Converter/charger

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Hi
If I wasn't lost before I sure am now. Ha
Ches::sad

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suz, count me in with Ches! Didn't know you had a problem, we were just talking generalities here, and why it's not a good idea to leave battery hooked up to charger hooked up to shore power during storage.

The overcharging damage that COULD be done will be over time, and depends on the charging voltage, internal leakage of the battery, ambient temperatures and perhaps even relative humidity.

Leaving it hooked up once for two months is not so likely to have done great permanent damage. Keep the water up with distillled water. BTW, I have read that when batteries get about half-way thru their lives, they start using water (which in my case is just about the time I have decided that checking the water is a waste of my time because it's always OK...); keeping the levels up will get you the rest of the battery's life.

To find out whether you have intelligent (aka Three-stage charging), call the charger Manf with all the numbers on its ID plate and ask them.

Pete and Rats

PS Do you have a problem? Or have your questions been answered...

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I didn't think that I did until I started reading all this stuff. As I said, the more I learn, the less I know. It's just that I have kept plugged in to shore power in the past because I run my a/c whenever I'm out there and never new that I could overcharge, so just left it plugged in all the time. Now that A/C weather is behind us for a while, I will just not plug her in until the lights start to dim. That'll take care of it.

Sorry, didn't mean to mess up a good thread...just wasn't sure if I was unknowingly causing damage.

Thanks everyone.

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Pete, Suz
I always thought that chargers automatically shut off once the battery was at a full charge? Isn't that so people can leave their trailers plugged in to 110 all the time and not do damage?

Not that any of this applies to our Trillium but it would never have occured to me that when ever you're plugged in you're charging your battery.

Just my two cents worth.
Nancy

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I'm with you Nancy. I always kept my MH pluged in or the batteries went down in a week. Maybe it's a different system. But the part that I don't understand is why not apply to the Trillium? Mines a Trillium clone, so the red flag came up.(in my head) :u

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Janifer
Mines a 75 Trillium. It has a 12v system with 4 lights that run off 12v and run directly from the battery. The 110 system has one dual bulb light and 2 electrical outlets. It doesn't have a power converter so the two systems are not connected in any way.
Nancy

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We keep our Casita (with MagneTek 6345 converter) plugged into shore power :inbox during our winter months (mid-December to mid-February), and a small, electric heater comes on if the inside temperature dips below about 40F.

I have assumed it was better to do this than to just run the extension cord directly to the little heater, through the trailer door. This, to keep the battery “up” by charging when/if the little heater's not running.

Once upon a time, when our Casita (with MagneTek 6345 converter) was 15 months old, we had to replace a battery that had been frozen. Mr. Bubba, of Mr. Bubba's RV Repair in Santa Fe, NM, was disgusted that I didn't know if we'd kept it charged through the winter... of course, neither did he know that where we live, the overnight temp had gone below freezing on TWO occasions since we had owned the trailer and battery. (That winter, I think, we had put the heater on the extension cord, instead of plugging the trailer into shore power. Lights in the trailer still “worked,” for what that's worth.) Why were we asking Mr. Bubba of Santa Fe about it? We didn't know we had a problem until we arrived in SF with NO battery power...
:nope
I'm still not convinced that battery went bad through my own negligence, but we do watch things more closely now.

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I have found this site very useful for electrical and most other questions. Lots of reading but very informative. Look around.

http://phrannie.org/phredex.html

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The brand of trailer doesn't matter on this; it is the brand and model of converter that matters. Yes, one would think that the converter should charge but not overcharge, but that is most likely not so unless you have a fairly modern converter with intelligent charging.

Overcharging can occur in Scamp, Casita, Boler, Trillium, Playmate, UHaul, Jayco, Airstream, or you-name-it, depending on the brand and model of the converter. I'll go further and venture that if your trailer was not manf in this century, your converter is far more likely to be capable of overcharging your battery.

Call the converter manf with numbers in hand to find out what YOUR converter will do, not the trailer manf.

Most converters have their own plugin place inside the trailer, so you can leave the trailer connected to shore power, but the 12VDC off. Alternatively, you can pull the battery's main (30Amp) fuse to take it out of the charging circuit. Or you can get an aftermarket intelligent battery charger to charge the battery properly. Many folks remove the battery and maintain it elsewhere during winter storage.

Pete and Rats

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I went out and looked. :o I have a rectangle under the sink with two switches. the one on the right says battery/converter. So it must be the more complicated variety. I know my lights work without the battery as I don't have one. (that is if I have the trailer plugged in.) Hopefully I'll figure it out when I have everything in pieces in front of me. :splat

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Hi ayeedo 2-------Welcome to this site. Hope you find what your looking.Myself you went over my head.:laugh .Any way there are some good people here who will jump in with ideas:wave ETC.

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I had this upgrade installed in my 2000 Casita(from a magnetek 6325)along with an Interstate group 29 battery- and do leave the trailer plugged in alot. I think magetek is now parallax, or one owns the other. Is the 7345 a smart unit?? I don't think so..........

Also ordered the $28 charge wizard from CW for that purpose but returned it- seems to be dedicated for an intellipower 9100. What can I add to the 7345 to make it idiot-proof??

thx, Phil