Battery Winterization

Elk Prairie

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Joined
Jul 14, 2023
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Rolla
I have a 2017 Thor Axis 25.5. In past years I have removed the house batteries and brought them in the house for the winter. I then put a battery maintainer on the engine battery.

I have a 30 amp outlet close by to where I store the RV. Would it be acceptable to just leave the electrical connection attached over the winter with the converter on and not remove the house batteries? Are there any advantages of either method? The RV is stored in mid-Missouri so we see below 0 temps for a few weeks in the winter.

Thank you,
Don
 
I have a 2017 Thor Axis 25.5. In past years I have removed the house batteries and brought them in the house for the winter. I then put a battery maintainer on the engine battery.

I have a 30 amp outlet close by to where I store the RV. Would it be acceptable to just leave the electrical connection attached over the winter with the converter on and not remove the house batteries? Are there any advantages of either method? The RV is stored in mid-Missouri so we see below 0 temps for a few weeks in the winter.

Thank you,
Don

Do you bring the chassis battery in the house? If not, does it survive the winter? If you don't and it does, then you already know the answer.
 
What type batteries? 'Regular' batteries are called Flooded Lead Acid (FLA).
A fully charged FLA battery has a freezing point below -80°F (-62°C), while a discharged battery has a freezing point of 20°F (-6.7°C) or higher.

Assuming your converter has smart charging circuitry (in a 2017 model that'd be likely) then leaving it connected the converter will maintain the batteries in the fully charged state. If your temps get to -80°F you probably have bigger things to worry about...

I don't know about Lithium batteries.
 
I have a 2017 Thor Axis 25.5. In past years I have removed the house batteries and brought them in the house for the winter. I then put a battery maintainer on the engine battery.

I have a 30 amp outlet close by to where I store the RV. Would it be acceptable to just leave the electrical connection attached over the winter with the converter on and not remove the house batteries? Are there any advantages of either method? The RV is stored in mid-Missouri so we see below 0 temps for a few weeks in the winter.

Thank you,
Don

Plugged in, main power switch (use/store) on and you will have no problems. If they are not AGM, check the fluid level periodically. Don’t forget to exercise the generator as required.
 
Is there a reason you haven't been plugging it in?

There are so many advantages to plugging it in that I can't think of any reason not to plug it in except for a fear of a fire.
 
What a PIA to remove/store batteries. I leave my LiFePO4 house batteries in the RV year-round connected to solar charging... which also maintains the chassis battery.

Some LiFePO4 battery manufacturers recommend storage... IMO the weather in Ohio doesn't get "Arctic" enough for me to spend two+ hours jumping through those hoops. So I leave mine in and let the battery BMS call the shots. I mean seriously... Chevrolet doesn't require removing our Bolt EV battery.

So will I lose x number of cycles for leaving my batteries in the frigid cold? IMO, trivial in regards to the hassle of removing them.
 
Hello
I've had Vegas 24.1 in Québec for 8 years and for the winter I leave the batteries in place and they stay connected to a 30 amps never have a problem
 
I leave all of my batteries in year round and I do not have power at my storage yard. I have 80W of solar connected to all three and it keeps them fully topped at all times. Piece of cake!
 
As others we leave like RV plugged in. The AGM chassis battery and house lithiums do fine. The lithiums have a built in circuit that prevent charging below freezing.
 
OP has not been back, but judging from previous issues from OP

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f8/battery-charging-confusion-35166.html

they may not have been given good information when the RV was first purchased so some of these things they would not know.

I still don't see why most assume that winterization means putting the RV up and out of the way for no usage for X amount of months? If you don't want to travel anywhere fine, but I can't imagine not seeing my RV for 4 or 5 months.

Winterization is overrated. If you expect to have your RV in a area that will have sustained freezing temperatures go get all the water out, and leave it out until temperatures are satisfactory. You can still drive and use your coach!!!

Note: If you are nervous pervous type and want to use Anti freeze that is fine too, but for me on that really nice day late Jan where temps are in the 60s I can use my RV. If I have a trip planned to Colorado, I just add water and go if temps are nice. If while on the way a artic blast comes from no where, I just stop and drain the water 15 minutes later, and I am back on the road. There is no state that I know of that can get so cold that it will freeze my plumbing when there is no water in the lines.

As far as batteries go, this will be my 1st winter with Lithium. I have read all of the warnings and pitfalls, but I am not going to do anything different. My RV will be plugged in as it always is. So if it gets to cold and will not charge so what? If I get in it and drive someplace and start using... the house battery will warm and charge if it needs to be replenished.
 
Being retired we technically could jump in the RV and travel in mid January if we wanted. But...

I've lived in areas of snowy cold winters all my life. Driving is a non-issue with our all-wheel or front wheel drive vehicles. I WILL NOT drive the RV on snow covered/icy roads... which is VERY common in our area. Driving a giant box in cross winds on a snow covered road is not my idea of an enjoyable trip.

In winter around here It's COLD. It requires LOTS of continuous heat to keep the interior of an uninsulated RV suitably warm. Plenty of stats online showing how long 10 gallons of propane lasts at sub freezing temperatures.

I really like having our private bathroom in the RV. But having FULL use of it is important. That's not possible without water. And no... not doing composting.

The caveat is a stretch of unusually warmer weather... which is not uncommon. But again making plans for a LOCAL 3 - 4 day trip can be sketchy. Temperature can suddenly drop overnight and then it's drain/flush water... and there goes the private bathroom.

Now... if the destination was a warm weather area with extended stay planned, GREAT. But we haven't done that yet - but it's probably in future plans!

Finally, we COMPLETELY empty the motorhome - everything inside (including mattress) and all exterior storage compartments. Then it's THOROUGHLY cleaned inside and out, ready for next season. Everything is stored in a dedicated storage building here at home or in our basement. Prepping the empty RV for travel is no trivial task... it COULD be done in an emergency, but typically takes a full day using checklists.

Meanwhile the RV takes it's winter nap, batteries in place. :)
 
We keep the MH it plugged in. Keeps the batteries charged & no worries about freezing them up.
We fill the gas tank & add 5 cans of Seafoam to keep the fuel fresh. Run it to get the treated fuel through the coach fuel system & run the genny to get treated fuel in carb's bowl. Then over the winter storage we run the engine once a month, same time we exercise the genny.
 
Being retired we technically could jump in the RV and travel in mid January if we wanted. But...

Not retired and we do this. Last Saturday we just hastily decided to spend two days at a campsite. The site we chose showed booked online; so we call and they said come on they may find us something :facepalm:, we found another park that had plenty sites. We picked a site that was direct on the lake. We do that kind of stuff year around.

I've lived in areas of snowy cold winters all my life. Driving is a non-issue with our all-wheel or front wheel drive vehicles. I WILL NOT drive the RV on snow covered/icy roads... which is VERY common in our area. Driving a giant box in cross winds on a snow covered road is not my idea of an enjoyable trip.


If I will drive my SUV in the weather conditions, I can safely drive my RV in the same. The SUV does win out as a daily driver around town, but if I have a trip; the RV wins every time. The picture is our trip to Colorado in 2021 when the state had the worst arctic blast / winter storm in 100 years. Most roads were closed but if Dept of Transportation cleared them for vehicles, we drove. I will say that this is when I will drive 45- 50 mph or slower on the freeways. I

20210314_134237_rotate.jpg

In winter around here It's COLD. It requires LOTS of continuous heat to keep the interior of an uninsulated RV suitably warm. Plenty of stats online showing how long 10 gallons of propane lasts at sub freezing temperatures.

We have never been less than 1/3 tank of Propane. I remember when I first joined this site, everybody and their brother was always creating threads on how to increase propane tank capacity, some carrying extra tanks, adaptors, fittings you name the crap. Last time I bought Propane was 2023, I can find the receipt if necessary. Winter is coming soon, and I am not worried. Yes if I go to Indiana, or Ohio I would top it off before leaving, but with my coach heat, 5500kW generator, and two 1500 watt electric heaters it is not on my worry list.

I really like having our private bathroom in the RV. But having FULL use of it is important. That's not possible without water. And no... not doing composting.

When I drain the water out of my coach (called Winterizing by some), I put my portable Thetford with custom made stand in the shower. Our private bathroom becomes even more private as it is now behind two doors. For Anti Freeze fanatics, it may please some to know that I do pour some anti freeze in the Thetford water tank used for flushing. You see I am not against anti freeze, I just don't need or want it in my fresh water supply lines. For what it is worth we have room temperatures water bottles to use to wash our face and brush teeth. In a pinch we can even take a sponge bath with the water bottles. We have a basin in the bath to collect the gray water that we pour in the portable toilet's cassette

20240107_153959.jpg

The caveat is a stretch of unusually warmer weather... which is not uncommon. But again making plans for a LOCAL 3 - 4 day trip can be sketchy. Temperature can suddenly drop overnight and then it's drain/flush water... and there goes the private bathroom.

In 5 years, I only drained the freshwater worried about unexpected freeze while on the road once. It was overkill, because the holding tanks still had affluent and had no issues. It got down to 16 degrees.

Now... if the destination was a warm weather area with extended stay planned, GREAT. But we haven't done that yet - but it's probably in future plans!

Finally, we COMPLETELY empty the motorhome - everything inside (including mattress) and all exterior storage compartments. Then it's THOROUGHLY cleaned inside and out, ready for next season. Everything is stored in a dedicated storage building here at home or in our basement. Prepping the empty RV for travel is no trivial task... it COULD be done in an emergency, but typically takes a full day using checklists.

The above may work well for seasoned veterans like yourself, but for many newbies that read these things they try to replicate and become confused and they may make it a lot harder than it needs to be. I remember 1st joining this site everything was like OMG, I got to do what :facepalm:

Meanwhile the RV takes it's winter nap, batteries in place. :)

Not only is our RV used 24/7 365 days a year, during the winter I will load more stuff & supplies, because when power is lost; we have the RV as a backup compliment to the house. One leg of the 5500 genny is supplying up to 30 amps to the House transfer switch while the other leg is supply half the circuits in the RV. I keep at least one 1500 watt heater running in the RV just to ensure balanced loads in the genny.
 
The past 10 years I would bring in all our batteries for the winter. Camp solar, quad, motorcycle, vintage car and house batteries from the motorhome. If the chassis battery wasn't so difficult to remove I'd bring that in too. It's fully charged before it's winter nap and haven't had any problems including those in the basement 6 months later in the spring. I personally am to concerned about leaving the rig plugged in all winter so this is what I've been doing.
 

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