Charging battery with external charger

[no-logic]

So we're about to take a trip and I just determined that out on-board charger isn't charging. It's a WFCO that's going in the trash as soon as we get home. This is the second failure on a 2012 trailer. Unexceptable!! Anyway, I'm taking my portable charger along to keep the battery up to snuff for the week that we'll be camped. My question is: Can I charge the battery with everything hooked up normally? Or will I have to isolate the battery for charging to avoid doing damage to other components? Thanks!

[time2roll]

Just slap it on the battery terminals and charge.
Good to go in all conditions.

I do hope the portable is at least 10 amps rated.

[kerrlakeRoo]

You need to know how much you are drawing from the battery in order to answer that. Your WFCO is likely a 45 or 55 amp unit, how large is your battery charger? And can it keep up with your usage? Many small automatic units will give 6 or 10 amps for short terms but are not really able to give that much for several days, and will eventually overheat if the load is maintained.
If your portable is at least a 15 amp, and preferably a 25 you should be well covered. But it's just a guess since we don't know the sizes or demand.

You should be fine charging while connected, its a question of if it is enough.

[romore]

The battery will charge more quickly with nothing drawing power. By the onboard charger I assume you mean the converter, it should keep the battery charged as long as the rv is hooked to shore power. Do the interior lights brighten when plugged in?