I have a small 110V battery charger, nothing fancy , I think it has 2,6,10 amp selections.Anyway, I was thinking about hooking short wires to the + and - terminals of my battery permanently and let them stick out of the battery box to make for easy charging. Not sure what you would call them, I'll call them pigtails. Does this make sense? How would they connect to the charger which has aligator clips on it? Are these commercially available?Other question concerns charging. I have always disconnected my battery before charging or turned off my battery disconnect switch. Does it hurt to use a 110v battery charger while the battery power to the trailer is on and the frig is running on propane? I have a 2017 Coachmen TT with one battery if that matters.Not a battery expert obviously, just trying to be safe.Thanks

There is absolutely no need to use a external battery charger if your RV is plugged in. That is what the converter/charger is for.

Does it hurt to charge the batteries while they are in use: Generally NO. With that charger I'd say NO HOWEver that sounds like a basic charger. NOT a "Smart" charger, this means it puts current even when the batteries are full up. Overcharging and doing damage. |At least on the 10 am setting it MIGHT.. Of course if you have enough battery.. it won't matter. I would seriously consider a Progressibe Dynamivcs 91xx (not sure the smallest model) plug in model.. Those. you can leave hooked up and plugged in for up to about a decade give or take a bit..Both in use and not in use.

There is a commercially made post, used as a remote charging / jumper post. Here's a link to one on ebayAs mentioned above, if you can plug in to shore power, your converter will maintain the battery.

If you do have a connection for charging, I would suggest using a proper connector of some description rather than just having bare wires sticking out. Possibly something along the lines of a hot wheels toy charger connection would be suitable if the charge current is sufficiently low. In any case, please put a fuse in the positive lead so that a short circuit at the exposed connection point won't start a fire.

Thanks for all the answers. Pretty sure my charger does cut down or off when battery is fully charged. I realize the converter will keep the battery up if plugged into a/c.Maybe didn't make my question clear. " Does it hurt to use 110v battery charger while the battery power to the trailer is on and the frig is running on propane" What I was trying to say is tt would be on battery power only, no a/c, and frig is on propane. Then is ok to use a 110v charger? Reason for the question is the tt will be 100' or so from a/c power source so I can run a cord to the charger but not hook up the normal a/c to the tt. thanks

questions on battery charging | Good Sam Community

riven1950
Explorer
Nov 17, 2017
Thanks for all the answers. Pretty sure my charger does cut down or off when battery is fully charged.

I realize the converter will keep the battery up if plugged into a/c.
Maybe didn't make my question clear. " Does it hurt to use 110v battery charger while the battery power to the trailer is on and the frig is running on propane"

What I was trying to say is tt would be on battery power only, no a/c, and frig is on propane. Then is ok to use a 110v charger?

Reason for the question is the tt will be 100' or so from a/c power source so I can run a cord to the charger but not hook up the normal a/c to the tt.

thanks
DrewE
Explorer II
Nov 17, 2017
If you do have a connection for charging, I would suggest using a proper connector of some description rather than just having bare wires sticking out. Possibly something along the lines of a hot wheels toy charger connection would be suitable if the charge current is sufficiently low. In any case, please put a fuse in the positive lead so that a short circuit at the exposed connection point won't start a fire.
handye9
Explorer II
Nov 16, 2017
There is a commercially made post, used as a remote charging / jumper post.

Here's a link to one on ebay

As mentioned above, if you can plug in to shore power, your converter will maintain the battery.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Nov 16, 2017
Does it hurt to charge the batteries while they are in use: Generally NO.

With that charger I'd say NO

HOWEver that sounds like a basic charger. NOT a "Smart" charger, this means it puts current even when the batteries are full up. Overcharging and doing damage. |At least on the 10 am setting it MIGHT.. Of course if you have enough battery.. it won't matter.

I would seriously consider a Progressibe Dynamivcs 91xx (not sure the smallest model) plug in model.. Those. you can leave hooked up and plugged in for up to about a decade give or take a bit..Both in use and not in use.
donn0128
Explorer II
Nov 16, 2017
There is absolutely no need to use a external battery charger if your RV is plugged in. That is what the converter/charger is for.

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