Shore Power or Not When MH Not Used For Long Periods of Time

[CA Fisherman]

When not using my MH for long periods of time I have been unsure whether or not to leave it connected to shore power. I realize batteries can be irreparably damaged if overcharged.

Knowing that different years/models of Forest River products have differing battery and charging systems I decided to pose my question directly to Forest River.

Following is my question to them followed by their next day response.

I know it is possible to damage batteries by charging them too long. I do not see any evidence of a charging/trickle charging/conditioning system on my Georgetown. When camping for a couple of weeks with full hookups and when parked at home, is it OK to leave the MH connected to 50 AMP shore power if I turn off the Master Battery Control switch? All 110 volt and 12 volt systems still work in this configuration, however I am not sure if the batteries still charge when the Master Battery Control switch is off.

If you turn the battery disconnect off your batteries will not charge. I suggest that you leave disconnect on to keep batteries charged. The convertor once batteries are charged goes into a storage mode and acts like a battery tender at that point. Basically if the batteries get so low it begins to charge again and then when they are fully charged stops charging till they drop in volts again. Please let me know if I can be of anymore help.

[Iggy]

First. Are you asking these questions or answering for someone?


With the master battery switch off it will not charge the batteries.

If you have the intelligent battery charger it know when the battery has just been on trickle charge. It usually has 4 stages. See details on sheet what each stage does.
Here is what mine looks like as well as the manual and a quick sheet.

[CA Fisherman]

Iggy


Sorry for any confusion. I was unclear exactly how my MH was set up so I posed my question to FR. I created the thread to capture my question to and response from FR, in the event anyone else was previously as unsure as I was.

[BillMFl]

If you bought your coach new you got a package of booklets from the suppliers of various devices in your coach. One should be a user manual for your charger and it details the features. Mine does not have a true "trickle" charge rate so I don't leave it on for extended storage. I do plug into shore power now and then to keep the batteries topped off. If you look in the power compartment the charger will have a sticker with a lot of info (make, model, etc) that may answer your question. Or write down the make/model numbers and google the product.

[CA Fisherman]

Turns put my Progressive Dynamics unit is model PD9270

[Billr]

That one does an excellent job of taking care of the batteries and can leave it on all the time. Look it up on the Internet.


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[CA Fisherman]

Billr: It sure looks that way. The main reason I contacted FR about shore power attachment was that when I bought the MH my dealer said it should not be left connected to shore power for long periods of time. No only that, Kevin Stratton with Forest River told me the same thing last year. I am now working with a different person at FR.

[43D18]

Originally Posted by CA Fisherman

Billr: It sure looks that way. The main reason I contacted FR about shore power attachment was that when I bought the MH my dealer said it should not be left connected to shore power for long periods of time. No only that, Kevin Stratton with Forest River told me the same thing last year. I am now working with a different person at FR.

Kevin Stratton wasn't entirely wrong - depending on what your definition of "long periods of time" is. If we are talking several months without use, then it's generally advisable to the the battery disconnect. Our coach never goes more than about 6-8 weeks without use, so we keep the coach plugged w/ some items remaining in the fridge and also to keep the coach climate controlled until our next trip.

[camaraderie]

All modern multistage chargers should go into maintain mode when the battery is close to fully charged... older chargers won't. Obviously, the latter should be disconnected.
My personal view is that bad things can happen outside of design parameters and battery chargers should never be left on "permanently". My advice is to disconnect NOT the charging switch...but the negative post of the batteries since there are direct connected parasitic loads like the propane sniffer that do not get turned off with the switch.
A fully charged battery in storage (i.e disconnected) will only lose about 10% of charge per month....less below 70 degrees...more above. Fully charging a battery overnight once every couple of months is a better way to take care of it.

[WDK]

At my utility, I work substation maintenance ie batteries, breakers, transformers etc.....our batteries banks outside of some test are never disconnected from power....the charger. As with the chart that Iggy provided, they are either at a trickle charge or boost usually in a bank of 60, 3 cell deep cycle batteries providing constant 135 colts. As with anything...there are bad apples but for the most part with the batteries being kept at 70 degrees and maintained by the charger they are rated to last 15 to 20 years not that you will get this out of your coach batteries but I am simply saying with a smart charger leaving them plugged in is not going to shorten their life by any significant amount.

WDK

[DickiedooFlagman]

The charger/converters by Progressive Dynamics are great products. One came with our first trailer and we used it months at a time with no loss of battery water. We monitored the battery voltage, and once charged, the battery would stay at 13.2 volts. Once a day the voltage would increase to 14.4 volts for about 15 minutes to desulfate the battery.

I replaced my WFCO in our Flagstaff with a Progressive Dynamics unit. WFCO claimed multiple stage, but monitoring the voltage demonstrated that it did not drop the voltage below 13.6 volts.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by DickiedooFlagman

The charger/converters by Progressive Dynamics are great products. One came with our first trailer and we used it months at a time with no loss of battery water. We monitored the battery voltage, and once charged, the battery would stay at 13.2 volts. Once a day the voltage would increase to 14.4 volts for about 15 minutes to desulfate the battery.

I replaced my WFCO in our Flagstaff with a Progressive Dynamics unit. WFCO claimed multiple stage, but monitoring the voltage demonstrated that it did not drop the voltage below 13.6 volts.

THe one Iggy showed is great. And Dickiedoo I did the same as you, the WFCO will not drop to 13.2 unless it doesn't read a parasite for 48 hrs. my CO and Radio dial was always on it read that and never dropped. One thing good about the progressive it can read a parasite and still will drop to 13.2 and the 4th stage of desal. every 24 hrs. A true 4 stage charger. It seems that FR is moving that way slowly.

[tomrob1161]

I keep the shore power plugged in year round on my Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite, 8315 BSS. I keep the water filled by using a Quick Fill set up. The Quick Fill unit replaces the water plugs in the battery with valves connected together with tubing. When in long term storage, ie winter months, every 2 - 3 weeks I connect the bulb from a gallon of distilled water to the connection off the battery and fill the cells. It will only add water as needed. I also do not use the disconnect switch, if you do it doesn't charge the battery and the batter will eventually discharge. I have been doing this for years with no problem. Before I bought Quick Fill, I had to pull the plugs and add water the old way. The quick fill works on 6 volt, 12 volts and multiple batteries.

We started RVing in 1970, and as long as I kept water in the batteries, I have not had a problem.