Battery charge

[pwb01]

My question is, as long as the batteries (I have 2) are charged, is it advisable to turn the battery switch to off when hooked up to shore power while camping?

[Sunline Fan]

Paul,

I don't know why you would want to, but I see no reason why you couldn't. With the switch on, the charger in the converter will run when the batteries get low, and will stay off when fully charged. If you are wanting to turn the switch to off to remove the battery, I think that's fine, as long as you wrap up the cables and don't let them touch anything or each other, just in case the switch turns on.

Jon

[Tweety]

Are the batteries charging off of the vehicle as you drive down the highway? And if we're careful with useage, how long can we expect 1 battery to last if we're boondocking?

[PTHutch]

Hi Pam

Check this post out http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/ph...opic.php?t=437
for information on batteries charging off your tow vehicle.

Hutch

[Tweety]

Thanks Hutch. And I expected a yes or no answer!

[Sunline Fan]

Hi Pam,

The time period of which a fully charged battery will last depends on a lot of things, including furnace usage, refer usage, light usage, detector usage, water pump usage, etc; therefore, it is impossible to put an accurate answer as to how long a battery would last. However, all I have to say is this: Not very long! If you're lucky and carefully conserve, you can get maybe 1.5 nights out of it. Also, it always likes to die (detectors beeping) right around 3 A.M. The only time of year when I boondock is in very early October (beginning of bow hunting season) and the highs during the day are in the 60's (no A/C or heat) and the lows are in the 30's or 40's (heat on to upper 60's).

Jon

[pwb01]

Thanks John, I didn't realize the charging system would shut off and come to think of it, if the shore power went out, the fridge wouldn't light.

and...to Quetse, in a small T@B trailer with lights, vent fan, fan in fridg and sometimes heat running, I used two batteries which would last for 5 days being conservative. An additional large deep cycle battery is only about $75.00 which is cheap power. Use heavy cables to connect them in parallel. I have two mounted on the frame on my new T-1950.

[Tweety]

For battery useage I was thinking fridge on gas, no heat or a/c, use the portable D battery lantern for light as much as possible. So, I guess the only thing on the battery would be the water pump and the detector? Just wondering if we could get a weekend out of it that way. It sounds like we could if we started with a full charge, but if we'd really get into boondocking an extra battery makes sense. With the size of our water tank we probably would run out of water at the end of a weekend anyway.

[Sunline Fan]

BTW, I just remembered there is the electronic ignition on the refer and HW heater, even if both are on gas.

Jon

[Mark]

Your radio clock will also zap some energy.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by pwb01

My question is, as long as the batteries (I have 2) are charged, is it advisable to turn the battery switch to off when hooked up to shore power while camping?

To your original question, it depends on your actual convertor. All convertors are not created equal.

Some do not go into float mode and as such do not shut totally off. And over long periods of time over cook out the battery.

On mine, If I'm on shore power for a few days, I turn the dissconect switch off. My convetor is made well enough to run the DC sytem without the battery attached. However all are not made that well and you get choppy DC and they need the battery to smooth it out. This is more so on the older units.

At home when unhooked, I hook up my little float charger to keep the battery up to snuff as I do switch off the battery or esle the propane detector will drain it down.

Check your convertor manual and see what it says for that model. Some are detailed and tell you, others not.

Good luck

John