Leaving MH plugged in using dehumidifier

monytaker

Advanced Member
RV LIFE Pro
Joined
May 2, 2020
Posts
78
Location
Ellijay Ga/New Smyrna Beach, Fl
2017 winnebago vista 29ve.
I'm using a dehumidifier in my motorhome this Summer. My question is since I'm leaving MH plugged in to 30amp shore power do i leave batteries on? This past winter I left MH plugged into shore power with batteries on and ruined my batteries. Don't want that happening again.
Thank you for the help.
 
On my 2019 Minnie Winnie, the voltage automatically drops-down to maintenance levels, so mine is OK to leave plugged-in and batteries <On>.

  1. How old were your batteries?
  2. Were they standard lead-acid batteries?
  3. What is the voltage on your batteries (after a few hours so they are fully charged) when left plugged-in and <On>.
Thanks, Eagle5
 
We leave our rig plugged up at home when parked to keep a dehumidifier going as well as the AC. My batteries are way past their prime but still take a charge.

Aaron :cool:
 
Leaving batteries on with shore power

The batteries had a year and a half left on warranty. They were agm batteries. Panel reads out 12.5 . I had contacted winnebago last Spring as I was getting a E05 error code. Turned out batteries were dead. Winnebago guy told me never to leave batteries on when plugged into shore power. Just wondering if that is different when the dehumidifier is on all the time. I did get 2 new batteries from Interstate per the warranty.
 
I find a ton of confusion and loose talk that loeads to even more confusion!
When they tell you not to leave the batteries connected that is speaking loosely!
We have to leave them connected to charge. We also can leave them connected when we are using the RV and connected to power.
What we get into trouble doing is often a matter of how long and what the charging does as welll as how we watch the RV.
Good battery care depends on several points which are a combo of the equipment and the user.
We want to both keep the battery at the correct "float level" and also not run it too hot nor too low on water. So to find what works for each RV, we need to know about what the equipment will do and also what WE will do.
Newer, better charging systems have three stages of charge. If the battery is way down, the charge goes into bulk charge, a higher level to get the battery voltage back quicker. This stage should taper off as the battery gets to it's correct level and finally as the battery gets just slightly above the norm, the charge should taper off to a float level. This should be the best level to keep the battery long term but is foten slightly higher than the 12.8 a standard lead acid battery.

When we get a new RV or new batteries, we need to assure the RV is treating them the best we can. If we leave them with charge on, we need to verify that the charging is doing the three stages as one big item! That takes checking frequently to assure it is not too high, nor running the battery dry of water. Both are fatal to battery life!
That means if we want to leave the charge on, we have to work at watching what is happening and that can be somewhat easy or impossible. How we each live and use the RV, changes what is needed.
If you are in a situation and mindset, it can work well to leave the charger on, check the voltage and batteries frequently and do the time and effort to keep them good.

But that means way past what many of us are willing/able to do for time and effort. cleaning and maintaining batteries was one of the big things that made me retire from telephone work! It is NOT fun even if you are paid to do it! When does for your own batteries, it tends to slip!

Your alternates to the time and effort can be as simple as making sure ALL drains are disconnected, then watch the voltage monthly or often enough to keep the best charge and good water levels. This often means adding an extra disconnect switch in the negative line to cut the drains left by the normal disconnect. A big surprise to many is that the battery disconnect DOES NOT disconnect the safety items like propane and CO detecotrs but leaves them to drain the batteries if we are not watching!

Or if we live in cold country, it may mean you need to take the batteries out and store them at the house where it stays warm and you can watch them closer.

Lots of personal decisions and choices to make to get the most out of them.
I might guess the better for you would be to let them charge, then totally disconnect the negaive lead, either by switch installed or by removing the cable. That will let you then connect the rV to power the humidifier without letting the batteries need quite so much watching for overcharge or running dry.
But that doesn't mean you are home free on work and watching as it is best to keep them charged at the correct level and once a month may be needed to do that untill you find what schedule fits for you, your batteries, charging sytem, and weather where they are stored. :facepalm:

For battery disconnect, these are some I have used as a simple way to avoid working the cables every time:
https://www.amazon.com/CZC-AUTO-Dis...pcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A29D5JAUP1YACR
https://www.harborfreight.com/battery-cutoff-switch-63425.html

Have you heard it said that the only thing on an Rv that works full time is the owner? :oops:
 
The batteries had a year and a half left on warranty. They were agm batteries. Panel reads out 12.5 . I had contacted winnebago last Spring as I was getting a E05 error code. Turned out batteries were dead. Winnebago guy told me never to leave batteries on when plugged into shore power. Just wondering if that is different when the dehumidifier is on all the time. I did get 2 new batteries from Interstate per the warranty.
On my 2019, the float voltage runs about 13.05 VDC, which is OK for Lead-Acid Batteries. I was reading this article from Interstate, and I found this:

  • This means AGM batteries need a special AGM charger. They can take a lot of amps in a short period of time — but an AGM battery charger must keep its voltage lower than 14 volts to avoid ruining the AGM battery. AGM batteries are 12 volts, like all car batteries, and can handle some higher voltage, but only up to a certain point. If a car alternator charges an AGM battery with a voltage higher than 15 volts, it can damage an AGM. It’s not likely, but voltage fluctuations are a possibility.
So, is your power center designed to maintain an Absorbed Glass-Mat (AGM) battery? Was not your 2017 delivered originally with Lead-Acid batteries?
Eagle5
P.S. to get an accurate reading of your float voltage, please measure it at the battery terminals with a good multi-meter.
P.P.S. you should clean the battery tops at least every-other month to prevent the battery from conducting electricity in the filth that gets on-top of the batteries.
 
Batteries on running humidifier

Thank you all for your helpful responses. After reading I decided to switch off batteries and monitor. My MH is stored very close to house so easy enough to monitor. Thanks again all.
 
Sounds like a time to try some method and then watch for a while to see exactly what to expect.!
One small point ot make, hopin gnot to sound obsessive but you did get the right idea that not ALL the drains are cutoff with the regular battery cutoff switch?

Sometimes our mind can get so blitzed with new info we can miss some details!
A point where our new phones, etc. can help is adding a note to our calender to remind us if we want to do a check on some kind of schedule!

I've now got notes to remind me of things like changing the furnace filters and bleaching the drain for the air cond. drain pan to keep the algea out of it!
I had never lived where the air unit was in the attic and it takes a whole different set of routine.
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top