Battery During Winter

[turkey_stalker]

Hello all. I am new to RV'g and have been on just one trip. When we picked up our RV the battery was dead and wouldn't hold a charge. The company gave us a free battery. I would like to keep the battery on a charge for the winter and am considering a battery tender. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I just want to make sure it doesn't totally discharged over the winter until spring comes around.

Thanks!!

[DutchmenSport]

turkey stalker wrote:

DutchmenSport wrote:
...

I did forget to add we are not keeping it at home. Would this work fine? http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top...

Yes, would do just fine. Don't need anything fancy. I have 2 similar trickle chargers I keep on my 2 John Deere riding mowers all winter in the garage. One is a John Deere 130 and the other is a John Deere 730. The 730 is water cooled with all hydraulics. So the battery is about as powerful as a car battery. Trickle chargers (your "tender") works just fine. When fully charged, they stop trickling automatically. Never a problem with either of mine in over 20 years. I think I bought both of them at Wall Mart.

[turkey_stalker]

DutchmenSport wrote:
You didn't say what kind of camper you have or if you are able to store it at home or not. If you are able to store at home, just keep the camper plugged in with a heavier construnction style extension cord, plugged into your house outlet (15 or 20 amp breaker). This is MORE than enough to keep the battery charged, as your on-board converter will charge it automatically. Campers are made to be plugged in while camping for weeks at a time, so if you check the water level a couple times to make sure it's not boiling out, there's no reason to remove the battery at all.

Now, if you're storing off site, then yes, bring the battery home and a trickle charger will work just fine.

I did forget to add we are not keeping it at home. Would this work fine? http://www.amazon.com/Deltran-Battery-Tender-021-0128-Charger/dp/B00068XCQU/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top...

[korbe]

My batteries sit all winter disconnected in their compartment. they are fully charged and I will check them about once a month, and if they need a charge, I will connect the batteries (a switch) and the rig's converter will apply a charge and I will again disconnect after about 24 hours. It gets to about zero temp here and never had a problem.

[turkey_stalker]

Quality Johnson wrote:
I'm no pro, but this has worked well for me. I just run an extension to the TT over the winter and let the onboard charger keep the battery up. I need my regular battery charger for the car, and figure why buy another one when there is already one on board.

YMMV.

Thanks for the reply...I should have added we are storing the TT away from home as our HOA doesnt think to much of TT in the driveway...so I have no access to power.

[DutchmenSport]

You didn't say what kind of camper you have or if you are able to store it at home or not. If you are able to store at home, just keep the camper plugged in with a heavier construnction style extension cord, plugged into your house outlet (15 or 20 amp breaker). This is MORE than enough to keep the battery charged, as your on-board converter will charge it automatically. Campers are made to be plugged in while camping for weeks at a time, so if you check the water level a couple times to make sure it's not boiling out, there's no reason to remove the battery at all.

Now, if you're storing off site, then yes, bring the battery home and a trickle charger will work just fine.

[Quality_Johnson]

I'm no pro, but this has worked well for me. I just run an extension to the TT over the winter and let the onboard charger keep the battery up. I need my regular battery charger for the car, and figure why buy another one when there is already one on board.

YMMV.