Battery Questions

[Blue]

Does it hurt the battery in a 5th wheel if I don't remove it in the winter but just plug the 5th wheel into an 120v outlet?

[nuctrooper]

No problem. Converter/charger will keep it alive. Just be sure to check the water level (if it is a flooded battery) in the spring.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by nuctrooper

No problem. Converter/charger will keep it alive. Just be sure to check the water level (if it is a flooded battery) in the spring.

I would check it once a month if it’s a flooded battery.

[rhagfo]

Originally Posted by nuctrooper

No problem. Converter/charger will keep it alive. Just be sure to check the water level (if it is a flooded battery) in the spring.

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I would check it once a month if it’s a flooded battery.

I agree, but with a good converter/charger you likely will never need to add Distilled water.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I agree, but with a good converter/charger you likely will never need to add Distilled water.

And the battery could fail causing the converter to overcharge and boil out the battery. If you don't check on it periodically you'll never know until it's too late, possibly damaging the converter.

[JRTJH]

All it takes is a little bit of corrosion to develop on a battery terminal to "reduce the voltage" causing the converter/charger to "kick into high gear and stay there" or for a mouse to gnaw through one of those "soybean oil insulated wires" (yep, they smell like food is why rats chew them) and create a short which hopefully blows a fuse rather than melts a wire causing the converter to "kick into high gear and destroy the battery"....

It's always a good idea to keep an eye on the trailer periodically throughout the time it's in storage..... I remove my batteries, keep them in the garage while the trailer is in the pole barn about half a mile away. I "check on the trailer" at least weekly and put the batteries on a charger at least monthly.

If I left the batteries in the trailer and it was plugged into shore power, I'd be checking it at least weekly and checking the battery at least monthly. There's too much that can "go wrong" not to keep an eye on it throughout the winter.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by rhagfo

I agree, but with a good converter/charger you likely will never need to add Distilled water.

I've 7-8 RVs that I'd assume the converters were good & approved by the manufacturer, I never changed them to something better, with the RVs plugged in 24-7 the FLA
batteries WILL need distilled water added a couple times a year, if not more.
My golf also came with what I'd guess is an approved charger by the manufacturer & all 6 of those FLA batteries require adding distilled water 2-3 times year.
Would you post the brand of batteries you're using that never need water added, might be worth the upgrade.

[flybouy]

For me the bottom line is I don't trust anything plugged in over a long term being unattended. If we leave the house for an extended time (a week or more) we have someon that "house sits" for us. If we don't have the house sitter then we have someone that comes in and checks on things every few days. Obviously some things need to be energized I.E furnace, refridgerators, sump pump, alarms, etc. For long term unattended I disconnect electronics suck as televisions, surround sound amps, computers, etc.

IMHO any unattended habitat is rodent magnet. Rodents will eat wires, electrical devices can fail. I've had two batteries fail over the years while charging in the garage. In both instances I couls smell the battery gassing out when it happened. In would not have wanted that to happen and not be founds until months later.

JMHO, YMMV

[ChuckS]

My 2014 Alpine sits at the house plugged into a 15 amp outlet to power the converter... it sits from Oct till May each year.. Batteries are two GC2 Costco six volt.. I top off the electrolyte level late Oct with distilled water and check one a month during storage period... during spring maintenance prep the two GC2 batteries take about 1 cup of water split between the two... Specific gravity on each cell on these six year old batteries is as good as the day In first installed