Battery disconnect - can I still use my heat?

Somewhat related, my owners manual says not to operate slide without a battery.

Thanks 6.2! Seems a high draw could totally cause an issue.
I got my converter today and BONUS! I got a 4 stage 75 amp power max instead of what I ordered (3 stage 55 amp) :D
I'll take the upgrade.
I will eventually install larger gauge charging wires, once I pull the ramset fasteners off the belly. Haven't figured out an easy way to get them out. I'll just replace with self taping screws once I decide to tackle that project.
I'll keep you all posted.
Thanks Scott

Somewhat related, my owners manual says not to operate slide without a battery.

Sounds good. Thanks again for the info!
My new converter shows up tomorrow. :)

Scott

ADK Camper wrote:
So using an automotive charger to charge the two batteries at the same time is no issue? Connected to positive on one battery and negative on the other, of course.

Not quite. If you are using two 12 volt batteries you can connect one to the camper and the other to the charger alternating as required. If you choose to use two 12 volt batteries at the same time they must be connected in parallel. That is connect positive to positive and negative to negative on the batteries and either positive to camper positive and either negative to camper negative. With the batteries connected as above you can connect a stand alone charger by connecting its positive to either battery positive and its negative to either battery negative.

For balanced charging of paralleled batteries you want to connect the positive and negative charger leads to opposite batteries and not both on the same battery. I think that’s what the poster above was suggesting.

So using an automotive charger to charge the two batteries at the same time is no issue? Connected to positive on one battery and negative on the other, of course.

Not quite. If you are using two 12 volt batteries you can connect one to the camper and the other to the charger alternating as required. If you choose to use two 12 volt batteries at the same time they must be connected in parallel. That is connect positive to positive and negative to negative on the batteries and either positive to camper positive and either negative to camper negative. With the batteries connected as above you can connect a stand alone charger by connecting its positive to either battery positive and its negative to either battery negative.

I've learned a lot here, I appreciate it!
I'll do that going forward. I have a decent automotive charger and will use it in parallel with my on board charger when I need to charge quickly when boondocking.

I'm still upgrading my onboard converter/charger to the Power max.

So using an automotive charger to charge the two batteries at the same time is no issue? Connected to positive on one battery and negative on the other, of course.

I'm doing this until these two 12v batts go bad - then I'm going to a 6V golf cart batt bank.

Thank you!
Scott

SoundGuy wrote:

ScottyP5947 wrote:
For that reason alone, it seems I should replace the converter. Agreed?

Simply replacing the converter won't change the fact you're charging through cables that are far too long and of insufficient gauge. I simply turned my WFCO off and used a stand alone charger but there's no reason you couldn't do the same with a stand alone charger.

Sound guy is right. An inexpensive manual charger is a good fix for this problem. I have a standard ac outlet in my front storage compartment which enables me to store the charger there and connect it to the battery as needed. With a 10 amp charger I can run my generator about 1 to 1 1/2 hours every other day to keep my battery sufficiently charged. I don't shut off/disconnect the WFCO converter when using the standalone manual charger. The two just run in parallel. This ensures that 12 volt power is never interrupted so on board electronics maintain their settings.

Yeah I do understand that part of it too, sound guy. Woefully inadequate overall, really. I'm amazed at how inexpensively these things are built.
Are you recommending using a normal automotive battery charger when boondocking, for a faster charge?
I haven't torn into the underbelly of my coach just yet and I would actually consider increasing the gauge of my cables while I'm in there but it's not a huge priority just yet.

I did buy an upgrade - a Powermax multi stage converter - that'll move me in the right direction. I plan to have this coach for a while so I want to make things better where I can.

Thanks Scott

ScottyP5947 wrote:
For that reason alone, it seems I should replace the converter. Agreed?

Simply replacing the converter won't change the fact you're charging through cables that are far too long and of insufficient gauge. I simply turned my WFCO off and used a stand alone charger but there's no reason you couldn't do the same with a stand alone charger.