Trickle Charger for Maintaining Batteries

F350guy · 12-16-2022, 10:36 AM

I've been leaving my 2 6 volt batteries in the Pinnacle and just keeping it plugged to shore power. My rv garage is unheated and thinking maybe I should bring the batteries into my heated shop for the winter. Looking at the weather for next week with a number of days not getting above freezing got me to thinking maybe I should bring them into a warmer climate. Good idea or does it matter since I'm hooked to shore power? I would need a couple of trickle chargers if I do. Looking at the Noco brand on Amazon. I have had a couple of Noco chargers on my bass boats and they have worked well.

goducks · 12-16-2022, 10:51 AM

Are they lead acid or Lithium? If lithium yes bring em in. If LA then leave em out. No one brings their car/truck batteries in.

F350guy · 12-16-2022, 01:19 PM

Lead acid. Never thought about vehicle batteries being left outside. My boat and 2 vehicles are always parked in an insulated garage. I suppose you are right. Not a big deal. The only advantage is it would be easier to keep an eye on the charge and water levels.

TWP723 · 12-16-2022, 01:29 PM

I think you're good leaving it on shore power. I keep mine on a trickle charger in a unconditioned garage with no problems. So, either way should suffice.

Marcm157 · 12-16-2022, 04:56 PM

I remove my batteries and keep them in my well insulated and once heated garage. With the rising cost of heat I have turned off the garage furnace. Even with some single digit days Temps don't get below 40 inside. I just feel better pulling my batteries.

TCNashville · 12-16-2022, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

Lead acid. Never thought about vehicle batteries being left outside. My boat and 2 vehicles are always parked in an insulated garage. I suppose you are right. Not a big deal. The only advantage is it would be easier to keep an eye on the charge and water levels.

Fully charged batteries should not freeze.

F350guy · 12-17-2022, 10:29 PM

For those that have the BMPro does it cause any harm if the batteries and shore power are removed? Obviously it won't work without power and I would hope it will just come back to life when power is restored.

jetlag · 12-18-2022, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

For those that have the BMPro does it cause any harm if the batteries and shore power are removed? Obviously it won't work without power and I would hope it will just come back to life when power is restored.

Good question. Our dealership allowed our batteries to either get too low or nearly discharged them completely while doing warranty work. Our tablet went into the BMPRO powered by android screen 5 days after coming home, and with 50Amp power the entire time, then off in an endless loop. I had not seen this screen before and was totally baffled. I posted a thread, another BMPRO question, where member TomC saved my bacon. Tablet is on my desk getting charged with a higher-powered ac charger. Camper has always been powered since we bought it, so I do not think the tablet would come back to normal if discharged. It is probably a good question for the folks at BMPRO, since many folks store their campers without power.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...-new-post.html

F350guy · 12-18-2022, 07:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetlag

Good question. Our dealership allowed our batteries to either get too low or nearly discharged them completely while doing warranty work. Our tablet went into the BMPRO powered by android screen 5 days after coming home, and with 50Amp power the entire time, then off in an endless loop. I had not seen this screen before and was totally baffled. I posted a thread, another BMPRO question, where member TomC saved my bacon. Tablet is on my desk getting charged with a higher-powered ac charger. Camper has always been powered since we bought it, so I do not think the tablet would come back to normal if discharged. It is probably a good question for the folks at BMPRO, since many folks store their campers without power.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...-new-post.html

The idea of storing the batteries in a warmer environment is probably not a bad thing but I really don't want to deal with a dead tablet. I think I'll just leave them in place and let the converter do it's thing keeping the batteries charged and conditioned.

jetlag · 12-18-2022, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

The idea of storing the batteries in a warmer environment is probably not a bad thing but I really don't want to deal with a dead tablet. I think I'll just leave them in place and let the converter do it's thing keeping the batteries charged and conditioned.

Agreed. This dead tablet is a hassle, thankfully it hasn't been difficult to remove and charge, but a pain, nonetheless. It is now showing fully charged, but once the charger is removed, it goes dark. I hope that changes once it's plugged back in the camper. As long as the batteries are getting charge, I see no reason to remove them.

F350guy · 12-18-2022, 08:06 AM

I took them out to clean them up and have ordered a couple of battery trays with better hold downs to keep them in place. Right now they are just sitting on the metal floor with a single hold down strap and they do move. The trays are supposed to be here Wednesday and the cold weather moves in Thursday. Supposed to be 0 Friday morning. Hopefully leaving them out for a few days won't hurt.

jetlag · 12-18-2022, 08:12 AM

Post pictures of the trays, I have a similar situation. We will be in the low 20's at night starting Friday as well. Have to finish cleaning it inside so I can blow out the lines and add the space heaters

F350guy · 12-18-2022, 08:40 AM

I will. I ordered 2 NOCO BT24 trays from Amazon. They are for a group 24 12 volt battery but the dimensions of my 6 volt Trojan T105's are just a bit smaller so it should fit. The Trojans are a couple inches taller than a group 24 but the hold down strap that comes with the trays is 42 inches long. I need about 36 inches for the Trojans so hopefully it will work.

cadman_ks · 12-18-2022, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetlag

Agreed. This dead tablet is a hassle, thankfully it hasn't been difficult to remove and charge, but a pain, nonetheless. It is now showing fully charged, but once the charger is removed, it goes dark. I hope that changes once it's plugged back in the camper. As long as the batteries are getting charge, I see no reason to remove them.

The dead tablet is a hassle for sure, and some have not had any luck getting them going again.

This is my saga, for those of you that have not been following in this thread:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...mdqs-99236.htm

Because of the tablet, you MUST figure out how to trickle charge your batteries, OR take them out, and leave your shore power on all winter, so that when you come back to it in the spring, the tablet isn't 100% dead.

The unfortunate thing is that there is no way to turn the power OFF on the tablet, and just turn it back on when you pull it out in the spring...

jetlag · 12-18-2022, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadman_ks

The dead tablet is a hassle for sure, and some have not had any luck getting them going again.

This is my saga, for those of you that have not been following in this thread:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...mdqs-99236.htm

Because of the tablet, you MUST figure out how to trickle charge your batteries, OR take them out, and leave your shore power on all winter, so that when you come back to it in the spring, the tablet isn't 100% dead.

The unfortunate thing is that there is no way to turn the power OFF on the tablet, and just turn it back on when you pull it out in the spring...

Would love to read it, but it says page not found

jetlag · 12-18-2022, 12:02 PM

disregard, did a little sleuthing and found it

cadman_ks · 12-18-2022, 01:33 PM

Sorry,

Here is the repaired link to my post above.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...dqs-99236.html

daveswanson · 12-21-2022, 01:45 PM

A fully charged 12v lead acid battery freezes at about -80 degF, while a dead battery will freeze at +20F.
Jayco's onboard charger built in to your power center will keep your battery at about 13.5V (float voltage level) just by being plugged in to shore power. Float level is also the voltage at which the battery will not boil, even though it is charging. If the cold weather is trying to draw your volts down, the charger will respond and bring it back up.
If you're ever curious about whether the 'float' feature is working, just take a volt meter and measure at the battery posts with everything hooked up. It should be at least 13.2v and no more than 13.6v in float mode. If the battery is discharged and the charger is 'bulk' charging it, you may see values over 14v, up to a max of 15v, but a happy lead acid battery is usually 13.5v.

Rhody51 · 01-02-2023, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F350guy

I've been leaving my 2 6 volt batteries in the Pinnacle and just keeping it plugged to shore power. My rv garage is unheated and thinking maybe I should bring the batteries into my heated shop for the winter. Looking at the weather for next week with a number of days not getting above freezing got me to thinking maybe I should bring them into a warmer climate. Good idea or does it matter since I'm hooked to shore power? I would need a couple of trickle chargers if I do. Looking at the Noco brand on Amazon. I have had a couple of Noco chargers on my bass boats and they have worked well.

I pull my batteries, New England winters can be cold and batteries are not cheap. I tried several trickle chargers and finally found a good one, Schumacher 2A-2Bank, charges and maintains 2 batteries at once.

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