Should I leave the MH plug in all winter?

We leave our 5th wheel plugged in. I turn off the charger on the panel and use my solar panels and smart charger to keep the batteries full.

I have three of These. I leave them plugged in all the time that the MH and Toad sit in my building. House battery in the RV and engine batteries in both. They detect the existing battery charge, charge at full capacity until fully charged and then drop down automatically to a maintenance level. I've been using the same batteries for ten years without having to replace any or add water.
I found them at my local Batteries Plus store.

We leave our motorhome plugged in all winter.

The Parallax 7345 stock converter in the motorhome has not damaged our 7 year old RV batteries doing this, because: 1) Batteries can reliably take higher continuous voltages in cooler temperatures than they can in warmer temperatures, and 2) our particular RV batteries are special AGM (dry, with no liquid in them) batteries that specifically require 13.5 volts to 13.8 volts on their terminals for maintenance when in storage, anyway - which is the exact output range of a stock 7345 RV converter.

Of course by keeping your RV plugged in all winter, you can also keep an electric heater in it set to around 50-55 degrees so interior water lines don't freeze and so you don't get mold forming in the interior from cold, wet air. The small hit to your electric bill from doing this is well worth keeping an expensive RV from being damaged.

Dakzuki wrote:

wbwood wrote:
Not to sound stupid, but how do you know if you have a smart converter?

Have it determine the length of the hypotenuse if given the length of two legs of a right triangle.

I believe that only determines if it is a smart aleck converter.:)

wbwood wrote:
Not to sound stupid, but how do you know if you have a smart converter?

Have it determine the length of the hypotenuse if given the length of two legs of a right triangle.

Bobbo wrote:

wbwood wrote:
Not to sound stupid, but how do you know if you have a smart converter?

Give us the maker and model number and we will confirm.

I will have to go and look at it tomorrow, but my manual online says...

"The converter/inverter also operates as a battery charger when it is connected to a 120V power source. If the battery is below its full charge, the converter/inverter charger will begin operating at a rate that reflects the level of discharge. When the battery is again fully charged, the converter charger drops its charging level back to a maintenance level to keep the battery fully charged."

So I take it that is how a smart converter operates.

wbwood wrote:
Not to sound stupid, but how do you know if you have a smart converter?

Give us the maker and model number and we will confirm.

GrumpyandGrandma wrote:
I've have kept every RV we have had for the past 40 years plugged it 24/7 365. If you don't have the smart charger all you have to do is keep and eye on the water level in the batteries.

Or use maintenance free batteries. The newer smart chargers are nice though.

We have a smart charger and leave the MH plugged all the time when not in use. We turn off the propane.

On our unit when ever the MH is plugged into shore power it will automatically turn on the converter. Can't turn off the DC when motorhome is plugged in.

To extend the life of the propane detector I disconnect it....little plug at the rear. I know it is critical to be sure to plug it in before we use the motorhome. A little note on the steering wheel is helpful.

Our temperatures are moderate enough that we do not fully winterize. Just drain the fresh water, drain the lines, then put some RV antifreeze in the holding tanks and sink/shower drains. Open all the doors that can provide heat access to water lines, then have a small heater turned very low. It keeps the inside temperature above freezing, usually 38 to 40 degrees and helps to lower the humidity inside the motorhome.

Makes it easy to use in the Winter if we get some decent weather. Load up some water and go.

I have a Battery Minder Plus on the coach battery and a trickle charger on the chassis battery. I find it uses less power than the PD9260 smart converter. The battery is disconnected with the OEM battery disconnect switch that disconnects most things from the battery. I run the genny about once a month when it warms up a bit.