power converter

[tfires]

i have heard you should unhook the batter when your pluged up at a campground for long peiored of time. that the convert runs all the time. and it will boil your battery out of water, is this true on a 2012 elkridge 34trse?

 

[hoefler]

Not true. It will run all your 12 volt items and maintain your battery. Mine stays plugged in all the time except when going down the road!

 

[jpdoggett]

I have never, I alway have mine on when it is plugged in. Like hoefler said it runs your 12v items in the Rv

 

[murry135]

I leave mine on also when parked extended or at home site. Just remember to incorporate checking the water level in your batteries on a regular interval and you should be fine, especially if you have a two battery package.

 

[wdk450]

If you feel you MUST turn the convertor off, it should have its own AC circuit breaker.

 

[danemayer]

If your ElkRidge has the Progressive Dynamics 9200 Power Converter, here's a quote from their manual (emphasis added):

INTEGRATED CHARGE WIZARD ... The INTELI-POWER 9200 Power Converter is the intelligent way to
charge your RV battery. The built-in Charge Wizard® microprocessor constantly monitors the battery voltage then
automatically adjusts the converter output voltage to provide the proper charging voltage for fast recharges and
long-term maintenance.

 

[jmgratz]

Unplugging the converter to prevent battery damage may have been true in the 'olden' days as the converter would charge the battery at a constant rate without regard to the charge state of the battery. Todays 'modern' converters have a built in switching system that reduces the charge rate as it monitors the charge state of the battery. This is kind of like using a battery charger that has an automatic setting and a manual setting. In the manual state it charges at a constant rate and in the automatic setting it reduces the charging rate according to the state of the battery. The converters used by Heartland monitor the charge state and there is no need to unplug. The thing that you need to do though is to monitor the 'water' level of the battery as it can go down due to the charging, discharging, charging cycles and evaporation. When adding 'water' to the battery be sure not to splash on you and use distilled water. Do not overfill and recap tightly You should even do that with your car battery (that is check the battery fluid level) periodically.