Aux battery

[ishouldbcamping]

Hi, I just inherited a new to me camper but it doesn't have an aux battery. can someone tell me where on the converter to hook up the battery. is this an easy diy project or do I need an rv tech to do it ? I don't want to get hosed by an rv center, not that they would do anything like that:D thx for looking any help would be appreciated Ray

[ishouldbcamping]

Thanks Ron, yeah I saw the same thing, talked to the manufacturer today. He said they don't make those anymore, but there are still a boat load of them out there. they have moved on to the next generation, series 4400, He did say they are an excellent converter, 'bullet proof' was the term he used, said you can hook a battery to it, if it doesn't have a charger I can hook an independent charger to the battery as long as I disconnect the battery from the rv to avoid cooking anything in the rig. He said the only way to tell about the charger is to go back look at the label and look for option"c" somewhere on the label. I hope this is helpful to anyone else out there with the same situation. I'll let you know if I can find the "C". Thx Ray

[Ron3rd]

ishouldbcamping wrote:
OK everyone finally got to it today, had to take the distribution panel off to get to the info on make and model...it's by B-W manufacturing..30 amp..series 3200..model 3230 ul...also says it's by parallax power...when I looked it up says you can hook a battery to it, but also says option "C" has the charger. Don't know if I have option "C", they were closed when I tried to call them. Will try again tomorrow. Worst case scenario, hook the battery to it and get an independent charger if I have to. I'll find out more when I talk to them. Ray

The manual is not much help as it only says if it has "option C" it has the charger. I had a Parallax in our old trailer with the charger. Perhaps someone know how to identify if the charger is present by sliding it out of the case.

Parallax Manual

[ishouldbcamping]

OK everyone finally got to it today, had to take the distribution panel off to get to the info on make and model...it's by B-W manufacturing..30 amp..series 3200..model 3230 ul...also says it's by parallax power...when I looked it up says you can hook a battery to it, but also says option "C" has the charger. Don't know if I have option "C", they were closed when I tried to call them. Will try again tomorrow. Worst case scenario, hook the battery to it and get an independent charger if I have to. I'll find out more when I talk to them. Ray

[Ron3rd]

ishouldbcamping wrote:
Ron3rd, does that mean if he did install a con/charger it will just need to have a battery hooked up to it??

Yeah, if it has a converter/charger, the charger just needs to be connected to the battery. We still need the brand/model of the unit to be sure.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Ron3rd wrote:

ishouldbcamping wrote:
Thanks for the reply: Heres what I know, cant get in touch with the guy I got it from. The camper is an 85-86 Pilgrim,11'3". When I got it the entire interior had been redone, including all new plumbing, all new wiring including a new converter. When I say new I mean approx. 5 yrs ago. I cant get to the rig right away, its at the storage lot. But I can take some pics tomorrow and forward. That's the problem I don't see any battery wiring, I don't think he got that far, but I can tell you he was a plumber and he had the wiring professionally done, guy did a nice job from what I can see. Thx Ray

It's very possible the guy installed a converter/charger, but never connected batteries. When you post the model of the unit, that will tell the story.

Exactly! No point guessing until he/we knows what he has.

[sabconsulting]

RJsfishin wrote:
I can't imagine buying an RV converter in the last 5 yrs that will not charge a battery. All the later converters are nothing more than a glorified battery charger. They don't know.....or care if their load is the the RVs 12v electrical system, or charging the battery,.....its all the same thing.

This is an interesting point. Providing a stable voltage that will supply all your 12v electrical accessories and properly charging a battery are not the same thing, since the latter, in order to do the job properly should have a program that adjusts the charging voltage and therefore current over time to optimize battery charging - just supplying a fixed voltage only gets you part way there; the voltage probably won't be high enough to fully charge the battery; but if you just have a cheap supermarket charger that does have a high enough voltage it will boil your battery dry if left unattended. That is why an intelligent charger uses a multi-stage program to get the battery up to full charge, then hold it there (using a lower voltage). So if buying a converter now I'd want to make sure it did have at least a 3-stage charging program to look after your battery properly (I think many do have this feature now).

But I would also make sure I had some way of checking the state of charge of the battery using a meter since both over-charging a battery and letting it go flat will both kill it quickly.

Steve.

[RJsfishin]

I can't imagine buying an RV converter in the last 5 yrs that will not charge a battery. All the later converters are nothing more than a glorified battery charger. They don't know.....or care if their load is the the RVs 12v electrical system, or charging the battery,.....its all the same thing.

I'm w/ the crowd that thinks that the guy just never got around to connecting a battery to the same terminals as the 12v system is connected to now.
But I would want to see the converter before I did that !

[westend]

Manual for PD 9200 showing schematics and back panel connections. Your existing converter and 12V distribution center may have the same layout and may not.
Bottom line is that you want the battery connected to the converter and a fuse/circuit breaker placed within 18" of the battery. Use large gauge wire. Most converters with battery charging have terminations to the 12V distribution and the battery, inclusive.

[ishouldbcamping]

Ron3rd, does that mean if he did install a con/charger it will just need to have a battery hooked up to it??

[ishouldbcamping]

Thanks everyone, being a carpenter/cabinet maker this can get confusing...getting all the insight from everyone is really helpful. Just want to get this camper ready so we can enjoy it. On the other hand the cabinets are beautiful. Ron3rd I think that's what happened also..will follow up soon Thx Ray

[Ron3rd]

ishouldbcamping wrote:
Thanks for the reply: Heres what I know, cant get in touch with the guy I got it from. The camper is an 85-86 Pilgrim,11'3". When I got it the entire interior had been redone, including all new plumbing, all new wiring including a new converter. When I say new I mean approx. 5 yrs ago. I cant get to the rig right away, its at the storage lot. But I can take some pics tomorrow and forward. That's the problem I don't see any battery wiring, I don't think he got that far, but I can tell you he was a plumber and he had the wiring professionally done, guy did a nice job from what I can see. Thx Ray

It's very possible the guy installed a converter/charger, but never connected batteries. When you post the model of the unit, that will tell the story.

[DiploStrat]

For the long answer, start reading here: Handy Bob
A lot of opinionated material, but all excellent.

[Ron3rd]

ishouldbcamping wrote:
Thanks guys, yeah it does have a converter in there now, but no leads coming off it for hooking up a battery, I guess the guy I got it from didn't get around to it. if I take the cover off is there specific pos-neg to hook batt cables to, or is it just any pos-neg poles. thx

It sounds like you might have a converter only and not converter/charger. You need to find out, and you should be able to google the model of the converter you have to get the specs. If you want to charge batteries too, you'll need a converter/charger and the best source is Randy at www.bestconverter.com. He can steer you in the right direction for a unit that would be easy to install. Lifetime support too if you buy from them.

[sabconsulting]

I think Wayne is right. I assume you are looking for a simple solution here, not a best-in-class battery system, so will answer on that basis. If you've got a converter that can run your 12v stuff (lights, etc.) while plugged into 120v shore power then great, but don't just plug that into a battery. If the converter has dozens of wires coming out of it powering different things (lights, furnace fan, extractor, radio, etc.) then this will be awkward, but if it just has one thick +12v wire then you could insert a switch there allowing you to switch between the converter providing 12v and a battery supplying 12v. That ensures the converter will never pump power directly into the battery and kill it.

Next you need a way to charge that battery. A nice thick cable from your truck alternator / battery to the auxiliary battery will help by charging it while you are driving, but you need something to ensure you don't drain your truck battery at the same time you drain your auxiliary battery - the simplest solution is a charge relay that isolates the batteries from each other when the truck engine is stopped.

Next you will probably want to be able to charge the battery when you have 120v hook-up. For that you could just buy a regular battery charger, but make sure it is an intelligent multi-stage one that will look after the battery, not just a budget supermarket variety battery charger.

You also need to ensure you don't run your auxiliary battery flat - doing so will also kill it quickly. You can get battery meters that show the amount of charge it holds (based on the exact voltage of the battery when it is not being charged or discharged), often as a percentage. The simplest may be just a line of LEDs each marked with a percentage. I suggest buying one of these and ensure you don't let your battery drop below 50% charge.

Think carefully about what you intend to run from your battery. Interior lights can use a surprising amount of power, so many of us swap the ones we use most for LED lights that are much less hungry. Most people have a 3-way (absorption) fridge - if you have one of these run it on propane, not 12v as it will draw a huge amount of battery power.

Steve.