Another battery thread

[PEIFAMILY]

Well, Snow is upon us now and cold temps are slowly starting.. Last year I removed the battery from our 2011 sundance 3300ck, and in the spring saw traces of mice droppings in our floor vents..

This year, I bought one of those sonic 120v plugin pest repellers at the suggestions of a few local campers that use them and never saw a problem.

BUT.. What do I do with my battery since I need to leave the camper plugged in all winter? Is it safe to just unhook the battery and make sure the cables are secure? or flip all the breakers except for the plugins? Or better yet, just run an extension cord into the camper somehow? Suggestions? Advice?

Not sure I want to leave the battery outside all winter.

On some extreme colds days on winters past, the temps can drop to -35 degree Celsius = -31 degree Fahrenheit

Thanks,
Jason

 

[branson4020]

I'd just leave the battery in place. It's not going to freeze as long as the coach is plugged in and the converter is keeping it charged.

 

[caissiel]

I left my batteries in the trailer for years during the winter, I just plugged it in for a few days during the middle of winter to rechahrge the batteries and batteries lasted over 6 years. But I unpluged all the alarms for the winter leaving no drain to the battery.
I have been full timing now for 7 years and my batteries, I now use 2, never lasted past 3 years and the last one lasted 2 years in the brand new unit. So now if I park for extended stay I disconect the batteries and reconect when I have to prepare to leave.

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Leaving the battery in place is not an issue BUT keep an eye on the water levels.

 

[PEIFAMILY]

Thanks everyone.

I have a second battery I am wanting to install in the spring.. tempted to hook it up alongside the other now so it will stay charged good all winter lol

 

[lorax]

Check on the condition of your battery. I installed a second battery in parallel to my first. This did not work so well. The system was dependent on the oldest battery.

 

[ntoport]

Does the charger charge 24/7 or is it like a trickle charger? I am thinking about just running a 110 cord to a trickle charger and unplugging the 5th power cord. But if the unit already has that type charger there is no need to. Anybody know? My unit is a 2012 3585.

 

[ntoport]

Iam full of questions it seems like....Here is one more. By throwing the battery disconnect switch to off does this disconnect the battery from everything, I.E the converter, charger? In another words nothing gets in and nothing gets out?

 

[branson4020]

Your rig has a very good quality 3-stage charger that will not overcharge your batteries. It's much better than a cheap "trickle charger" or battery maintainer. The disconnect switch will likely isolate the battery from the convertor, depending on how it is installed.

 

[jnbhobe]

Iam full of questions it seems like....Here is one more. By throwing the battery disconnect switch to off does this disconnect the battery from everything, I.E the converter, charger? In another words nothing gets in and nothing gets out?

Thats the way it works if thats the way its wired. A battery disconect should cut all 12v power to everything.

 

[branson4020]

Thats the way it works if thats the way its wired. A battery disconect should cut all 12v power to everything.

Except, it probably should not cut off 12V power to the breakaway switch/trailer brakes.

 

[JohnDar]

Your sonic pest repellers are run on 120V, not 12V, so even with the battery out, they will work. The converter changes 120V to 12V and runs the 12V systems only, including the charging of the battery. The 120V circuits are not affected by it. Don't want the converter to run while on shore power? Flip the circuit breaker for it to the OFF position. There should be one on the breaker panel (is on mine).

I remove my battery during the months winter storage since it's 10 miles from home. I keep it in the garage and put an occasional trickle charge on it.