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Old 09-03-2014, 01:30 PM   #10
FW28z
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2011 Four Winds 28Z
State: Michigan
Posts: 1,273
THOR #531
You will have to look at the battery charger in your rig, usually an integrated part of the DC distribution panel. Older/simpler systems may not trickle charge the batteries, but newer and better systems should. I would be surprised if a new rig would not have trickle charge capability.

The basic idea of a trickle charge is to maintain the batteries at full charge without overcharging or damaging them. This sometimes is easier said than done - especially if your charger is not up to task.

So yes, if your rig's battery charger has a trickle function, you can usually leave it on 24/7. When you trickle charge them long-term, you need to keep an eye out for water levels in the batteries - just like you would any other time of year.

But you can always buy an aftermarket trickle charger if you are not sure or worried. They only cost a few dollars so they are not expensive at all. It's best though if you are using an aftermarket charger to disconnect the house batteries from the RV if you are using the trickle charger long-term (storage, etc).

If you are using the built in charger, you obviously do not want to disconnect the house batteries.

As long as you maintain a trickle charge on the batteries, they will not be damaged in zero weather. I left my moho outside last year in sub-zero winter temps in Michigan with no issues as long as the batteries maintained a charge (I trickle charge them over the winter).

Batteries can actually be pretty resilient. When I had a boat, we had it first in an un-heated storage building, then later in a heated (40deg) storage building. Two batteries were in the boat, and there was no provision to charge them over the winter.

The boat typically was put in storage the first of Oct, until the first of May of each year - 7 months out of the year without a charge.

After 12 years of doing this, the batteries always came up in the spring after a couple hours on the charger, but we always replaced the batteries every 4~5 boating seasons anyway due to safety issues (you don't want to be out on the Great Lakes with bad batteries).

These were standard lead acid marine/RV grade "combo" batteries. The combo batteries have very low internal resistance so they can be used for both deep-cycle and engine starting use.

Of course, you could go to AGM which have the distinction of maintaining their charge for a year (will last up to 10yrs) and can be stored without maintaining a trickle charge in the winter. However, you can damage AGM batteries by improper charging them (especially on trickle charge), which means you may have to swap out your rig's battery charger if it is not compatible with AGM.

I just could never justify paying double for AGM batteries for my boat, as well as buying a $800 charger that would work with AGM (my charger worked with lead-acid only).
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