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Old 01-24-2021, 10:37 AM   #1
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Battery Shut Off While In Temporary Storage

Normally our coach is stored beside our house and hooked to 50 amp power full-time. We live in Florida so we do not winterize and we use our coach occasionally during the winter months. We are having our rear lawn replaced and I have to move the coach to a storage facility for a week to allow the contractor access to the yard.

My question, after that long intro, is should I turn off the two battery switches while it is in storage for the week? I have the factory roof mounted solar that I believe could keep up with any parasitic drain during that time. However, since it has never been stored more than a day or two without being hooked to shore power, I thought I would ask the pros.
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Old 01-24-2021, 01:22 PM   #2
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If the start battery is good it should be fine for a week. If the house batteries are good and solar works they should also be fine. It is also possible you have a battery isolator in which case the house and start batteries will benefit. You may want to shut of the fridge to avoid burning through propane.
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Old 01-24-2021, 01:29 PM   #3
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You should be fine for a week. The main problem is parasitic drain and your solar should take care of that as long as it is sunny. Even if it's cloudy though, you should be fine.
WanderMore's suggestion of turning off the fridge is a good one...water heater too. You could also just turn off the propane.
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Old 01-24-2021, 01:34 PM   #4
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Thanks for the replies. Ours is an all electric coach and diesel AquaHot, so no worries with the fridge and water heater. Everything is off.
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Old 01-25-2021, 02:14 PM   #5
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Do not have motorhome or solar but anytime my unit is stored without shore power batteries are totally disconnected.
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Old 01-25-2021, 03:53 PM   #6
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We've only had our 2021 Force 37BHHD for 10 days but I've left the house batteries connected just to see what would happen. With no load other than the system, the factory 200W solar was able to keep up on sunny days. On cloudy days, it was not able to offset the load. I finally decided to cut the power yesterday, when I found the battery voltage at 12.1 at the end of a day where the sun didn't peek through the clouds at all.
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Old 01-25-2021, 04:07 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by TheF1sh View Post
We've only had our 2021 Force 37BHHD for 10 days but I've left the house batteries connected just to see what would happen. With no load other than the system, the factory 200W solar was able to keep up on sunny days. On cloudy days, it was not able to offset the load. I finally decided to cut the power yesterday, when I found the battery voltage at 12.1 at the end of a day where the sun didn't peek through the clouds at all.
Inverter on or off? That makes a decent difference as you are powering all 100V stuff too (at least their power lights, microwave clock and the general loss of power due to inverting)
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Old 01-25-2021, 04:30 PM   #8
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why not turn it off? Your solar should charge your battery even with this switch off.
is there really any reason to leave it on?
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Old 01-25-2021, 04:32 PM   #9
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Inverter on or off? That makes a decent difference as you are powering all 100V stuff too (at least their power lights, microwave clock and the general loss of power due to inverting)
Inverter off. Same for all lights, Winegard, water heater, etc. There was no load other than the system monitoring itself.
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Old 01-26-2021, 05:55 AM   #10
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I was very surprised at the parasitic loads on my trailer. I left the battery connected with a 100 watt solar panel on the roof. During a cloudy winter, the batteries ran down. Even the radio draws power when not in use. Obviously not designed for boondocking. I now disconnect my batteries for storage.
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Old 01-26-2021, 06:27 AM   #11
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Ours is an all electric coach and diesel AquaHot, so no worries with the fridge and water heater. Everything is off.
If time allows, unplug it from your house and watch the voltage closely for a couple days. Batteries I have in storage, with no parasitic drain, are trickle charged monthly and last a long time.
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Old 01-26-2021, 10:23 AM   #12
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I have a 2019 Forester LE MH that's been in storage since last Feb. I found that even with the battery disconnect switch off, there is still a small current being drawn from the house batteries. Likewise, the chassis battery is still under a light load no matter what I do to turn everything off. Now, between monthly trips just to power the MH systems up and maybe drive it a few miles, I disconnect the batteries. Just a few minutes with a small combination end wrench is all it takes to disconnect the ground cables.
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