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IH_Fan's avatar
IH_Fan
Explorer
Sep 22, 2016

Trickle charging batteries while in storage

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!

13 Replies

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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