Storing Forest River Salem

[cwalden82]

When storing your trailers, do you unhook the ground wire to the battery to keep it from running down. Even with everything powered off I still find that the battery has run down when stored. To use the power hitch I need the battery to have power!

[Crabman]

Yes disconnet the battery! There are constant drains such as the gas alarms that remain on and will kill the battery in 2 weeks or less.I learned this the hard way on my first trailer.

[bikendan]

I have a battery disconnect switch installed on my trailer so all I do is turn a knob.
Batteries stayed nearly fully charged after 4 months.

[Camp4two]

It may also depend on where you store your trailer. Our trailer is stored in a gated RV storage lot, but we prefer to remove our deep cycle batteries and keep them stored at home on a float charge with a Battery Tender. We also have a battery disconnect switch. I have noticed the batteries have been removed on many trailers in our storage lot.

[MilCop4523]

I remove the batteries we have on the 5th wheel and the toy hauler. fully charge them and then trickle charge until the spring when i do maintenance on the trailer and reconnect them to each unit. we can get - 40 and below here so the cold is hard on anything outside with liquids or power

[Lowes48fan1]

Originally Posted by bikendan

I have a battery disconnect switch installed on my trailer so all I do is turn a knob.
Batteries stayed nearly fully charged after 4 months.

Ditto. I disconnect the battery everytime I store it. In the winter I bring the battery inside. Many will tell you they leave theirs out all winter and have no issues. Everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works for you go for it.

[joebuschelman]

Yeah I completely forgot about disconnecting the battery. Now I have to buy a new one. I'll be investing in a switch.


Joe Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[itat]

Originally Posted by Lowes48fan1

Ditto. I disconnect the battery everytime I store it. In the winter I bring the battery inside. Many will tell you they leave theirs out all winter and have no issues. Everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works for you go for it.

X2.

I added a Blue Sea Systems 6006 model battery disconnect switch on the + side of the battery that I use when the TT is not being used during camping season and I pull the battery when I winterize it and keep it in the basement at home.

Nice to see another Jimmy fan! 7X!

[alarge1]

While our winters are fairly mild (as compared to up north), I remove the battery completely and store it in our shop. I also remove the propane tanks as well.

One of the reasons is simply that the TT is stored outside in a storage lot and I don't want to leave them there for someone to take. ;-)

[cwalden82]

Now after charging the battery my voltmeter is only saying it has 8.75 volts. Maybe I got a bad battery from the dealer or something like that?

[jgourlie]

What kind of a battery charger do you have?

[DaGrinch]

Originally Posted by MilCop4523

I remove the batteries we have on the 5th wheel and the toy hauler. fully charge them and then trickle charge until the spring when i do maintenance on the trailer and reconnect them to each unit. we can get - 40 and below here so the cold is hard on anything outside with liquids or power

Yep, have removed the batteries in all of my TT's and now the MH while in storage. Also removed the propane bottles on the TT's. While I don't have the batteries on trickle charge, I do pop them on my regular charger once a month to top them off.

[cwalden82]

I have a stanley fat max 8 amp charger I tried, as well as a Schumacher 1.5 amp trickle charger. Are those maybe not strong enough? I was so stupid to forget to unhook the battery and let it go completely dead...