Battery Disconnect

bcarlton74 · 07-11-2012, 10:06 AM

Hello all, new to the forums. Been looking through the Mods and Updates and notice that alot of you have installed battery disconnects. Was wondering what the purpose of this was? I recently switched to a dual battery set up and wanted to see if I should install a disconnect myself?

Also added 4" PVC sewage hose storage since my 26 BH-Xlite only has one small outside storage compartment that gets pretty full pretty quickly.

Thanks.

Bill

**Terier** · 07-11-2012, 10:30 AM

The battery disconnect switch will cut off the power and help keep the battery charged. Those mods threads are some of my favorite posts to read - lots of good ideas.

BTW- Welcome to the forums!
Terier

bcarlton74 · 07-11-2012, 10:56 AM

To keep it charged when? When it's hooked up to the truck it's charging and when the TT is plugged in, it's charging.

Vern · 07-11-2012, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcarlton74

To keep it charged when? When it's hooked up to the truck it's charging and when the TT is plugged in, it's charging.

This is confusing to me as well. My 2013 Windjammer came equipped with a factory disconnect switch, which I have left "on" since buying the trailer about 7 weeks ago, as the camper is almost always hooked up to shore power when not hooked to my truck.

I understood there would be some situations (storage, etc.) where the battery disconnect should be activated (to "off"). Should I be shutting it off for other reasons?

cdbus · 07-11-2012, 11:24 AM

My understanding is that if you store your trailer with out having any power to it, the battery disconnect will stop all drain from your battery. Even if you have everything shut off, there is drain on the battery. Over time this will discharge your battery. The disconnect will stop this drain thus lenghten the life of your battery.

**Terier** · 07-11-2012, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcarlton74

To keep it charged when? When it's hooked up to the truck it's charging and when the TT is plugged in, it's charging.

Between trips I keep my TT at a storage place where I do not have access to plug into power. My battery always ended up being dead within days. While the battery can charge somewhat while being connected to the truck while driving it will be no where near the level needed for the TT.

SCOC · 07-11-2012, 11:39 AM

There are 2 reasons why I can think of to disconnect the battery:

1) When in storage, or not being used, to keep the battery charged up and disconnected from all loads. It could go dead within a few days otherwise.
2) If the trailer is connected to a power source for a long period of time, several weeks or months. The reason here is that having a battery ALWAYS on a converter could litteraly boil the battery away since the voltage applied to it is too high. Some battery chargers are fairly sophisticated, but some are not, and converters aren't good chargers so it really depends on your RV. If you plan on keeping the trailer plugged into a source full time and you are not possitive if the batteries are connected to a converter or a poor charger or a good charger, I would disconnect the batteries once charged, and then connect them up periodically to refresh the charge or when needed due to a power failure. There's no need to have the battery connected otherwise if you're plugged into shore power. The only drawback here is if you loose shore power, you don't have seamless switch over to battery power without flpping your cut off switch.

Explanations can be found here: The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
(Some really good 12V battery information here)

bcarlton74 · 07-11-2012, 12:02 PM

Thanks for the info.

RPAspey · 07-11-2012, 12:09 PM

please remember that ALL batteries self discharge. So even with a disconnect, the lead acid battery will discharge at a rate of around 15% per month. also note that a typical battery will be damaged if it is discharged below 80% of its capacity. true deep cycles can be discharged even more, to about 70% of capacity. of course there are exceptions.

bcarlton74 · 07-11-2012, 12:26 PM

Thanks again.

acoleman9459 · 07-11-2012, 06:07 PM

I have just purchased a Forest River Flagstaff V-Lite that has a push-pull battery disconnect switch. I put the TT in storage for one week and pushed the disconnect in. When I was ready to embark on my trial trip, I pulled the switch out but was unable to use the tongue jack. I tried pushing and pulling several times with no effect. Attaching the trailer electrical cable to the tow vehicle solved the problem for the time being. The battery was charged by shore power for three days and when I tried to use the tongue jack I again did not have enough power. I pushed and pulled the switch several times and suddenly the power was enabled. Does anyone have experience with this type switch and do you have recommendations on replacing it if necessary. BTW I am not sure where the real problem lays, but I highly suspect the switch,

Thanks for any help!

jeshoffstall · 07-11-2012, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acoleman9459

I have just purchased a Forest River Flagstaff V-Lite that has a push-pull battery disconnect switch. I put the TT in storage for one week and pushed the disconnect in. When I was ready to embark on my trial trip, I pulled the switch out but was unable to use the tongue jack. I tried pushing and pulling several times with no effect. Attaching the trailer electrical cable to the tow vehicle solved the problem for the time being. The battery was charged by shore power for three days and when I tried to use the tongue jack I again did not have enough power. I pushed and pulled the switch several times and suddenly the power was enabled. Does anyone have experience with this type switch and do you have recommendations on replacing it if necessary. BTW I am not sure where the real problem lays, but I highly suspect the switch,

Thanks for any help!

Unlike most on here mention, the power tounge jack on our 2012 is not wired directly to the battery. You either need shore power or TV connection for it to work. Not sure what FR was thinking with this scheme, but I plan on having the dealer "fix" this under warranty.

jimh · 07-11-2012, 09:35 PM

the disconnect switch (factory) disconnects the battery from the trailer 12v system. the co detector and hydrolic pump is still connected to the bat. the detector will still cause a drain on the battery. when u disconnect at the battery, everything is separated.

ProjectPro · 09-17-2012, 09:19 PM

My big battery drain is the radio's NOAA alert feature. Even when the radio is off, and even if the weather band is tuned to a channel not used in the area, a NOAA watch or warning turns on the radio and it does not turn off until the battery dies. I now pull the fuse when I store it and deploy a small solar panel to keep it topped off.

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