Keeping the truck battery charged while camping

[Boudreaux]

It's my understanding that the truck battery of the RV is not being charged while the RV is connected to a site post. Yet to watch a movie on the front TV, I have to use the DVD player in the front dashboard or listen to music throughout the coach by blue-tooth will put a drain on the truck battery.

I saw that one is capable of charging the truck battery through the use of a battery tender plugged into a live receptacle of the RV and plugged into a 12-volt plug in the dashboard. Theoretically, it seems as though the truck battery could be kept fully charged through this procedure.

Has anyone used this technique to keep the truck battery topped-off to prevent the truck battery from draining while being used at the campsite???

[Wertles]

Yes I have. I had a battery tender hooked up to the 12V aux port that was “live” all the time. I didn’t use it much on trips unless we were parked for an extended period of time but I always used it for winter storage as I was able to keep my coach plugged in over the winter. My new class A has a dedicated, hardwired battery tender right to the batteries so any time I am plugged in or the generator is on, it’s charging. If I ever go back to a class C, I will wire one in like the class A is.

[WinnieView]

We installed a Trik-L-Start in the coach battery bay in about 10 minutes connecting the battery banks together using the existing Aux Start relay and never have to worry about dead chassis batteries again.

[WaltW]

In my 2015 Seneca the house and chassis batteries are both charged when plugged into shore power. I would think that should be the case for class C's in general.

[Griswald One]

Originally Posted by WaltW

In my 2015 Seneca the house and chassis batteries are both charged when plugged into shore power. I would think that should be the case for class C's in general.

It is not.... Guess how I know! Trickle charger to the 12v seems ridiculous to need,m but I think it is a good call on extended stays!

[cabinetmaker]

If camped for a week or more I will monitor the battery voltage with my scangauge and if needed start the engine and let it run for 15 minutes. Problem solved.

I do have a charger like you mention that I use when in storage. I don't use it when camped because the plug I need puts the power cord in front of the entrance. Nothing else close enough except tv plug and it has tv and dvd player so that won't work. Just starting the engine for a few minutes (at least long enough to fully warm it up to prevent condensation) let's the alternator put the charge back.

So many different ways to handle things. All good too!

[MFalcon]

Originally Posted by Boudreaux

It's my understanding that the truck battery of the RV is not being charged while the RV is connected to a site post. Yet to watch a movie on the front TV, I have to use the DVD player in the front dashboard or listen to music throughout the coach by blue-tooth will put a drain on the truck battery.

I saw that one is capable of charging the truck battery through the use of a battery tender plugged into a live receptacle of the RV and plugged into a 12-volt plug in the dashboard. Theoretically, it seems as though the truck battery could be kept fully charged through this procedure.

Has anyone used this technique to keep the truck battery topped-off to prevent the truck battery from draining while being used at the campsite???

On my 2015 Greyhawk 31DS, according to the schematics I got from Jayco, the front entertainment system is powered off the coach battery when the main power battery disconnect switch is on. There is a yellow wire with a red stripe of the disconnect switch, through the 7.5 amp fuse, that powers the entertainment system, leveller control panel and keyless entry, when the engine start solenoid (key switch) is off. The chassis battery works fine even after a week of not running the engine. Are others rigs wired that way as well?

[jimp]

I used a trickle charger on my cranking battery when we spent a month in FL, just used a spare 110 outlet on the post, extension cord and hooked it up to the cranking batt. My battery was old, so...

[Scoutmaster253]

Originally Posted by MFalcon

On my 2015 Greyhawk 31DS, according to the schematics I got from Jayco, the front entertainment system is powered off the coach battery when the main power battery disconnect switch is on. There is a yellow wire with a red stripe of the disconnect switch, through the 7.5 amp fuse, that powers the entertainment system, leveller control panel and keyless entry, when the engine start solenoid (key switch) is off. The chassis battery works fine even after a week of not running the engine. Are others rigs wired that way as well?

The 2104 Greyhawk 31FS is wired exactly the same way. there is a pair of diodes spliced into the harness to keep the electrons headed the right way.

[MD3]

Our solar setup will charge two banks of batteries.
When the #1 Bank is full it switches to the #2 Bank automatically.
Bank 1 is the house batteries / Bank 2 is the chassis.
When plugged in the house batteries stay full so the solar maintains the chassis batteries. So far it has worked great.


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[LI-Camper]

Boudreaux,
I have the same Greyhawk as you and I use the battery tender that plugs into a live 12v socket on the dash. To make it easier to connect the battery tender to 120v, I use the front TV outlet to plug in a switched power strip. I plug the TV and the Battery Tender into this power strip and it is easy to turn them off or unplug them. The power strip sits just below the right side of the TV when it is stowed for travel. I usually unplug the TV when I’m just using the rear bedroom TV or making coffee using the inverter.

[hoppers4]

The dashboard radio on my 2015 29MV is powered from the chassis battery if there's 12VDC to the house (12VDC disconnect has not been enabled).

[RVJayhawk]

I learned the hard way that our 2017 Melbourne did not charge the chassis battery. So I ordered a Trik-L-Start. The hardest part for me was figuring out the Jayco wiring so I could connect the terminals. I finally found the isolation relay under the passenger seat.
Here are the steps I took to install the Trik-L-Start:

1. Removed both battery ground straps.
2. Removed the passenger seat
3. Located mounting position for the Trik-L-Start and drilled two 3/16 inch holes and mounted the box.
4. Found the existing ground terminal on the seat mount to be high resistance so I drilled a hole near the ground lug and replaced it with a 1/4 inch bolt. Installed the black wire accordingly.
5. Installed the yellow wire to the coach battery lug and blue wire to chassis battery lug.
6. Replaced seat
7. Reinstalled battery ground straps


The chassis battery was 11.7 volts and coach battery was 12.5. After being plugged into shore power all night the chassis battery now checks 13.35 volts and coach battery 13.47 volts.