In Storage Plugged in or not plugged in?

SWorth · 04-28-2023, 09:16 AM

I am reading conflicting comments on this. I have a 2019 27rbds Minnie Plus and wonder if keeping her plugged in while parked in my driveway (between trips) is a good idea. What say the experts?

Morich · 04-28-2023, 09:49 AM

There are good and bad points on both ways and it takes some personal descicions/ info to get down to what is best!
Batteries are a big thing when we styore the rV for very long as they will very likely have small drains from safety equipment that ARE NOT turned off when we use a battery disconnect switch.
Liability, etc will not let them set you up with an RV with the CO and propane detectors turned off while stored. The idea of coming back to a trailer full of propane and no alarm?

So letting the batteries run totally down while stored WILL damage/ruin the batteries and that depends on how long stored, weather ,etc.
But as a counter, it is true that over charging for too long will likely run the batteries out of water and that also kills them, given time!

So the "right" thing of how to oeprate, will depend on your person level of how much time to look in on the batteries and keep them good and charged. And that can depend on what yu have in your storage ideas and spaces.
Do you have access to AC power for a small battery charger? Do you want and have time to go by and check if stored for months? Home or in a storage site?
Maybe best to bring the batteries home? Too much pain or is the RV buried in snow for weeks/months?
Good sunshine and a solar charger to keep them up or add a battery disconnect switch making it easy to flip and really kill ALL the drains?

Or do you use the RV every few weeks and long term storage is not the big problem many have?

My point it there are lots of small details to consider but I do recommend watching the batteries as the main failure point for new users!

It sounds like I would go with a small charger and watch what it does, until I could find my happy spot.
For my lawnmower battery which is seasonal, I have a small charger but plugged into a timer to let it charge for a few hours weekly instead of full time which might overheat the battery!!

But maybe not every body has the overheating problems we have??

**Eagle5** · 04-28-2023, 01:46 PM

For over four years now, I have left my Minnie Winnie plugged-in when not traveling, and I am still on my original batteries and all three are still working well. You should have just a touch over 13 volts with a lead-acid battery on maintenance charge. The Minnie Winnie house power maintains the two group 24 NAPA lead-acid batteries, and I use a 3 Amp Schumacher SP1297 Fully Automatic Battery Charger, Maintainer, and Auto Desulfator for the Ford Chassis battery.
Eagle5

Morich · 04-28-2023, 04:06 PM

I did skip over one of the main points that snag new users as mentioned above!
the idea gets around that when we plug the RV in, the batteries are charging! That is one that is only partly true and under certain conditions!
The converter will charge the coach batteries BUT often that ios only true if we leave the coach battery disconnect switch ON!!
Turn that switch off to save elcetric waste on powering other things beside the converter and we cut off the charging on many RV!

The second to keep in mind is that the two systems of batteries, coach and chassis/start batteries ARE connected as we drive but they disconnect when we turn the engine off and that can get confusing as that means the chassis battery usually DOES NOT get charged by the converter. So it's easy to fail and let the chassis battery go down while we may be charging the coach through the converter.

There are exceptions as RV vary so much. One is if the RV has a small item connected between the coach and chassis batteries. Some came with a "Trik-L-Start or some form of it and folks have added them to their RV.
The shame of that is that it appears that company was lost during the covid years and there are no like items on the market as I hear the story. Too bad as it was such a handy item for many of us.
But as mentioned, when we store the RV and use the converter on, we also need to arrange for "something" to charge the chassis as well.
On our last RV, I fell back to just placing a strap from one positive to the other positive. But I am also here and watched all the batteries closer than many might!

be happy · 04-29-2023, 02:33 AM

I am going to take a different slant than the battery stuff, of which the other posts are correct.

I keep mine plugged in all the time, but thats just me. In the summer or traveling months being plugged in the frig can stay cold and I do not have to remove items between trips. I like the idea of being able to turn on the ac if needed before we head out. Again for me its a big plus to having it plugged in.

In the winter months, I guess I could have it unplugged but I use those plug in mouse things. Do they work all I can say is no mice but they do take electricity.

So I guess its reall up to you there is no real right or wrong to it.

Good Luck

thompwil · 04-29-2023, 06:34 AM

Modern 12vdc converters have three stage charging with a float feature, check your model to verify. I keep mine plugged in at home with no problems whatsoever. What would be the difference between that and being plugged in at a park for a month or so?

l1v3fr33ord1 · 04-29-2023, 06:45 AM

SWorth-

According to the operator's manual for your trailer (link here), if plugged into a 120V outlet the on-board converter will keep the battery charged. It also cautions that if 120V power is not available then loads on the battery will drain it within 72 hours. In that case, the manual says to "Disconnect the battery if you are not using your trailer."

A rule-of-thumb might be: If planning to use the trailer frequently, plug it in, and if not, leave it unplugged and disconnect the battery. In both cases, check on the battery and its state of charge on some regular basis.

Marine359 · 04-29-2023, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SWorth

I am reading conflicting comments on this. I have a 2019 27rbds Minnie Plus and wonder if keeping her plugged in while parked in my driveway (between trips) is a good idea. What say the experts?

The answer is: it depends.

If you have LiFePo4 battery, no need to leave plugged in. Just discharge to 60% SOC and disconnect ALL loads, including phantom loads. Disconnect PV array. You’re good down to ambients as low as zero, as long as you don’t try to charge it. For charging, you must warm to above 32F using internal battery heater or tank heating mat. My LFP has remained in the camper for two winters, and fire right back up in warmer weather as if winter never happened.

For FLA. Just leave it plugged in and no harm will be done, even in freezing ambients because the charging process creates enough heat to keep the batteries from harm. For extended periods in freezing temps, bring them indoors. When I had FLA, I would always bring them indoors in winter and connect a battery conditioner like SOCO Genius 10. And keep them hydrated.

Morich · 04-29-2023, 08:24 AM

As a quick and easy way to disconnect the battery totally,k I find this works as well as many others:
https://www.harborfreight.com/batter...UaAo-dEALw_wcB

If you put this on the negative side so the total circuit is cut, it can be very easy to remove ALL the drains on the side you want to cut off, coach or chassis.

BobC · 04-29-2023, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morich

If you put this on the negative side so the total circuit is cut, it can be very easy to remove ALL the drains on the side you want to cut off, coach or chassis.

It's a bit counter intuitive to disconnect the negative side but I agree and so do most of the references I've found.

The switch Richard posted only works if you have a top post, not a screw terminal, but there are many types available. Although it takes an extra length of cable, I prefer the marine type that mounts on a bulkhead.

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Disco...2&sr=8-14&th=1

I don't know where your batteries are located, but, when I had a TT, I mounted one of these on top of the battery box on the tongue:

https://www.amazon.com/GOGONFLY-Disc...2&sr=8-20&th=1

Morich · 04-29-2023, 03:09 PM

Bob makes a good point and I did skip over the idea of batteries of different types and maybe far different locations. Some of those locations or types make it really awkward to use this type disconnect and others will work far better.

I often fall into the trap of only thinking of what I have used, not what other RV might have.
One of the reasons they recommend disconnecting the ground first is safety.
If you have the ground side disconnected and want to remove or work on the battery, one of the bigger hazards is gone when the ground is disconnected.

A common hazard around batteries is shorting the positive side to ground. Easy to do if we use a wrench and it is on the connections at the positive side and the back end slips against the battery box or other metal!

When we do that we can get everything from a large flash that may burn the end of the wrench, your hand, or possibly even blow up the battery if you have some hydrogen gas hanging around the battery, all BAD things you want to avoid!

So if we take the ground side out of the situation, you can short out the positive post to the surronding metal all day without any big crash and flash!

Almost as good an idea as stopping at stop signs?

thataway4 · 05-03-2023, 06:47 PM

Excellent advice as above. I leave our Via connected all of the time, and that is for the air conditioning. Living in Florida, the temperatures in the RV can get into the hundred plus on an average day. Keeping the AC running and keeping the temperature in the 80's helps to preserve materials in the RV.

One caution, I bought one of the Amazon disconnect switches on Amazon for a 200 amp LIFePO4 bank I built on a boat. One of the first times I used it, when the microwave came on there was a brief load of about 200 amps to the Victron inverter--the battery switch melted down, even though it was "rated for 300 amp load". I went with a Perko switch (could be Blue Seas or BEP US company) and know that the switch will survive--and save some real headaches!

Bobn1957 · 05-03-2023, 08:51 PM

I leave mine plugged in all the time, I have a three-stage charger so the batteries are maintained correctly and I installed a voltage-sensing relay between the coach and house batteries to keep the coach battery charged. During cold weather I keep a 75-watt heater plugged in it to keep moisture at bay. I check the batteries every few months and have not had to add water.

delhawk · 05-04-2023, 09:34 AM

Why wouldn't you leave it plugged in? How is it any different than being at a camp site for an extended period?

Morich · 05-04-2023, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by delhawk

Why wouldn't you leave it plugged in? How is it any different than being at a camp site for an extended period?

There are lots of variables involved on how we treat the batteries and one of them is how old the Rv as different charging systems like converters have changed over the years.
The difference in what we might want to do when storing versus when we camp long term is that we are onsite when camping. That leaves it far less trouble to check how things are going.

Things like how far are the parasitic drains running either set of battteries down? Is the chassis battery getting any charge at all? It's those little details that seem so simple but snag a lot of newer folks!

If the RV is in storage and not visited for several months, the odds of us checking the batteries is pretty low or at least lots of trouble, so we need to look at our own specific RV and personal situation before deciding what will work best for us.

For many newer owners, their first notice that they did not get it right is when they have to replace the brand new batteries they installed because they charged them too long or too high and let them run dry! Or they let the parasitic drains run the batteries totally flat and ruin them!

That few hundred dollars wasted is a pretty big wake up call, so discussing what to do is always a good thing!

Bobn1957 · 05-04-2023, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morich

There are lots of variables involved on how we treat the batteries and one of them is how old the Rv as different charging systems like converters have changed over the years.
The difference in what we might want to do when storing versus when we camp long term is that we are onsite when camping. That leaves it far less trouble to check how things are going.

Things like how far are the parasitic drains running either set of battteries down? Is the chassis battery getting any charge at all? It's those little details that seem so simple but snag a lot of newer folks!

If the RV is in storage and not visited for several months, the odds of us checking the batteries is pretty low or at least lots of trouble, so we need to look at our own specific RV and personal situation before deciding what will work best for us.

For many newer owners, their first notice that they did not get it right is when they have to replace the brand new batteries they installed because they charged them too long or too high and let them run dry! Or they let the parasitic drains run the batteries totally flat and ruin them!

That few hundred dollars wasted is a pretty big wake-up call, so discussing what to do is always a good thing!

My unit is a 1996 and had an old-fashioned single-stage charger/converter, I purchased a new modern three-stage charger converter that fits the power panel like an OEM unit which gave me the piece of mind to leave the RV plugged in.

Morich · 05-04-2023, 12:27 PM

It all works much better when we each think and do what fits us best. If you have a newer design charge system, that is certain to change what we can do.
If we have newer batteries like lithium, that will also change the answers.

Buit when we are starting out and don't know those variables and certainly don't know the best methods, we will find it can pay big dividends to WATCH those batteries.