Leaving the fifth wheel plugged in

Our 5th wheel is only plugged in about 1% of the time even when we are using it. Our solar keeps our batteries charged because I unplugged the converter years ago.

Hi..my disconnect switch turns off all the power to the coach.that is what I want when storing the 5th wheel between trips.... During long term storage in the winter I remove the battery and connect it to the maintainer in my garage. I usually get 5 years life from my deep cycle batteries . .. Jim2007...

Dave H M wrote:
My batt switch turns 100% of the power off. I installed myself. :W

My factory disconnect kills all 12v power =except= the slide and landing legs. This includes the battery charger...

Lyle

My batt switch turns 100% of the power off. I installed myself. :W

dpgerson wrote:
Ok but if you turn the kill switch off, the batteries won't run down will they? Thank you all for your answers.

Yes, they will. There are items (such as the CO detector/alarm) that are powered from a point between the battery and the cut-off switch. Some units keep power on all the time to the entertainment center to maintain memory and the clock. These are low draw, but over time they will run the battery down.

Rob

Some items are not controlled by the cutoff switch (propane detector, some smoke alarms, some clocks, etc) and will slowly, bur surely, kill your batteries. The only sure disconnect is to remove the connection at the ground side of the battery.

My Titanium is in the backyard and stays plugged in to 50Amps, with an EMS, all the time.

dpgerson wrote:
Ok but if you turn the kill switch off, the batteries won't run down will they? Thank you all for your answers.

Mr. Gerson, you may want to visit the Alpenlite Group on Facebook if you do that...pretty good site!

Ours has been plugged in 365 for the last 7 years unless on the road or the 1/2 dozen nights we've dry camped.

Unless it is winterized, it is plugged in. My reasons are battery charged but more importantly is keeping the frig cold.

Back during the rash of cooling unit failures I was told by a tech at Dometic that part of the reasons for failures was the heat cycle, expansion/contraction from turning off and on. During normal operation the temperature fluctuation is not that great but if you turn it off it goes from hot to ambient.

Don't know if that is true but it doesn't cost much to keep it cold and ready to go.

dpgerson wrote:
Ok but if you turn the kill switch off, the batteries won't run down will they? Thank you all for your answers.

If plugged in, but the disconnect is OFF, you won't charge your batteries. I found this out the hard way. :(

Lyle