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Old 07-22-2018, 03:55 PM   #1
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THOR #10467
Thor ACE long term storage to maximize battery life question

I have a 2017 Thor ACE motor home and would like to know the best way to store it over the Winter. Does it have a 3-way battery charger/maintainer to prevent the batteries from sulfating (I think that's the term?) and wearing out prematurely? If it does not have this type of charger, would plugging the power cord into a timer so power would be on for say 6 or 8 hours a day prevent this condition?
Also, when plugged into the shore line, does the coach battery also charge or just the house batteries?

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Old 07-22-2018, 04:47 PM   #2
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3-way? No, 3 stage. But I wouldn't use it for long term storage even though it would charge both house and chassis batteries (if everything is working correctly).

For long term storage I would just disconnect the batteries and put a battery minder on each set (house and chassis).
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Old 07-22-2018, 07:26 PM   #3
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Last year I kept a 100 watt portable solar panel connected using a Bogart SC-2030 solar controller that interfaces with my Trimetric battery monitor. I disconnected the cheap controller that came with the portable unit as the SC-2030 is a lot smarter and won’t boil the batteries. Its also capable of equalizing them. I have a pair of Interstate 6V batteries and they kept a full charge and didn’t lose water all winter. I also run the generator for about an hour every few weeks.

I now have another 200 watts of permanent panels on the roof so I don’t need to use the portable unit while in storage.
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Old 07-22-2018, 07:40 PM   #4
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Would switching to the "store" mode accomplish the same thing as disconnecting the battery cables since no power is being transmitted in that mode?
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Old 07-22-2018, 07:56 PM   #5
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There are still going to be some parasitic losses. Use a bayonet switch to physically disconnect them, and hook them up to a battery maintainer. I like the ones from Deltran.
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Old 07-23-2018, 03:54 PM   #6
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I can see where disconnecting the batteries makes the most sense. In doing so, I assume I would need three battery chargers/maintainers, two for each of the house batteries and another for the chassis battery?
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Old 07-23-2018, 04:10 PM   #7
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Originally Posted by dpbain1 View Post
I can see where disconnecting the batteries makes the most sense. In doing so, I assume I would need three battery chargers/maintainers, two for each of the house batteries and another for the chassis battery?
No, the USE/STORE switch does not desconnect all loads.Things like fire alarms, CO Detectors, Propane Detectors stay energized from the battery.

And you would only need a single battery tender for the house batteries as they are still connected in parallel.
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Old 07-23-2018, 05:11 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Tfryman View Post
No, the USE/STORE switch does not connect all loads.Things like fire alarms, CO Detectors, Propane Detectors stay energized from the battery.

And you would only need a single battery tender for the house batteries as they are still connected in parallel.
I thought mine alarms stayed on when the store button was used but i checked this a few weeks ago and they turn off also

Check yours to be sure.

Jerry
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Old 07-23-2018, 07:01 PM   #9
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I thought mine alarms stayed on when the store button was used but i checked this a few weeks ago and they turn off also

Check yours to be sure.

Jerry
Same here.
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Old 07-23-2018, 07:26 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by dpbain1 View Post
I can see where disconnecting the batteries makes the most sense. In doing so, I assume I would need three battery chargers/maintainers, two for each of the house batteries and another for the chassis battery?
The bayonet switch is on the negative connection from the battery, that hooks into the coach itself. The two batteries would still be hooked together...
Deltran has a model of Battery Tender that has several output connections; for multiple batteries
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