Hi Folks,Our Prime Time Crusader (351 REQ) is about to go into storage back in our shop for the winter. I would like to place a trickle charger on the batteries to keep them maintained this winter, while leaving them in the trailer.They are 2 deep cycle batteries in parallel. My questions are:When trickle charging, can I assume that leaving them wired in and with the battery disconnect in the 'disconnect' position will be no issue. Any issues with this or do you disconnect the batteries form the system and trickle charge them that way?Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

You need a smart charger (like a Battery Tender) as even the smallest trickle charger will eventually over charge and damage the batts. You can leave the batteries in place and use the disconnect switch.

You need a float charger, not a trickle charger. Battery Tender works, I've been using cheap "Schumacher Electric 2 Amp Maintainer" for years on motorcycles/RV's everything. They call it a 'trickle' charger but it's not.

Simply plug it into a 120 volt outlet. No need for an additional charger when you probably have a perfectly good one already built in.

Yes in the cold of Winter any converter is just fine.

donn0128 wrote:Simply plug it into a 120 volt outlet. No need for an additional charger when you probably have a perfectly good one already built in.Those built in chargers will cook your battery if left on for a awhile. The charge rate will stay high. Use a battery minder as others have said.

Trickle charging batteries while in storage | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

IH_Fan
Explorer
Sep 23, 2016
Thanks again for the feedback everyone!
Kit_Carson
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
My batteries are wired like yours and I remove the negative cable from one battery and hook up the battery tender to that terminal and the positive terminal of the other battery. Works fine for me.
Sam_Spade
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
leeper wrote:
donn0128 wrote:
Simply plug it into a 120 volt outlet. No need for an additional charger when you probably have a perfectly good one already built in.

Those built in chargers will cook your battery if left on for a awhile. The charge rate will stay high. Use a battery minder as others have said.

Maybe, maybe not.

If you have a "cheap" single state charger, it is essentially a "dumb" trickle charger (only higher capacity) and will potentially have the same problems.

If you have a "smart" multi-stage charger/converter, the it should work fine.

Research your charging system to see which kind it is.
Sam_Spade
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
ScottG wrote:
You need a smart charger (like a Battery Tender) as even the smallest trickle charger will eventually over charge and damage the batts.
You can leave the batteries in place and use the disconnect switch.

This.

If stored more than 90 days I would still check the voltage and water level every 4-6 weeks though.....as things sometimes fail.
RCMAN46
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
I had a problem with a Battery Minder last winter.
The outlet it was plugged into was a GFI.
The GFI tripped for an unknown reason.
As a result the Battery Minder completely discharged the battery which ruined the battery.
braindead0
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
I wouldn't entirely trust the RV manual. Find out what kind of converter you have and research that specific model. My manual contains the following:

Float Mode: If the RV is not being used for approximately 48 hours,
with a “no load” condition and the shore power is plugged in, the
converter will automatically go in to the “Float mode.” In this mode,
the converter is charging the battery with a trickle voltage of 13.2 Vdc.

No mention of temperature compensation, and conflating float with trickle makes me not very confident that mine can be trusted to be left connected. And the converter is a WFCO which has a history of problems.

I remove my battery and put on a good quality float charger. Battery is 4 years old, I've never had to add water to it and can still get a week of boondocking on battery alone.
georgelesley
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
donn0128 wrote:
Simply plug it into a 120 volt outlet. No need for an additional charger when you probably have a perfectly good one already built in.

Check your manual before doing this. Our 2014 Winnebago specifically says not to leave it plugged in for long periods of storage. Yours may allow this. Read the book. I turn the master switch off and trickle ours because of this.
mike-s
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
If you have a decent multimeter - plug in, let it sit for a day with everything turned off (except the converter), like it would be in storage. Then measure the voltage at the battery. If it's 13.4-13.7 V, you're good. Otherwise, get a good charger/maintainer - CTEK, Battery Minder, etc.

Just top up the water in the batteries before putting it in storage.
leeper
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016
donn0128 wrote:
Simply plug it into a 120 volt outlet. No need for an additional charger when you probably have a perfectly good one already built in.

Those built in chargers will cook your battery if left on for a awhile. The charge rate will stay high. Use a battery minder as others have said.
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 22, 2016
Yes in the cold of Winter any converter is just fine.