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10-28-2020, 06:22 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: cincinnati
Posts: 8
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Do you have to remove the house batteries?
We have a Redhawk 24B. I'm wondering if we drive it an hour or two throughout the winter if that will be enough to keep the house batteries charged. We have to run the generator 1 hour per month anyway and it seems like a pain to remove and charge the house batteries.
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10-28-2020, 06:58 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Inland Empire, California
Posts: 1,987
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I am in the freezing cold area of the country known as Southern California. On my Greyhawk I find that the house batteries (I have 2) will go down to an unacceptable level within a couple of weeks. If I engage the battery disconnect they will last longer.
I have solar for charging which works good for charging as long as the sun comes out. If it will be overcast for the foreseeable future I will plug the thing in.
As far as the chassis battery is concerned I have put a trickle charger on it to keep it happy. It would bleed down within a few weeks without fail.
As far as your question is concerned, your chassis battery may be able to remain in good shape with starting the engine now and then but I can almost guarantee your house battery will never come up to a full charge. It can take hours to bring back a low battery. Also, the charge from the alternator may not be as high as you would like at the house battery. Depends a lot on wire run length and wire size.
The best thing you could do is to put these batteries on trickle chargers. You don't need anything expensive with a high current output. An amp or 2 should keep the batteries happy. A separate charger for each battery would be best since they are not tied together.
Better get out my winter clothes. Might get down to the low 60s.
__________________
Jim
Retired electronic technician (45 years in the field)
2017 Greyhawk 29W (solar & many other mods)
wife (maybe I should have given her top billing)
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10-28-2020, 07:13 PM
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#3
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: cincinnati
Posts: 8
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House battery charging
Jim, I obviously don't have your experience with this type of thing. So when you are talking about the trickle chargers you have either removed the battery or have the unit at your house? And by the battery disconnect you mean the main switch by the stairs?
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10-28-2020, 07:17 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Mapleton
Posts: 4,343
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Most RVs with factory battery disconnect switches are still connected to the LP/CO monitor and possible other items Jayco considers vital. This load stays there and will drain batteries over a relatively short period of time.
If you are going to run the generator monthly I would install a simple battery cutoff switch at the battery to fully insulate it from any load. With that there will be a very good chance the batter will not discharge more than a few percent in a month.
Best, of course, is to have either reliable solar or a battery tender to keep them at 100% in a safe manner. Leaving the whole RV plugged in will use a lot more electricity and in my opinion will use up the life of your converter.
__________________
2017 SLX 195RB
2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit L 5.7L V8
Andersen WDH hitch, Renogy 100 AH Lithium &
200 Watts solar panels from Renogy
Prev. '14 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, gas 3.6 V6
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10-28-2020, 07:19 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Inland Empire, California
Posts: 1,987
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That's the switch. Mine has a nice red light on it.
I leave the batteries in the coach and just tuck the battery charger under the hood. It is plugged in to a decent extension cord. You don't need a high current extension cord for a trickle charger.
__________________
Jim
Retired electronic technician (45 years in the field)
2017 Greyhawk 29W (solar & many other mods)
wife (maybe I should have given her top billing)
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10-28-2020, 08:15 PM
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#6
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Ocean County
Posts: 2,807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UDFlyer
Jim, I obviously don't have your experience with this type of thing. So when you are talking about the trickle chargers you have either removed the battery or have the unit at your house? And by the battery disconnect you mean the main switch by the stairs?
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Where the rig will sit for Winter, is there 120 volt power nearby? If so, you can plug the batteries into a trickle charger. Otherwise, the batteries will discharge within a month. I notice that the chassis battery discharges quicker than the house batteries, due to parasitic drains.
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10-28-2020, 08:21 PM
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#7
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Ocean County
Posts: 2,807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimD
I leave the batteries in the coach and just tuck the battery charger under the hood. It is plugged in to a decent extension cord. You don't need a high current extension cord for a trickle charger.
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I do something similar. I put one trickle charger in the coach, to charge the house batteries. I take a second one, with a male cig plug, and plug it into the empty cig outlet in the dashboard. This one charges the chassis battery.
Then, I put both trickle chargers on a timer that comes on twice a week. I found out last year, to keep the batteries topped off, the trickle chargers don't need to run 24/7.
I don't keep the complete coach plugged into shore power. There's no need to keep the complete 120 volt system energized 24/7, and I don't need the high output of the converter to keep the batteries charged.
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10-29-2020, 04:18 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Charleston
Posts: 419
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__________________
Velocity Blue 2020 F-250 XLT Crew Cab with Short Bed (bought 12/30/2020)
2021 Jay Flight 28BHS (bought 11/14/2020)
E4-10k Equalizer Hitch
Furrion Vision S 7” Rear and Side View Cameras
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10-29-2020, 04:37 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Hope Valley, RI
Posts: 151
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So it's ok to leave the batteries out in the cold northeast winter weather as long as they are being trickle charged?
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10-29-2020, 05:14 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Charleston
Posts: 419
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Good article on trickle charging in the cold north east: https://northeastbattery.com/can-tri...tery-freezing/
Trickle charging causes a little heat in the battery and therefore helps save the battery.
I use the battery tender jr on my 90’ Stang that sits over the winter in a cold garage and it will crank right over every time, battery is prob 5-6 years old.
YMMV
__________________
Velocity Blue 2020 F-250 XLT Crew Cab with Short Bed (bought 12/30/2020)
2021 Jay Flight 28BHS (bought 11/14/2020)
E4-10k Equalizer Hitch
Furrion Vision S 7” Rear and Side View Cameras
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10-29-2020, 08:48 AM
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#11
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Lost in the Woods
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Ocean County
Posts: 2,807
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JaytheDJ
So it's ok to leave the batteries out in the cold northeast winter weather as long as they are being trickle charged?
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Yes... a fully charged battery won't be hurt by that cold. Remember, every car you see on the road in the Winter, has a fully charged battery in it, that sits overnight or days in that cold.
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10-29-2020, 10:11 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Woodland Park
Posts: 218
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Any particular reason why you couldn't just use a dog bone to 120v @ 15amp outlet and leave the coach "plugged in" all winter and let the coach decide the battery management? That's my plan for our Seneca this winter since I don't really want to pull all 6 batteries out (4 x 6v for the house and then the 2 for the chassis).
Jeff
__________________
Owner of a 2023 Jayco Eagle 355MBQS - Purchased June 12th 2023
Owned a 2020 Jayco Seneca 37K - Purchased May 9th 2020
Owned 2019 Jayco Greyhawk 30X - Purchased May 31st 2019.
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10-29-2020, 11:20 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Gilroy
Posts: 471
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I have read the WFCO manual for the power center that came with our trailer and it seems to indicate that there is a built in trickle charger, "
Float Mode: In this mode, the converter is charging the battery with
a trickle voltage of 13.2 Vdc. When the converter senses a demand
(by turning on lights), the converter automatically returns to the
“Absorption mode”.
So is this the same as having a stand along trickle charger, and would leaving the trailer plugged in to shore power long term hurt the battery?
Thanks,
Steve
__________________
Steve, Michele and Ginger
2012 Tacoma crew Cab Pre-Runner
Tow package, Scanguage, Timbrens
2016 Feather 7 18RBM
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10-29-2020, 02:00 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Denver
Posts: 4,218
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffro01
Any particular reason why you couldn't just use a dog bone to 120v @ 15amp outlet and leave the coach "plugged in" all winter and let the coach decide the battery management? That's my plan for our Seneca this winter since I don't really want to pull all 6 batteries out (4 x 6v for the house and then the 2 for the chassis).
Jeff
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Maybe your Seneca is different, but I've confirmed that when plugged into shore power, my house batteries get charged but the chassis/Ford battery does not.
I'm using a 20 watt solar panel to keep the Ford battery charged.
__________________
2016 Greyhawk 31FK
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11-12-2020, 10:24 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Hampstead
Posts: 131
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I use two solar chargers for the batteries and locate them on the dash in the cab of my 2016 Redhawk 31XL
Even when it is cloudy they are still charging!
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11-12-2020, 01:52 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2020
Location: Forestburg
Posts: 151
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UDFlyer
We have a Redhawk 24B. I'm wondering if we drive it an hour or two throughout the winter if that will be enough to keep the house batteries charged. We have to run the generator 1 hour per month anyway and it seems like a pain to remove and charge the house batteries.
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You don't need to remove the batteries. Just start the engine and it will charge your house battery as well as the chassis battery.
Or you can fire up the Onan and run it for a while under load (AC running or a box heater plugged in are good loads) and the generator will be happy as well as your house battery.
Or as was said by others, just put a solar panel on the house battery. However remember your Ford chassis battery needs to be charged as well. So the first option is the best for both batteries.
__________________
Michael and LaDonnah
2019 Tiffin Wayfarer 25TW - '06 Jeep TJ toad
Forestburg, Texas - Ham call - K5FT
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11-13-2020, 06:08 AM
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#17
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2020
Location: cincinnati
Posts: 8
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House battery charging
Thanks for all the great information! At least now I have some options. I don't have power at the lot where we store the coach but I will be able to bring it back to the house for trickle charging.
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11-14-2020, 05:58 PM
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#18
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: WESTERLY
Posts: 2
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Simple answer - probably. But what you might want to consider is installing battery disconnect switches. It's cheap and easy to do. The reason to do so is the fact that the batteries will discharge because of radio memory and clock, detectors, and other parasitic draws items. So the best practice would be to charge the batteries, then disconnect in between. That will be your best bet. Cheers.
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