chassis battery charge ?

[Brownleaf]

I drive my motorhome a few miles every 9-10 days. It occurred to me that the chassis battery is not getting charged enough. Thus the above question does plugging it in to charge house batteries affect the chassis battery? I don't have devices to check charge, I guess an auto parts store could check it. Gas was low yesterday but there was gas in there and once yesterday and once today it would not turn over and catch till the second try ( where I pumped the gas pedal to the floor before the second try where it did start. thanks Doug

[dedmiston]

Please play nice with each other.

[Bobbo]

RLS7201 wrote:

Brownleaf wrote:
RLS, I will call Winnebago to make sure. RVdoc said otherwise. Doug

Why would you call Winnebago to question my Fleetwood response?

Richard

Maybe because he has a Winnebago, not a Fleetwood.

[RLS7201]

Brownleaf wrote:
RLS, I will call Winnebago to make sure. RVdoc said otherwise. Doug

Why would you call Winnebago to question my Fleetwood response?

Richard

[Grit_dog]

^Yup great idea. Another one of the many ways to skin this cat that don’t require doing laps around the block aimlessly in a motorhome.
Maybe for the OP consider going the opposite direction half the time. You know, for even tire wear and new scenery!

[JaxDad]

If your house & chassis batteries live in the same place just take the cheapest set of booster cables you can lay your hands on and connect the house & chassis batteries for 24 hours every couple of weeks.

Great? No, but far better than nothing.

[Grit_dog]

TCBear wrote:
"No they’re not “designed” to sit longer."

Of course motorhome chassis, drivetrains and bodies are designed with extended storage in mind -- that's what people routinely do with them, so all that's taken into account by component engineers in their durability and longevity objectives. And because they are, the vehicles can survive certain things (including neglect) that a Ferrari V-12 supercar might not tolerate as well.

Yeah, when you put it like that, you’re absolutely correct.
In fact I was thinkin tonight on my way home from work that it’s been a few weeks since I drove the ole Koenigsegg and the oil might be gettin rusty and damaging the piston turbulators. So went out and ripped off a couple laps at PIR and then came home and changed the oil. Hope she makes it til the next time it’s not raining out.

[Grit_dog]

Brownleaf wrote:
Gritdog, just took it out for a few miles and it started out on the dash saying 50% charged and went up to about 5/8 charged by the end. Do I need to worry if that dash indicater is valid? Doug

Wow, umm, idk. I’ve never seen a dash indicator in % of charged. That’s kinda cool. And appears to be working if you think the battery was low and then it went up a bit after driving a bit. Hell, idk, test the theory out. More fun than hooking up a battery charger if you got nothing else to do and a couple cold road sodas.
Take the same lap 4 times and see if it goes to full.

[Brownleaf]

RLS, I will call Winnebago to make sure. RVdoc said otherwise. Doug

[RLS7201]

If you MH is a 1986 or later Fleetwood product, it is designed to charge all batteries when plugged in.

Richard

[Brownleaf]

TC, it appears I' going to differ on everybody about letting it sit or getting it out. One more issue is there is rust underneath and it sits in my carport where it is very humid and moisture accumulates and does not drain well below the rv. Because of that I feel those jaunts help dry it out underneath. Doug

[TCBear]

"No they’re not “designed” to sit longer."

Of course motorhome chassis, drivetrains and bodies are designed with extended storage in mind -- that's what people routinely do with them, so all that's taken into account by component engineers in their durability and longevity objectives. And because they are, the vehicles can survive certain things (including neglect) that a Ferrari V-12 supercar might not tolerate as well.

[Brownleaf]

Gritdog, just took it out for a few miles and it started out on the dash saying 50% charged and went up to about 5/8 charged by the end. Do I need to worry if that dash indicater is valid? Doug

[Grit_dog]

Sounds like you’re just burning gasoline for nothing….
But again context is everything. Is it possible that you’ve just discharged the battery a bunch from not running it long but starting it a bunch of times?
Why not just charge up the battery and see if it holds a charge if you suspect it is an issue?
Don’t overcomplicate this.

[Brownleaf]

Thanks to all for good information. Am interested in the idea of the solar charger. I will check them all out. Have not been driving further on my jaunts because still not sure of its mechanics and have yet to be happy with a local dependable mechanic. Doug