engine batterie

[Guest]

I just found out the hard way that when i'm plugged into a shore line that i do not charge my engine batt... but my house batt,, are fine,,,
I was thinking of installing a batt maintainer on the eng. batt. and hard wiring it to a little used recepticle close by,, that way when i plugged in it will charge the eng batt also...
Any thoughts on this,, from anyone????

 

[Kirk]

Re: engine batterie

There is good reason why most RVs do not charge the chassis battery from the converter that keeps the house batteries charged. But there are very few that do so. What I did was to buy one of the float chargers from an auto parts house and installed it on the chassis battery and I keep it plugged in when the motorhome is parked for long periods. They do a much better job of keeping the battery at proper levels because they charge to a higher voltage and then shut off until the battery voltage drops to a level where a charge is warranted.

The main reason that it is not common to apply the converter voltage to the chassis battery is that the converter supplies a constant voltage and so it can't be set high enough to fully charge the battery without over charging it. It takes about 14.2V to fully charge a battery but that high voltage would damage the battery if kept applied for months at a time. Most converters are set to a level of about 13.5V which is not enough to fully charge the battery but it is a level that will not damage the battery if kept applied constantly.

 

[ARCHER]

Re: engine batterie

730,
what I do after I get set up, is to disconnect the engine/chassis battery hot lead. that way I do not worry about it accidentedly getting discharged by some small light or something like that. I put the charger to it the day before I get ready to leave as well as check the fluid level in the battery.

 

[Guest]

Re: engine batterie

well i got it done today,, i wired in a batt. maintain in the engine compartment and ran some romex to a hardly used 110 outlet and hard wired it in,, now i have a plug at the batt maintainer and as long as the coach is plugged into the shore line engine batt will charge ,, via the maintainer in the engine compartment,,, didn' cost much at all i had the romex and all it detailed was my labor and the batt maintainer...
But thanks again for all u'r help,,, this place is great :approve: :approve: :approve:

 

[Guest]

Re: engine batterie

bty if anyone wants to know how to wire this in on their coach let me know ,, it really isn't hard if u have the time and alot of wire ties to tie up everything,, if u are interested just let me know and i'll lead u thru it step by step....
(i think i should patent this thing) :laugh:
Just kidding on the above
But i will lend any advice u need on doing this project..

 

[hertig]

Re: engine batterie

Will the heat in the engine compartment cause any harm to the battery maintainer?

 

[Guest]

Re: engine batterie

NOPE ,, if u mount it away from the major heat of the engine.. they can take some heat,, but not direct heat...
My engine battery is in the front of the coach ,, so while u'r driving u'll bee getting all the air to cool it,, i put mine just about 12 inches away from the battery on a good solid metal mount,,, i actually had my maintainer in for 2 years but just now hooked it up the way i posted it ,,, i used to use another cord when i stored the rv... BUT NOT ANYMORE,,, HAPPY,,, HAPPY,,, just one cord to plug in :laugh: