My question
(comment) is about methods to maintain the charge on the RV battery.
I have 1-12v deep
cycle and only do camping with hookups and store it in a facility with power in
a warm climate. It is a 5th wheel, so do rely on the battery for the slides and
landing gear at times. Have owned this RV for 3 yrs (original battery) and use
it year round with maximum non-use of about 2 months at a time (but have
followed same practices with many campers for years).
I have read many
posts about whether to keep shore power connected or not, and effects on the
battery. I wanted to determine the correct method for my RV today with the
system I have as I was considering an on board maintainer or cut off switch.
But, I am a big believer in if has worked so far, don't change, so, thought I'd
throw out my thoughts ...
I have a "Power
Converter". It provides the 12v to the RV, but also senses when the
battery is less than 13.2VDC (if connected to shore power) after 4 hours and go
into float mode to recharge the battery.
This means to me
that when the RV is connected to the shore power, the system will maintain the
charge level of the battery (whether at camp for a week or at storage for 2
months, however, I would remove it if in a cold climate and plan to not use it
for an extended period of time though).
So, for my
situation, I don't see the need for either a cut off switch or battery
maintainer if connected to shore power in storage. (assumes proper water levels
and battery is in good working condition).
I realize this might open up some differing comments, but I am looking to learn more viewpoints as </span>I was ready to disconnect the battery and use a maintainer … but convinced myself not to!
Is there a reason to not utilize shore power for this?
Thanks ... Rich
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