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Old 11-07-2017, 04:59 PM   #1
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House Batteries

Hi all,
I have a question about the house batteries, we purchased a preowned 2013 Sunseeker 3010 DS, the unit is at a outside storage facility with no shore power, it's in Pennsylvania so it's going to get pretty cold this winter. Should I remove the batteries and bring them in the house and put them on a trickle charger or is it okay to leave them in the RV for the winter?
TIA
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Old 11-07-2017, 05:26 PM   #2
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Trickle for the battery and peppermint for the mice....
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Old 11-07-2017, 10:31 PM   #3
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Yep
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Old 11-07-2017, 11:39 PM   #4
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Trickle for the battery and peppermint for the mice....
Funny. Does peppermint keep mice away?
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Old 11-08-2017, 07:48 PM   #5
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I have a 2025 sunseeker 2400r class c RV. The batteries will only last about 2 days because of the propane sniffer. If it was me, I'd take them out and bring them home and put them on a trickle charger. Not good for them to get totally discharged.
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Old 11-08-2017, 08:07 PM   #6
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Funny. Does peppermint keep mice away?
Peppermint oil , not the candy version
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Old 11-08-2017, 08:45 PM   #7
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Batteries will be happiest if removed and fully charged and then connected to a maintainer at your home.

You can also leave them in place, fully charge them, disconnect them, and add a solar charger.

Example:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Coleman-...8033/203241551
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Old 11-09-2017, 12:02 PM   #8
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Thanks everyone, think I'm going to bring them inside for the winter, might be a little extra work but it might be worth it.
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Old 11-09-2017, 12:56 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by Chas69 View Post
Thanks everyone, think I'm going to bring them inside for the winter, might be a little extra work but it might be worth it.
You can remove them, but it's really not necessary (and can be a negative as discussed below).

What is necessary is to disconnect the batteries so there is no trickle drain on them from items like the radio memory or CO/LPG detector. This is done with a battery disconnect switch installed on the negative or ground side of the battery combo (be sure it's the ground line that covers both batteries so you don't leave one connected).

You can use one like this, although the exact model that will work for you depends on what kind of batteries you have (how the terminals are set up - top vs. side - and how the ground wire is attached):

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We have left ours outside in Minnesota where it can get to -20 or worse and not had any problems and almost no battery drainage when disconnected. Just stop by now and then, CONNECT the batteries, fire up the generator and run it at at least 50% load to exercise the generator and keep it from gumming up. If you remove the batteries, you will not be able to even start the generator. The generator will not only top up the house batteries but also top up the engine/chassis battery too (based on how the Battery Control Center works). So you will kill 3 birds with one stone. The 50% load can be applied using an electric space heater (with no more than a 15 amp load to the plug socket circuit), which will also keep you warm while you sit there watching TV or catching up on email, or run the electric convection oven if you have one set to 350 or 400 degrees. Exercise the generator for a good hour.

From Mark Polk, prolific author of RV Education 101: "The first thing you need to understand about maintaining your generator is that they need to be exercised on a regular basis."

RV Generators 101 - RV UNIVERSITY
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Old 11-09-2017, 05:28 PM   #10
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mice

We use about 10 of these around the coach.. a fellow rver I know uses Sam's dryer sheets and claims the same effect, but they dont smell as nice...
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Old 11-11-2017, 10:47 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by JoeSteiner View Post
I have a 2025 sunseeker 2400r class c RV.


Back to the future RV!
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Old 11-11-2017, 10:55 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by MNtraveler View Post
You can remove them, but it's really not necessary (and can be a negative as discussed below).



What is necessary is to disconnect the batteries so there is no trickle drain on them from items like the radio memory or CO/LPG detector. This is done with a battery disconnect switch installed on the negative or ground side of the battery combo (be sure it's the ground line that covers both batteries so you don't leave one connected).



You can use one like this, although the exact model that will work for you depends on what kind of batteries you have (how the terminals are set up - top vs. side - and how the ground wire is attached):



https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



We have left ours outside in Minnesota where it can get to -20 or worse and not had any problems and almost no battery drainage when disconnected. Just stop by now and then, CONNECT the batteries, fire up the generator and run it at at least 50% load to exercise the generator and keep it from gumming up. If you remove the batteries, you will not be able to even start the generator. The generator will not only top up the house batteries but also top up the engine/chassis battery too (based on how the Battery Control Center works). So you will kill 3 birds with one stone. The 50% load can be applied using an electric space heater (with no more than a 15 amp load to the plug socket circuit), which will also keep you warm while you sit there watching TV or catching up on email, or run the electric convection oven if you have one set to 350 or 400 degrees. Exercise the generator for a good hour.



From Mark Polk, prolific author of RV Education 101: "The first thing you need to understand about maintaining your generator is that they need to be exercised on a regular basis."



RV Generators 101 - RV UNIVERSITY


This is my vote. I did the same protocol with our ‘13 Sunseeker. We lived in southern Ohio and Minnesota (agree on the cold there!). It had the original batteries as of when we sold it this summer and they tested fine. I used the battery disconnect by the door. Every 3 weeks to a month, I would go to the storage lot, run the engine, & run the generator on at least a half load for about an hour. Usually when I could watch a good football / basketball game on TV! Removing the batteries might help there some but could lead to other more expensive problems with the generator if you don’t figure out a way to run that.
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