Battery removal for winter

[jeffreymhardy]

So I've read several articles about how the best thing to do in the winter is to remove your house batteries, put them somewhere that won't freeze and use a battery tender on them. That makes sense, but what about the truck battery? I intend to leave power connected to the rig but with the house batteries disconnected, will the truck battery stay charged, or do I need to worry about that one as well?

[jrwalkerpa1]

I don't bother with that.... Just top them off with water and keep them charged. They won't freeze if they are charged....I leave mine plugged in all the time so I never need to worry about the batteries not being charged. One important point though....I have a progressive dynamics 3/4 stage charger/converter so I don't need to worry about cooking the batteries. When I had the stock wcfo charger/converter I did not leave it plugged in all the time. If you are plugged in, the chassis battery will stay charged too.

[Still Kickin]

Lots of discussion on this topic here. http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ery-95275.html. Although different equipment there are different and informative discussions on it. Your equipment might be different, but good read never the less.

[KQ2N]

Jeffrey, I concur with the last two posts. Especially being in Virginia you shouldn't have to remove the house batteries. Of course it wouldn't hurt, but I leave my batteries in (I have 4 in parallel as I do a lot of dry camping) all winter as well as starting the generator every couple of weeks or so. We have temperatures as low as -20F and never had any problems.

[trdutch]

I leave my unit plugged in and I keep an electric heater (on thermostat) at about 40*~45*
This way I can leave everything in the unit (TVs and supplies etc) and get away with just draining and blowout (antifreeze in tanks & traps only)
I'm in the Carolina's

[Skyliner]

I have always left my batteries in my camper. Once a month I visit the camper and start my cheap $79 harbor freight (2 stroke) generator and let the generator run for about 7-8 hours to top off the batteries. This has worked well for me for many years.

I don't even mess with the 30 amp plug in cord. I cut a female plug off of a short extension cable and added a second male connector plug. I then plug that into an external outlet. I hate messing with the thicker cords when it is cold out.

[youroo]

If your unit has a Batt Disconnect,us it,if not remove 1 Batt cable,and Leave the Batt where its at! I never remove the Batt in any of My Equip. Tractors/tillers /mowers/blowers/boats/trucks/snowmobiles/ and some of them sit for 6 Plus months! Youroo!!

[Skyliner]

Respecfully disagree, all batteries self discharge...various sources say that can ne be up to 30% per month. You let that battery drop below 50% and you are reducing its life cycle- overall number of charge discharge cycles.