safe use of battery minder

DougJ · 03-07-2006, 07:50 PM

Hi folks,

Back in July 2004 747Driver wrote as foolwos:

<span class="ev_code_RED">I have a pad I put in next to the house with 50 Amp service, so my rig is always plugged in. I disconnect the house batteries using the disconnect switch and then hook up a Battery Minder to the house batteries. </span>

I've bought Battery Minder and worry that the high frequency pulses(?) may damage electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits.

So, if in my 1990 Elandan I turn off what is labelled as the "auxiliary battery" switch (which I'm interpreting to be what Driver means by "disconnect switch,") then will I be safe?

And if I want to put Battery Minder on to my chasis battery, am I best disconnecting the ground cable from the battery?

Appreciate your advice.

Ciao,

Doug

DougJ · 03-07-2006, 07:50 PM

Hi folks,

Back in July 2004 747Driver wrote as foolwos:

<span class="ev_code_RED">I have a pad I put in next to the house with 50 Amp service, so my rig is always plugged in. I disconnect the house batteries using the disconnect switch and then hook up a Battery Minder to the house batteries. </span>

I've bought Battery Minder and worry that the high frequency pulses(?) may damage electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits.

So, if in my 1990 Elandan I turn off what is labelled as the "auxiliary battery" switch (which I'm interpreting to be what Driver means by "disconnect switch,") then will I be safe?

And if I want to put Battery Minder on to my chasis battery, am I best disconnecting the ground cable from the battery?

Appreciate your advice.

Ciao,

Doug

troth · 03-08-2006, 02:56 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I've bought Battery Minder and worry that the high frequency pulses(?) may damage electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I'm not sure why you are concerned. I'm using the Battery Minder with no ill effects from the higher voltage. I'm certain there's other RVers out there the same way... -But to answer your question, yes, if you turn off your house or coach battery switch, they are now "isolated" so any charge you put into them will not go out into the coach. As for not putting the 14 volts into your engine/ignition network, yes, if you disconnect either the ground or positive cable of the chassis battery, it will become "isolated". Be aware however that this could make some of the "brains" reset(tranny memory, engine ECM memory, Actia dash? radio presets, etc.)

DougJ · 03-08-2006, 04:52 PM

Hi Troth,

Thanks for your answer--it removes the worry I had. I find that at times I fuss about unintended consequences of action or inaction, and that's what was happening here.

As for resetting the brains of somethings (tranny and engine ECM), assuming that they are reset what are the consequeces of them having been reset?

Hmmh, what is the tranny memory and what does the tranny do with whatever it has memorised?

As you can tell, this (quasi) mechanical stuff is not my cup of tea.

TIA,

Doug

Cruzer · 03-08-2006, 05:40 PM

I too run the BatteryMinder and have had no problems because of it.

The transmission "learns" your driving habits and modifies it's shift points accordingly. If it looses it's memory it'll just take a while until it relearns. Not a big deal, actually. It's more work to have to reset all the clocks.

However, the BatteryMinder will put back enough to compensate for any phantom loads so there's really no need to disconnect the batteries from the system.

DougJ · 03-08-2006, 09:17 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The transmission "learns" your driving habits and modifies it's shift points accordingly. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks for the reply, Cruzer. I'm going to get my baterry minder set up.

As for tranny memories, I had no idea that trannies of 1990 vintage were that sophisticated.

Ciao,

Doug

John_Canfield · 03-09-2006, 04:25 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DougJ:
I've bought Battery Minder and worry that the high frequency pulses(?) may damage electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits.
Doug </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Most battery chargers do not have the filtration necessary to produce 'pure' DC to directly power electronic equipment (nor do they need to.) If you hooked up a battery charger to a radio for example, you might hear a hum or have other unpredictable effects.

When the battery chargers are hooked up to a battery, the battery actually acts as a 'giant filter' which smooths out the rippled charger output.

Battery chargers are usually a simple non-switched power supply which don't produce any harmonics.

I'm not sure if this answers your area of concern or not

DougJ · 03-09-2006, 08:46 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">When the battery chargers are hooked up to a battery, the battery actually acts as a 'giant filter' which smooths out the rippled charger output. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi John,

Thanks for the further info. What I was fussing about was the effect on electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits of the high frequency pulses put out by battery minder when it is in the de-sulphation mode.

What I've learned from other answers is that with the auxiliary (disconnect) switch off, the effects of battery minder are felt only by the batteries to which it is connected.

Ciao,

doug

Dougmyers · 03-12-2006, 06:47 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DougJ:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">When the battery chargers are hooked up to a battery, the battery actually acts as a 'giant filter' which smooths out the rippled charger output. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hi John,

Thanks for the further info. What I was fussing about was the effect on electric / electronic equipment on the house circuits of the high frequency pulses put out by battery minder when it is in the de-sulphation mode.

What I've learned from other answers is that with the auxiliary (disconnect) switch off, the effects of battery minder are felt only by the batteries to which it is connected.

Ciao,

doug </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
=====================================

Just plug that battery minder in wont hurt a thing.
I have the same rig as you and I use a minder for both house batts all the time and a minder for the engine batt all the time.
I leave the shore power plugged in all the time also with Aux batts on or off no problems at all.
Just get the fully automatic floating charger with polarity check function built in.
I plug both my chargers inside the motor home behind the seat on the passengers side, run one to the house batts and the other up to the cigaret lighter plug in works great.

DougJ · 03-14-2006, 03:33 PM

Hi Doug (Myers)

Just caught up with your post on my battery minder question.

I've sent you a personal message.

As for the battery minder, I was unaware of one that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter. Tell me more, please.

Ciao,

Doug

Dougmyers · 03-14-2006, 06:58 PM

I got my float chargers at Lowes Lumber and hard wear store, they come with a thriple connector one is regular clips for batt hook up the second is loops for the screw on connection to the batts and the other is a cigarette light plug in.
The charger is very small and lite weight and has a one amp and a two amp switch with the center as off.
Also has three diode lights to show if its charged up Green, charging yellow or problem connection Red.
I will get the package they came in and list its Brand name here tomorrow.

DougJ · 03-14-2006, 08:21 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">they come with a thriple connector one is regular clips for batt hook up the second is loops for the screw on connection to the batts and the other is a cigarette light plug in. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The battery minder that I bought is imdeed small and came with the first two of the three connectors you mention--no cigarette light plug in.

Doug

JD Allen · 03-15-2006, 06:02 AM

doug[/QUOTE]

I have the same rig as you and I use a minder for both house batts all the time and a minder for the engine batt all the time.
I leave the shore power plugged in all the time also with Aux batts on or off no problems at all.
Just get the fully automatic floating charger with polarity check function built in.
I plug both my chargers inside the motor home behind the seat on the passengers side, run one to the house batts and the other up to the cigaret lighter plug in works great.[/QUOTE]

I've used my battery minder on my motorhome but I always unplugged shore power. If I understand you post it's OK to have the house batteries charged by shore power and by a battery minder at the same time. There's no conflict?

Dougmyers · 03-15-2006, 07:02 AM

Yes I have mine plugged in all the time charging all batts even when on shore power, and all connected inside the motor homes 120V wall plug. I have not suffored any ill effects and my batts are always ready to go. It also eliminated the extra cords to the chargers laying around the RV.
I cannot answer if it will have ill effects on the genset if running I always unplug at the wall before starting the generator as a safty concern for my exspensive generator controls.

These Chargers I use are called (Vector) Smart 2 amp fully automatic- high frequency 12v batt charger with Float mode - maintainer. Item or part number = VEC080

Link http://www.battery-rechargeable-char...t-charger.html