Battery charging from shore power?

The power converter in my unit is a Intelipower 9100- although I am not sure of the exact model number. My manual says that it requires at least 52 hours to fully charge on the shore power. I guess that means it is an itty bitty trickle charger. I guess I should have read the manual.

I assume these chargers are ok? No need to upgrade to anything?

Bluebeard wrote:
Stock, do most trailers charge the batteries when they are hooked up to shore power? Or does that occur when the trailer is hooked up to the tow vehicle?

Small trailers, Pop ups and >20 feet.. Kind of hard to tell. the ones I owned were old and did not.. But I've been in a few modern ones that do.. Over 20 feet. or made this century.. Yes, they most likely do..

HOWEVER.. Many come with something like a Parallex 7300,, this is a decent single stage converter/charger so it never quite tops off the batteries.

Still better than the odler magnetek 6300 which never STOPPED charging and thus boiled the batteries dry.

What do I like in a converter/charger.. Progressive Dynamics any of their Wizard controlled units no matter if the wizard is built in or plugged in.. I have been searching for a decade trying to find one better and have not yet succeeded.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
The trailer batteries charge 10 times SLOWER when the truck is recharging them. Something to keep in mind. Most trucks can do little more than TRICKLE CHARGE trailer batteries. Just trying to keep a little perspective here...

Mex, picky-picky, but we old guys still try to speak English and remember our Grade 3 ( 3rd Grade in USA-speak) Math usually. You of course, meant to say, "At one-tenth", and not, "Ten times SLOWER"-- I hope. :)

I find the 7-pin starts out at maybe 10 to 15 amps, but in a minute or three is down to 5 amps no matter how low the batts in the trailer are.

It has to do with the un-modified alternator in the truck acting as designed to reduce voltage quickly for the truck battery's sake after starting up, and is also due to the long thin wire back to the 7-pin.

The trailer batteries charge 10 times SLOWER when the truck is recharging them. Something to keep in mind. Most trucks can do little more than TRICKLE CHARGE trailer batteries. Just trying to keep a little perspective here...

Dandy Dan wrote:
Bluebeard, I think the simple answer to this is YES to both. On shore power your converter/inverter will charge the battery and when hooked to the tow vehicle will also charge the battery if you have the hot line on the tow vehicle hooked. Some vehicles come with plug already wired and you might have to put a fuse in the fuse panel.

I think that is right in the great majority of cases; however . . .

Some, including the Heart Freedom 20 inverter in our Safari, can be programmed to charge whenever plugged in to shore power, OR to charge only when the inverter is turned “on” at the remote on the interior wall.

I have ours set at the latter setting. It has 100 watts of solar, plus BatteryMinders for both sets of batteries when stored and plugged in. I have no need for the inverter to be charging continuously while in storage.

Wayne

Both.

Verify by checking for a rise in battery voltage when you plug in.

However you are lucky to get 10 amps from the tow vehicle. And the onboard converter often slow charges at a low 13.6 volts. Either way could easily take 8 to 24+ hours to get a low battery fully 100% charged.

Vulcan Rider wrote:

Note, however, if there is a battery disconnect/storage switch, that will prevent any current from coming to going; they won't charge or discharge with that switch OFF.

While that's probably the most common case (particularly for connection to AC power), it's not exactly universal. Sometimes the battery will still charge with the disconnect switch set to disconnect. I suspect it may be more common for the charge line from the tow vehicle to be unswitched (along with the breakaway emergency braking system, which should never be on the switched side of the disconnect switch).

On my class C motorhome, the converter/charger is connected on the battery side of the disconnect switch, so the battery will charge even with the rest of the DC system turned off. The only certain way to tell is to examine things for yourself, say by checking the voltage at the battery with a voltmeter under various conditions.

Bluebeard wrote:
Stock, do most trailers charge the batteries when they are hooked up to shore power? Or does that occur when the trailer is hooked up to the tow vehicle?

Yes, both in most cases. You will need to watch the voltage to see how yours works.

Note, however, if there is a battery disconnect/storage switch, that will prevent any current from coming to going; they won't charge or discharge with that switch OFF.

Thanks Guys, just checking to see how it works.

Here is a typical electrical 30AMP RV pictorial of how things are used...



Roy Ken