Shore power question

[Skipg]

What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.

[StirCrazy]

if you bought your rv and drove it home and havent made any chages to the charger, then yes son't leave it plugged in all the time.

when I get a trailer/5th part fo the deal is to remove the wfco converter and put in a good PD converter. with this I left my last set of batteries plugged in when ever I wasnt using them for 15 years before I had to change them out. of course you still have to keep an eye on your battery water level and top them up depending on the type of batteries. now this was with 6V GC2 batteries, the one from the dealer will never last that long no matter how good you re to it.

Steve

[wa8yxm]

Skipg wrote:
What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.

I have heard that too but..... Some things are outdated.
For example when I was growing up it was advised not to let gasoline engines idle for long periods or things got.. well Gummed up (Valves aned plugs) but today.. Click and Clack (The tappit brothers. Car Talk when it was still on Public radio) Said with modern computer controlled cars.. No problem.

Back then you could idle a diesel all day but today... DO NOT DO THAT.

Likewise with Plugging in an RV

Years ago many RV's especially trailers. had a Magnetek 6300 series converter which was kind of a strange beast by today's standard.

IT supplied raw rectified DC to lightes and fans and such. (Up to around 30 amps) and for senistive loads it provided about a 3-4 amp charge the batery and let the battery run the Fridge. and such.

NOT a good system at all.

I just saw a photo of one even worse in another thread (I actually had one like that I modified and improved).

With those. You do not want to leave the RV plugged in NO WAY.

Today however low end units often have somethign like a parallex 7300 (Parallex bought the old Magenetek line and upgraded) This is not a good converter (Single stage) But it is very well regulated (The Magnetek was not).

Some have a 7300T (Better)2 stage timed boost/bulk

Most have modern 3-stage converters Most of these sense the battery state of charge and adjust their output so that if the battery is hungry they push as much as 14.6 (Give or take) at up to labeled amperage to swiftly recharge... Same as oh. a GM alternator does.

Then as the battery fills they slow down and when it's full they drop to 13.6 (12 volt battery float voltage) neither charging or sucking power from the full battery.. You can leave those plugged in forever.

NOTE This is how the battery charger module in a UPS works too. And those are plugged in 24x7.

So. before you decide.. Find out what kind of converter you have.

[Matt_Colie]

Skip,

What you need to do is find the unit's converter/charger and get the manufacturer, model and number off it. Then, look it up on line and see if it is a three or four stage job. If it is a modern smart charger, they batteries will actually last longer because of the conditioning that they will get.

If you can't fine it on line, comeback here and someone is likely to know it. The we can give you a solid answer.

When you come back, tell us what the house bank is or what you want it to be. You don't want a number that has the potential to over heat the bank when recovering it from a deep discharge.

Matt

[pianotuna]

Skipg wrote:
What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.

Will you be running the fridge? If so it may "eat" 5.7 kwh per day.

I would prefer to see the RV on a one week timer that would charge the battery bank for 2 hours per week.

My batteries are recharged by solar.

Many converters re not good battery maintainers.

What is the make, model and year of the converter and RV?

[QCMan]

Only thing you need to keep checking is battery fluid level. We have left ours plugged in most of the time with no ill effects.

[rk911]

Skipg wrote:
What’s your thoughts about leaving a RV plugged in to shore power when not in use. I read it not good for the house batteries.thanks for your input.

depends on your battery charger. if it's a "smart" 3-stage charger with a float mode then, sure, no issues. if the batteries are lead-acid then I'd still check the water level once a month. but if you have an older "stupid" charger (my term) that just keeps pumping and pumping a charge into the batteries then, no. that will kill your batteries. our MH has AGM batteries and a "smart" charger. other than when it's in winter storage (no elec hookup available) it's plugged in here at home 24/7. when we snowbird in AZ the MH is plugged in for 10-weeks straight. no issues.

[ScottG]

Years ago when converter/chargers were "dumb" it could potentially kill a battery but not true of modern equipment.
It will entirely depend on what converter/charger you have.

[SuperBus]

I leave my coach hooked to shore power anytime I have the opportunity. In practice, this is more or less anytime it is not being driven. As mentioned in the first reply, I also let the coach's battery management system do its job and have not had any issues. I have leads for tenders on the house and chassis batteries, but rarely use them as it is much easier to run out some cord and plug the whole coach in.

[2manytoyz]

I've been doing this since 2004, with multiple RVs. We are in FL, and I leave the A/C on, set to about 78F. This keeps the temps lower inside, and removes the humidity. Both will destroy the interior of an RV.

Furthermore, most RVs come with a smart charger, with multiple stages of charging. Letting the charger do its job is the best thing you can do for your batteries. Sulfation occurs when a battery is deprived of a full charge, it builds up and remains on battery plates. And a trickle charger allows the battery fluid to stratify, also causing damage if used for long periods. Batteries either need mechanical movement (i.e. in a vehicle), or periodic fast (bulk) charging to mix the fluid.

I have a solar setup at home, and I've learned a lot over the years on how to extend the life of my batteries.