Is it ok to camper plugged in all the time?

My 2005 Motor home has spent perhaps 3 months not plugged in.. That is the amount of time we have been in Quartsite in the desert (4 weeks) parked in Parking lots, and on the road. Driving.. Of course Damon installed a Progressive Dynamics Intella-power 9100 WITH optional Charge wizard and a better converter I have yet to find (And I've searched).

Thx for all the advice,really appreciate it. Just to be on the safe side I mounted a Schumacher battery charger/maintainer under the frame and hardwired it to the battery. Charges at 1.5 amps until full then automatically switches to maintenance mode to keep battery topped off. I plan on keeping the charger alone plugged in all summer when its parked in the driveway then store the battery in heated garage for the winter. Does this sound like a reasonable setup?
Schumacher model SE-1-12S-CA

Rcers wrote:
I apologize in advance for all the questions,this is my first camper and I've got a lot to learn!
I just bought a 06 Springdale 189. Is it ok to keep a camper plugged into shore power all of the time to keep the battery charged? What are the pros and cons of keeping it plugged in? Im assuming that all campers have a built in battery charger that will keep the battery ready to go,any chance it will over charge the battery? Does the onboard battery charger automatically go into a maintenance mode when battery is fully charged? Am I better off keeping it on a battery tender type of battery maintainer vs the onboard charging system? THX

Yes, you can leave it plugged in. You should check the battery(s) at least monthly, and add DISTILLED water if needed. If ongoing experience shows that a monthly check is too often, do it quarterly.
While you are checking electrolyte levels, also look at the battery terminals. Inspect for corrosion and loose connectors. Clean and tighten as needed. This inspection, IMO, should be done at least twice a year.

Atlee wrote:
No more dangerous to leave my TT plugged in 24/7 than it is to leave my home computer plugged in 24/7 or my HDTV, etc. The electricity is coming from the same electric box.

Ergo the reason I now will only power these types of devices through some form of surge protection. :W

Unfortunately two winters ago I did not have our upstairs television protected and a sudden power line surge to the house took out the television's power supply. It's a Sanyo television but I couldn't find another power supply for it anywhere, even from the manufacturer, until one day I spotted an ad from a guy in Quebec who had the exact same television and was parting it out because the screen was shot. I paid $20 for his power supply, installed it in my set, and the television is still working like a charm two years later. I got lucky but you can bet that television is now plugged into a surge protector. ;)

During that same power surge two years ago my iMac was plugged into a surge protector ... went downstairs to find the protector blown to smithereens and the duplex receptacle into which it was plugged badly burnt. I replaced both obviously, powered up the iMac, and discovered it hadn't been affected at all - lucky again. ;)

In the last six months we've purchased a new washer & dryer and like many appliances these days they're full of electronics so unlike the old mechanical machines they replaced the only time they're plugged in is when we're using them, otherwise they're completely disconnected from power.

Lesson learned - these days I don't plug anything with sensitive electronics in 24/7 and just leave it if it's not got some level of protection against power line anomalies ... and that includes our trailer, whether parked here at the house or out camping. ;)

Mine have been plugged in for 30 years with no issues

No more dangerous to leave my TT plugged in 24/7 than it is to leave my home computer plugged in 24/7 or my HDTV, etc. The electricity is coming from the same electric box.

I would agree if the TT were plugged into a campground power grid 24/7 without some protection.

SoundGuy wrote:
Yet again, as always seems to be the case when this subject comes up on the forums (which it does repeatedly) absolutely no one mentions one very real danger in plugging the trailer in and leaving it plugged in 24/7 - exposure to out of spec variations in line source voltages which can easily damage electrical components in the trailer, including said converter which is ostensibly maintaining the battery. :E This risk is no different than the risk taken when plugging in unprotected while camping but lots of people do it anyway, including myself for many years, but nevertheless there remains the very real potential that sooner or later it's gonna get you. These days I know better so I now am only willing to plug in and remain plugged in because I've wired my rig with a Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C that will shut off incoming power should any anomaly be detected ... which it has several times in just the last year. Betcha the OP's trailer isn't so protected, in fact as a newbie I bet he's not even aware of it ... perhaps now he is. ;)

I just cooked a $180 pair of 6v batteries by leaving plugged in all the time and not monitoring fluids well. :(

I bought a new battery and am installing a battery cut off switch today!

Some are saying yes and a few say no. You NEED to know what type of charger you have. If it isn't a sophisticated, multistage charger, you'll fry the batteries.

If the charger has a FLOAT charge function, you'll be fine. If it doesn't, I would buy a Battery Minder, connect it with the permanent (plugin) connection set up it comes with and keep the batteries maintained that way.

Ours stays plugged in and ready to go all year long unless we are on the road. Never had a problem at all

My WFCO 2005 worked fine till it didn't work at all. Hardly used any water. We also run to AC set on a high temp to control moisture.