the batteries.