Starting battery goes dead

[TNGW1500SE]

My starting battery is going dead when parked and while plugged in. The house batteries stay charged. The starting battery doesn't get charged.

Is there any reason why I just couldn't connect the house batteries to the starting battery with a jumper wire on the positive terminal just for when it's parked in the winter? I could install an inline fuse in the wire. They are both connected to the frame on the negative side.

Any reason not to?

[pianotuna]

The advantage of the Trik-L-Start is one way charging. So you can not by accident drain the chassis batteries.

[FIRE_UP]

TNGW1500SE,
Nice bike by the way, always liked those. Anyway, do yourself a favor, spend the $45 or so for the Trik-L-Start and be done with it. It's totally automatic, takes care of your chassis batteries WITHOUT you even being around to think about controlling the situation 'cause, all the "thinking" is done for you.
Scott

[prepilot_3ck]

I 2nd the battery maintainer. I did this on my old DP, but I used a super-duper cheap deal from harbor freight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

Worked really well. Wouldn't charge it from dead, but if you put it away charged/mostly charged, you'd be topped off when you needed it again.

I'm not officially recommending a $10 battery maintainer, although I did use them on MANY MANY things with great success, a better quality one is probably a better choice.

Brian

[time2roll]

Direct wire is fine until you forget it once and discharge all batteries when camped off-grid. And still if you can get the generator started it matters even less... just charge them up.

[TNGW1500SE]

YC 1 wrote:
That will work just fine. If you want some fun, install a 12 volt tail light bulb or dome light inline and if the engine battery is low the bulb will glow until the two batteries come to the same level. It acts as a current limiting device although not needed and just a fun thing for me to do on my last RV until I installed the Trik-l-start.

I have that hooked up now and the bulb is getting dimmer as time goes by. If this worked for you, why buy the Trik-l-start? All you'd need is a switch on this to stop any discharge when boondocking.

[4x4van]

While a Trik-L-Start is great, a simple jumper wire is a cheap and easy way to keep both battery banks charged while in storage; I do exactly that. Disconnecting your chassis battery means you lose all of your radio presets/clock, etc.

[maddog348]

Trik-L-Start works inna garage

JM2¢ ~~ YMMV

[CoeyCoey]

i installed a trick-l-start and it works great. Before that, My starter battery would die while on shore power every time. I was replacing batteries offten. The best thing about the trick-l-start is that I can listen to the car audio without killing the battery. When I store it, I either plu it in, or I disconnect the battery.

[TNGW1500SE]

pianotuna wrote:
Trik-L-Start and some solar!

It's in a garage.

[TNGW1500SE]

FIRE UP wrote:

TNGW1500SE wrote:
My starting battery is going dead when parked and while plugged in. The house batteries stay charged. The starting battery doesn't get charged.

Is there any reason why I just couldn't connect the house batteries to the starting battery with a jumper wire on the positive terminal just for when it's parked in the winter? I could install an inline fuse in the wire. They are both connected to the frame on the negative side.

Any reason not to?

It would be nice to know the make/model/year/engine/chassis of the coach we're talking about. For instance, Winnebago coaches from late '05 down, especially the diesel ones, were not equipped with any form of chassis battery charging while on shore power. But, in '06, Winne started installing a unit called the Trik-L-Start. It's NOT A BATTERY CHARGER! It's simply a control unit that when conditions are met, it will siphon off, SOME of the charging intended towards the house batteries, to be re-directed to the chassis batteries, at a maximum rate of 5 amps.

So, this is why I ask about the year/make etc.
Scott

2003 Itasca Sunova 30B

[pianotuna]

Trik-L-Start and some solar!

[Gjac]

Yes you can connect a jumper wire and yes you can buy a trickle charger, but the simpler way to store your batteries for an extended period like over the winter is to fully charge then and disconnect the neg cable. I would also check to see what the parasitic load is on your starting battery. You don't say how long it takes to lose its charge but if it will not start your engine after sitting for 3 weeks or less your battery may be bad or your parasitic load is to high.

[wolfe10]

Airdaile wrote:

TNGW1500SE wrote:

doxiemom11 wrote:
We have an auxiliary start button on our dash that when on will use the house batteries to help start the engine if the chassis battery is weak. We also have a battery disconnect/shut-off for the chassis battery that we use any time we will be parked more than a few days. Even after a full winter stored outside in Michigan, we turned the battery back on and the motorhome started right up. You don't have either of these things?

I've got the switch that connects the two on the dash but that's hooked to a solenoid and can't be left on. I do not have a disconnect.

It's not meant to be left on. It's a momentary cross connect to the house batteries to get the engine started and supply field voltage to the alternator until the chassis batteries come up far enough to supply the field themselves. You may need to hold it closed for a minute or so.

Not universally true. Agree, many coaches use momentary switches and intermittent duty solenoids, but others do use constant duty solenoids. The latter type can be left on 24/7.

With that said, I agree that is NOT the way I would combine the battery banks.

I like either the "smart combiners" like the one mentioned or small smart stand along 120 VAC charger designed for exactly this purpose.

[Airdaile]

TNGW1500SE wrote:

doxiemom11 wrote:
We have an auxiliary start button on our dash that when on will use the house batteries to help start the engine if the chassis battery is weak. We also have a battery disconnect/shut-off for the chassis battery that we use any time we will be parked more than a few days. Even after a full winter stored outside in Michigan, we turned the battery back on and the motorhome started right up. You don't have either of these things?

I've got the switch that connects the two on the dash but that's hooked to a solenoid and can't be left on. I do not have a disconnect.

It's not meant to be left on. It's a momentary cross connect to the house batteries to get the engine started and supply field voltage to the alternator until the chassis batteries come up far enough to supply the field themselves. You may need to hold it closed for a minute or so.