What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.

I've been doing this since 2004, with multiple RVs. We are in FL, and I leave the A/C on, set to about 78F. This keeps the temps lower inside, and removes the humidity. Both will destroy the interior of an RV.Furthermore, most RVs come with a smart charger, with multiple stages of charging. Letting the charger do its job is the best thing you can do for your batteries. Sulfation occurs when a battery is deprived of a full charge, it builds up and remains on battery plates. And a trickle charger allows the battery fluid to stratify, also causing damage if used for long periods. Batteries either need mechanical movement (i.e. in a vehicle), or periodic fast (bulk) charging to mix the fluid.I have a solar setup at home, and I've learned a lot over the years on how to extend the life of my batteries.

I leave my coach hooked to shore power anytime I have the opportunity. In practice, this is more or less anytime it is not being driven. As mentioned in the first reply, I also let the coach's battery management system do its job and have not had any issues. I have leads for tenders on the house and chassis batteries, but rarely use them as it is much easier to run out some cord and plug the whole coach in.

Years ago when converter/chargers were "dumb" it could potentially kill a battery but not true of modern equipment. It will entirely depend on what converter/charger you have.

Skipg wrote:What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.depends on your battery charger. if it's a "smart" 3-stage charger with a float mode then, sure, no issues. if the batteries are lead-acid then I'd still check the water level once a month. but if you have an older "stupid" charger (my term) that just keeps pumping and pumping a charge into the batteries then, no. that will kill your batteries. our MH has AGM batteries and a "smart" charger. other than when it's in winter storage (no elec hookup available) it's plugged in here at home 24/7. when we snowbird in AZ the MH is plugged in for 10-weeks straight. no issues.

Only thing you need to keep checking is battery fluid level. We have left ours plugged in most of the time with no ill effects.

Shore power question | Good Sam Community

Veebyes
Explorer II
Dec 26, 2022
With the RV plugged into my house where I can keep an eye on it anytime I like, no real problem.

With it at a storage place which is not local to me, then I have a big problem with leaving it plugged in. I don't trust the converter/charger & I don't trust people in the storage facility leaving it alone.
JimBollman
Explorer
Dec 26, 2022
My Class B is 1999 and as far as I know has the original charger, so I don't think it is particularly smart. I'm leaving it plugged in under the carport to run some anti-mouse deterrents so I disconnect the charger and monitor the battery voltage and when it drops down a little I plug the charger back in over night. Luckily they just have the charger plugged into an outlet under the jackknife couch.
AJR
Explorer
Dec 27, 2022
I have left all of my campers plugged in 24/7 with onboard smart chargers. I have to add water two times each year in the summer months.

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