Charging/maintaining battery.

[davolson]

Just wondering about the circuits: If I turn the red main 12v power switch OFF located in the side "basement" of my 28.5 RSTS so that "nothing" is still on and possibly consuming a bit of energy, and I am still plugged in to shore power, is my battery still charging or is the charging circuit also "off"??

[jimp]

Easy way to tell is with a DVM, with the switches set as you say, check the voltage across the batteries with the DVM. Should be in the 13.x range if charging, 12.7v or less if not charging. 12.7v is 100% charged.

[Fire_Instructor]

That’s one of those “it depends” questions. You will only really know with some testing. With my 5’er, the way that it was factory wired, there World still be some parasite loss with the switch off. I rewired it when I added my solar and battery bank so that off is now truly off.

[Joan617]

with many battery disconnect switches, the safety-critical circuits such as smoke and CO2 sensors will remain connected. Before we went full-time and I wanted to put the RV in storage, I would physically disconnect the battery ground (black) to remove all doubt. Unless there is something unusual about the Eagle rig, being connected to shore power with everything hooked up at the battery should have your battery-minder on and floating a charge as necessary.


Angus

[kcordell57]

Noting your solar setup, what exactly did you do? I am thinking of adding solar to keep my batteries topped off so I can run the inverter and keep the residential fridge on for a couple weeks at a time between outings.

[Fire_Instructor]

Gonna need a helluva solar array and a battery-bank to run a residential fridge for a "couple of weeks at a time".... Mine is primarily for light 120v use, some television, charging phones & computers, DW's CPAP, and other light use.

[kcordell57]

All I want to do is try to keep the batteries (I have 2, 12 volt) charged up which will keep the inverter running for the fridge. Still trying to calculate daily wattage on the fridge.

[ALJO]

with a properly installed battery disconnect switch the battery doesn't get charged.

[JimD]

I have 200 watts of solar on my roof but do not have a residential fridge. In my opinion, there is not enough roof surface area to put the number of panels you would need to run an inverter powering a fridge.

My inverter pulls almost 10 amps just to power a TV and the Direct TV stuff. A fridge, assuming it uses a compressor, will eat up way more than that.

Say you do get enough panels up there for the fridge, what happens on cloudy days or overnight? The battery or batteries would be greatly sucked down. Then when the sun was out again you would not only be powering the fridge but would also have to recharge the battery.

Just my electronic opinion.

[Madwinger]

Before we purchased our Eagle HT 25..5, I put in 50 amp outlet on the back of our house. I purchased a 25' 6 gauge extension to get power to the 5er while it sits at home. When we are ready to leave I can run both AC's and get it and the fridge cool while we load the groceries.



My questions is this. Its there any harm in keeping it plugged in to the shore power while not in use? Does it keep the batteries charged? Even with the shore power would be be better to disconnect the batteries and put a Battery minder on it?


What are your thoughts on this?


Thanks


Mark

[JFlightRisk]

[QUOTE=Madwinger;788985]Before we purchased our Eagle HT 25..5, I put in 50 amp outlet on the back of our house. I purchased a 25' 6 gauge extension to get power to the 5er while it sits at home. When we are ready to leave I can run both AC's and get it and the fridge cool while we load the groceries.



My questions is this. Its there any harm in keeping it plugged in to the shore power while not in use? Does it keep the batteries charged? Even with the shore power would be be better to disconnect the batteries and put a Battery minder on it?


What are your thoughts on this?"

The converter in your unit is a three stage charger/maintainer. It will keep the batteries fully charged . It does the same thing a Battery Tender does, so you are good to leave it plugged in.

[AKRUEBBE]

Originally Posted by Madwinger

My questions is this. Its there any harm in keeping it plugged in to the shore power while not in use? Does it keep the batteries charged? Even with the shore power would be be better to disconnect the batteries and put a Battery minder on it?
What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks
Mark

Mark, I am plugged into shore power 24/7. And yes it keeps the batteries topped off. Going down the road, my batteries keep my residential fridge running perfectly............usually do not travel more than six hours a day, but my batteries are still at 12.5 to 13.5 when we stop.

[Madwinger]

[QUOTE=JFlightRisk;788989]

Originally Posted by Madwinger

Before we purchased our Eagle HT 25..5, I put in 50 amp outlet on the back of our house. I purchased a 25' 6 gauge extension to get power to the 5er while it sits at home. When we are ready to leave I can run both AC's and get it and the fridge cool while we load the groceries.



My questions is this. Its there any harm in keeping it plugged in to the shore power while not in use? Does it keep the batteries charged? Even with the shore power would be be better to disconnect the batteries and put a Battery minder on it?


What are your thoughts on this?"

The converter in your unit is a three stage charger/maintainer. It will keep the batteries fully charged . It does the same thing a Battery Tender does, so you are good to leave it plugged in.

That is good to know. I appreciate the info. So much to learn. We are old campers but this house on wheels has a learning curve to it. Great to know there is help with questions here. Thank you so so much.


Mark

[Madwinger]

Originally Posted by AKRUEBBE

Mark, I am plugged into shore power 24/7. And yes it keeps the batteries topped off. Going down the road, my batteries keep my residential fridge running perfectly............usually do not travel more than six hours a day, but my batteries are still at 12.5 to 13.5 when we stop.

And thank you too for the reply. You all are so nice to take the time to help new 5er owners with the learning curve. BTW my wife till talks about Sequim, WA from our trip to Victoria many years ago. We will be up there at some point in time with the new 5er.


Thanks again.


Mark

[JimD]

I would recommend finding out what converter you have in your rig and then downloading the manual for it. That will give you the info you need.

My converter is a 4 stage one which appears to be a good choice for maintaining a battery. It looks like you can keep it plugged in all the time.

[Jaimster]

Originally Posted by Madwinger

Before we purchased our Eagle HT 25..5, I put in 50 amp outlet on the back of our house. I purchased a 25' 6 gauge extension to get power to the 5er while it sits at home. When we are ready to leave I can run both AC's and get it and the fridge cool while we load the groceries.



My questions is this. Its there any harm in keeping it plugged in to the shore power while not in use? Does it keep the batteries charged? Even with the shore power would be be better to disconnect the batteries and put a Battery minder on it?


What are your thoughts on this?


Thanks


Mark

Madwinger,

I have a 50amp RV pedestal installed at the house and leave the RV connected to it full time. The converter is and will provide a full charge (14+ volts) to the battery which will end up boiling the battery(ies) in the long term. I fried my marine Interstate battery doing this.

Solution: The RV will run the 12v items with the converter and with no battery connected. Unless you have a “smart” converter that will reduce the voltage to the battery once the battery is fully charged, I suggest you install a master battery disconnect and leave it in the off position. Only occasionally switch to on to make sure the battery is fully charged. I charge my battery one day out of the week and that seems to do the trick. Of coarse once you disconnect from house/shore power then make sure disconnect switch is in on position.

Bottom line is that the only time you use the 12 volt battery is when your not connected to either shore power or a tow vehicle.

[RetiredOne]

Originally Posted by Jaimster

Madwinger,

I have a 50amp RV pedestal installed at the house and leave the RV connected to it full time. The converter is and will provide a full charge (14+ volts) to the battery which will end up boiling the battery(ies) in the long term. I fried my marine Interstate battery doing this.

You have a defective charger. Most chargers today reduce voltages as the battery gets to full charge, then goes into float mode. If yours stays at 14 volts, it's defective.

Solution: The RV will run the 12v items with the converter and with no battery connected.

That's a BAD solution to run the system without a battery installed. The battery acts like a "shock absorber" in the 12 volt system to smooth out any spikes.

Unless you have a “smart” converter that will reduce the voltage to the battery once the battery is fully charged,

Yours should be a "smart" charger too, unless you damaged it by NOT leaving a battery installed (like I said above) when it turns on.

Bottom line is that the only time you use the 12 volt battery is when your not connected to either shore power or a tow vehicle.

Wrong, any 12 volt systems in the rig always runs off the 12 batteries, the converter is there to keep those batteries charged.

[JimD]

Oh RetiredOne, you hit the nail on the head. The modern converters have a 4 stage system (maybe 3 stage on some). It should be smart enough to chose wisely.

Many many years ago I fried a fridge control board, actually the power supply capacitor on it, by plugging in without a battery connected. Without the load of the battery I think the converter shot up a bit high.

I tip my hat to you.

[klassic]

Originally Posted by kcordell57

All I want to do is try to keep the batteries (I have 2, 12 volt) charged up which will keep the inverter running for the fridge. Still trying to calculate daily wattage on the fridge.

I have 520watts and 470ah of battery power. I think if I had full sun daily I could go a week.
Throw in a cloudy day, then a partial cloudy day...forget it.

You won’t do it with 2-12volts

[poohbear]

I too have kept our 5er plugged into a 50amp plug since new in 2011. I had a battery get weak cell in 2017 so replaced both batteries. Only problem with the 12 volt I've had. We keep AC or heat on, fridge on since we use it for our " farm house " at the farm when not traveling.