Batteries wired parallel

Tonto256 · 12-15-2013, 10:10 AM

I just bought a new 2013 Raptor 297SE and noticed that the two batteries are not connected to each other. I guess that one is for the camper and the other is for the fueling station. I am planning on wiring these two in parallel so that I have twice the amp hours and that both will be charged. The dealer old me the fuel station battery will not receive a charge from the battery charger with the current set up. I also plan on putting a 2 amp battery tender on them when wired in parallel.
Any advice or experience with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
Love the camper, a big step up from my old 5th wheel toy hauler.

SAD · 12-15-2013, 10:44 AM

Sounds kinda screwy (what your dealer is saying).

I don't have a Keystone toyhauler, so take this with a grain if salt.... But I would expect both batteries to be wired together properly, and both feeding your 12v distribution panel, and your fueling station pump to be fed via the 12v distribution panel.

That's how it was on my other brand TH....

MarkS · 12-15-2013, 11:02 AM

You could disconnect one battery, and check to see if the lights and fuel station have power. Then try disconnecting the other one. If you have power to both places regardless of which battery is connected, they must be paralleled.

Tonto256 · 12-15-2013, 12:45 PM

I'll dig in and take a look and try disconnecting the one he said was for the fueling station. It didn't make much sense to me when the dealer said that about the two batteries, but it was 8 degrees in Michigan when we did the walk through and all I could think of was getting out of the cold!
Why Keystone would install two batteries and not have them wired in parallel is beyond me.

**JRTJH** · 12-15-2013, 12:52 PM

Tonto,

Do some snooping around and I think you'll find that they are wired parallel already. BUT !!!! Keystone does NOT ship any RV with batteries. The ones installed in your RV were installed by the dealer, so maybe he is correct when he said that the pumping station battery doesn't receive a charge in the current wiring system.

Something doesn't seem right. Whether it's the dealer's way of wiring or that Keystone leaves out something that the dealer didn't want to pay for to wire it correctly...?????? I've never seen a 12 VDC wiring system that had a charger for one of the batteries and not for the other.... Now, there are some generators that have their own starting battery that doesn't get charged by the RV charger, but I've not seen two batteries side by side that don't get charged the same way whether they are connected in parallel or whether they are simply both hooked to the charger with different wires....

Something doesn't seem quiet right

Tonto256 · 12-15-2013, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the responses. I'll be home tomorrow and will open it up and take a look. The dealer did say they installed the batteries and it didn't make much sense when he told me about one not being charged by the electrical system.
I'll open it up and report back.

Tonto256 · 12-17-2013, 07:44 PM

Update.
Right battery was connected to the coach, and left battery connected to the gen. I wired them in parallel and connected a battery tender. Easy job, however trying to get the wires to work under the battery covers was something else. I cut a few holes to make it work, but the covers are a pain.
Thanks again for the help.
Next project is to install some chocks in the garage.

**JRTJH** · 12-17-2013, 08:12 PM

Tonto,

Do some research on (or watch closely) with your converter/trickle charger connections. If I remember correctly, the converter is a 3 stage converter and the charging amperage is driven by the sensed battery voltage. So, if you have a battery tender (trickle charger) connected, the converter will sense that the batteries are "fully charged" (even if they are down to almost dead) and will not apply the larger charging amperage, rather it will immediately go to the "maintenance charge" which may leave you with dead batteries in a campground.....

Do some close watching and if you start having issues with batteries that won't keep a charge during camping even when plugged into shore power, try disconnecting the battery tender...

Tonto256 · 12-19-2013, 04:07 PM

I appreciate the advice. I only run the battery tender when I have the battery disconnect switch in disconnect. I believe this will keep the batteries charged while it sits at home not in use, and then when the camper is being used and batteries turned on the onboard charger will charge as batteries run down.
I will keep this in mind however. Thank you.

**JRTJH** · 12-19-2013, 04:27 PM

There is a thread currently open discussing exactly that. Some disconnect switches are wired to disconnect the converter, some aren't. It depends on how your RV was wired. Do some checking before you assume that it's disconnected, in some rigs it's not wired that way.

I know, I know, you can't win for having to second guess so much <sigh>

SJBrooks · 01-07-2014, 07:16 AM

Hi all,

First time poster here. I recently bought a 2012 Fuzion model 302, and just saw this thread. I've found that mine is wired similar to the OP's. The left battery (when looking in the battery door) is connected to the camper and the other is connected to the generator. I did not have a multimeter with me to see if both batteries receive voltage when the generator is running. To keep both batteries charged temporarily, I disconnected all wires, connected both batteries in parallel, and connected a battery minder to one of them. I understand the benefit of one battery being dedicated to the generator, but need two batteries for the camper so as to run the generator as little as possible.

Is it possible to keep the two batteries wired in parallel and just hook back up the original wires as they were? Will both batteries be charged by the generator? It appears there's room on the battery shelf for a third battery. Will the shelf support the weight of an additional battery? Has anybody else done this same thing? If so, what battery (dimensions/etc) did you use?

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Steve

dc0273 · 01-07-2014, 11:06 AM

I'm pretty sure there is a solenoid I read about that let's you charge both but when not charging solenoid isolates Genny battery. Can't remember where is was but it was on YouTube also

dc0273 · 01-07-2014, 11:06 AM

I just bought a new carbon fifth wheel and mine is the same way I think..looking for a solution too

SJBrooks · 01-09-2014, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJBrooks

Hi all,

First time poster here. I recently bought a 2012 Fuzion model 302, and just saw this thread. I've found that mine is wired similar to the OP's. The left battery (when looking in the battery door) is connected to the camper and the other is connected to the generator. I did not have a multimeter with me to see if both batteries receive voltage when the generator is running. To keep both batteries charged temporarily, I disconnected all wires, connected both batteries in parallel, and connected a battery minder to one of them. I understand the benefit of one battery being dedicated to the generator, but need two batteries for the camper so as to run the generator as little as possible.

Is it possible to keep the two batteries wired in parallel and just hook back up the original wires as they were? Will both batteries be charged by the generator? It appears there's room on the battery shelf for a third battery. Will the shelf support the weight of an additional battery? Has anybody else done this same thing? If so, what battery (dimensions/etc) did you use?

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Steve

Still looking for some answers from anybody who can provide them.

Thanks,

Steve

KenBob · 01-09-2014, 12:06 PM

Our Fuzion 360 originally had a single 12v "deep cycle" battery which was wired to house and generator (to start the generator). We then went to two 6 volt golf cart batteries which still provided house power and generator starting power. We now have the two 6 volt batteries wired for house power only and a 12 volt battery that only starts the generator. We installed a battery separator that monitors and charges either the 6 volts or the 12 volt batteries independent of each other if plugged into shore power or the generator is running.

Here is the thread on this upgrade:

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9688

howdy · 01-09-2014, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tonto256

I appreciate the advice. I only run the battery tender when I have the battery disconnect switch in disconnect. I believe this will keep the batteries charged while it sits at home not in use, and then when the camper is being used and batteries turned on the onboard charger will charge as batteries run down.
I will keep this in mind however. Thank you.

If your converter in the trailer has the charge wizard feature I would just leave the trailer plugged in all the time at home vs using the battery tender. The charge wizard is a 4 stage system and will do the same job(maybe even better) as the battery tender without having to connect and disconnect the tender. One less step, same result. My 2013 Fuzion has the charge wizard built into the converter. On my older trailer it was an aftermarket add on.

My trailer has a disconnect switch inside, but it does not disconnect everything. There are still some items drawing power. Since my trailer has to be stored away from home I added a disconnect switch right after the batteries, so there is no power going into the trailer.

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