Seeking Battery Knowledge

[Michael_T]

I am a newbie who has purchased a used 2011 Thor Seranno 33A. I am fortunate to have a covered place to park it with a place to plug it in. (Only household 15 amp plug, however) My question is do I leave the switches inside the coach for the chassis and house batteries in the ON position when it is plugged in and I am not using the coach, or should I have both switches in the OFF position? (OR one on and one off?) Unfortunately, reading the manual (which was written to cover MANY different coaches and not mine specifically) was not helpful with this question. I am where I can go and start the MH periodically and let the gen run for awhile, but am wondering what to do in between those times. Thank you, in advance, for your help.

[wa8yxm]

You did not say what converter or power center it has but on a 2011 THOR I would expect a decent 3-stage job

And thus the answer is leave 'em on.

What do you have for batteries?
Many RV's (Including some THORs) come with a couple of MARINE/Deep Cycle.. not the best choice

A better choice is GC-2 Golf car batteries.. They need to be connected differently and they are a bit taller.. But they hold way more usable power.

[Ava]

Unless I need A/C to run the fridge or something else, I turn mine off when parked at home as my converter does not charge the batteries. Just check voltage not plugged in and again plugged to see if batteries are charging or not.

[Dennis_M_M]

Good info here The 12 Volt Side of Life

[fivejackie]

You might want to get a battery hydrometer from your local auto parts store. This would give you a reading of the cells and check water levels. Always fill with distilled water and don't over fill.

[Blaster_Man]

Good advice from MrWizard. You'll fine most RV owner's manuals are designed for many RVs, and are just about worthless.

[MrWizard]

Leave the house/rv/coach battery switche on aka batteries connected
The on board converter charger will keep the house batteries charged

Get a multi meter check the chassis / engine batteries just to be sure.
I'm not sure if you have the battery control center called a "B.I.R.D."
Which will charge the engine from the converter