Battery maintenance

[popeye305]

I traded in my 5er for a used itasca motorhome. My question is about maintaining the batteries when not in use. With my 5er I just switched off my battery and put a battery tender on it. This has house batteries and a starting battery. I think what I have to do is leave the battery switch on hook up to shore power and put a separate tender on the starting battery. Is that correct? Or do I switch off the battery switch? Do I need to put the staring battery on a separate charger?

[Dominnic11]

Good question! I have a 2004 Forest River Georgetown 359t motorhome. In regards to the coach battery, when I am at home and plugged in to 15A or 30A the battery cutoff switch will come on automatic and the battery will charge. The minute I unplug, the cutoff will disconnect the battery to prevent drainage. This is great but one has to remember to manually hit the switch to connect the battery when using the fridge or it will not come on because the battery is still disconected. Don't ask me how I know this. Lucky for us the trip was short and nothing defrosted! I use a regular battery (automatic) charger on the engine battery and I charge it every 3-4 weeks to keep it topped off. Same with the coach battery and I have had no problems. My batteries are 3 years old now and are still in good shape but I will replace them in Spring. Note: I am using dual purpose batteries or what some people refer to as hybrid type batteries for both.

[Kirk S]

I don't know about Itascas but our Forester stays plugged into shore power when in storage and keeps the coach and starting batteries charged. I keep an eye on the battery water levels and have only had to add distilled water 3 times in 18 months. The Progressive Dynamics converter does an excellent job maintaining the now 2 year old batteries which test good so far.

[popeye305]

Thanks guys.