Battery disconnect
Our camper does not have a battery disconnect. And I have never had occasion to want one. When do you use yours? (And don't say "When you want to disconnect the battery.")
Forum Discussion
HMS Beagle wrote:
The battery disconnect in my Bigfoot will turn off everything, including the smoke detector and CO detector. The object of this device is to prevent idle time battery drain when the camper is not being used. Having those parasitic draws bypass the disconnect makes it useless. In m opinion the disconnect should be between the battery and everything else.
This is system I had installed in our Outfitter 4 years after we bought the camper. When I snap off the battery disconnect, all parasitic draws are halted...but I also can run the AC system separately not feeding the built-in camper converter/charger (I have two AC systems; see below)
Also, I can "plug" my marine battery charger (AGM charge profile) into an isolated AC source, completely bypassing our camper's built-in converter/charger (yes, I have 2 charge systems in the camper) and completely bypassing the camper's AC system (my second charge source is GFCI in the camper parking area at home). Concluding, I have 2 isolated systems: an isolated camper AC system fed via the camper's AC input (this can supply 12V to our camper 12V DC appliances), and a completely separate 12V battery system that can be isolated from the camper's built-in converter/charger (for various reasons). I now also have redundant CO and propane detectors that are not parasitic to the separate 12V DC battery chain (these are lithium battery powered).
