I have a 05 CC 5vr it has a battery disconnect in the storage compartment. The question is does it hurt the converter to disconnect the battery and leave it plugged up to 120 power supply.

 

It should be fine but do not drive any high current items like the slide.

 

That was my next question. I went out the other day and tried to run the slides out and it would stop had turn off then it would go a little further then stop. Check battery low on water filled charged but would not hold full charge. Hope that is the reason it kicked out haven"t put new battery let. Not bad for a 5 yr. battery that has a owner that can not remember to check it.

 

converters are known for over charging batterys..... after i ruined several i disconnect them when not in use

 

I suppose it depends on what kind of converter/charger you have.

If it is one of the intellegent type that goes into float mode after reaching full charge, it shouldn't hurt the batteries or drive off much water if left plugged in.

Some older rigs have converter/chargers that are little more than a transformer and diode, and running one without a battery could result in high voltage and/or noise that anything with a digital brain might not like...

 

I guess that mine must have a update converter because it has been plugged up ever since I bought it in 05. I guess that I had better mark the calender so I will not forget to check the water in the battery. Thanks again for the replies.

 

Well, to answer your original question. It depends.

Some converters will be happy without a battery connected and others will not be happy. Usually the owners manual will have some type warning if they need a battery hooked up. If your manual doesn't say, post the make and model of your converter and maybe we can help.

 

The rule of thumb is don't run any 12v electronic type items off the converter alone without the battery connected. That would include such things as the refrigerator (controls are 12v). It can fry them. The battery acts as a load smoothing out the voltage from spikes and going too high.
Bob

 

As usual, Fiver Bob is right on the money. As a matter of practice, I take my batteries out when I park my rig. I put a trickle charge on once a week. Easy to check water too. If you have the disconnect switch, you can use this in theory to disconnect the batteries when parked in storage, so they do not discharge. I feel better disconnecting the negative wire.
The Batteries will usually not charge enough over a long weekend. Keep a multimeter handy & check the Voltage often. 12.8 is considered charged, 12.2 about 75% discahrged. When plugged in at a campground, you should show 13+ volts to be charging, up to 14.
It is importatnt to keep up with your batties, voltage, water, if you want them to last. (2) 6V Golf Cart batteries will last longer than (2) 12V deep cycles and provide more AH, 220 vs 180, I believe.

 

I wonder if the new type Otama battery would hold up in a rv. since they are dry cell you would not need to check water.

 

AGM's do tend to last longer, resist vibration and feezing better, but they are also much more expensive.

As far as AGM's go, I'm not really sure the spiral wound Optimas are worth the extra price, compaired to conventional construction.

 

Hey SUPR, thanks for the kudo, but regretfully I am not always right - - just ask my wife. One suggestion - - if we see 14v when plugged in and we know the batteries are fully charged, we know this is not a staged converter and 14v is now burning off water and possibly buckling plates. You could see this if something like the furnace fan kicked in, but should return to about 13.7v for idling. I have a Prosine inverter/charger - - it starts at 14.4v when the batteries are low and charges at about 70 amps. It adjusts that pending the temperature and charge of the batteries while charging. It sits at 13.4 when fully charged.

This makes me bring back up the subject of the converter - - if you have a single voltage converter and find yourself buying new batteries every year or two, you are making payments on a new multistage converter but don't have one - - just new batteries. Batteries will last much longer with multistage. Bite the bullet and buy a good converter if you use your rig much and especially if you leave it plugged in for periods of time. And, if you have room, opt for dual 6v "golf cart" style true deep cycle batteries. So much tougher. You can discharge deeper, recharge more times before replacement. Mine are now 6 years old and still check like new.

Here is a good website if you want to read all about batteries, etc.

http://www.phrannie.org/battery.html

Another tip for storage - - get a small 15w solar charger. You can pick these up at most any boating supply. Also buy a cigarette lighter socket. Install this near a skylight - - mine is under my refrigerator so I have good access to run wires. Connect the hot wire with inline fuse directly to your positive side of your batteries bypassing your battery disconnect switch. Ground the other side of the socket to something convenient at that location. I install four small clips in the sides of my skylight that will hold that solar panel. I have put in a clear glassenne panel in my cover at the skylight location. When I go in storage, I put the panel in the skylight inside the rig, plug in the panel, turn off battery disconnect. It maintains my two batteries at 12.8v continously.

Enough rambling.
Bob

 

What is the price range for an inverter/charger for a 50 amp rig, more or less?
I also agree Optima is not optimal for RV Deep Cycle. I believe many people recommend the Tojan 6V's? I have had good luck with Sam's Club/Interstate.
Maybe next go round trojan. In another year, I will be full time, so I need a better power source.

 

In a nutshell, commercial flooded cell batteries are generally the best bang for the buck when you look at their amp hour rating, and average life in charge/discharge cycles.

AGM's last longer and are more resistant to some harsh conditions, and don't require water, but even with their longer life the price for amp hour stored is considerably higher. If the extra cost is not an issue, or if your rig has the batteries in a very difficult to access place, they would make sense. AGM's also charge at the same voltage as flooded cells, a nice advantage over the old gell cell.

If you meant converter/chargers, Pplmotorhomes lists progressive dynamics inteli-power 9160 at $206, and you would want to add the charge wizard for intellegent multi-stage charging for about $25.

The 60 amp 9200 series (charge wizard built in) is $265.

My current toyhauler came with the 9100 series, so I just ordered a charge wizard for it.

If you were talking inverter/charger (charges batteries and allows you to run 110ac stuff off the batteries) a 2000 watt xantrex runs close to $1000.

 

Ahhh, you ask a question with no easy answer. You can get square wave inverters that can damage sensitive electronics real cheap. Modified sine wave is much better but can still give problems with suchs things as lines on the Tv and computers. Sine wave is the goal, but it costs more. Next part of the equation is what are you going to run on it. I wanted to run a hair dryer (ahhhh, mama wanted to run hair dryer - - LOL), coffee pot and microwave. So I opted to go with the 2000w. My motorhomes had a 4000w. The last figures I saw for the Prosine 2K with charger was about $1700. But, when you figure what you can do while dry camping with one, the price comes down in your mind plus your batteries will last longer. You can subtract the cost of a good multistage converter from that (in your mind) to help justify the cost. It will detect incorrect supply frequency and voltage and incorrectly wired hookup. You do need good batteries with it and your statement about the Trojans is a good one - - probably the #1 choice. You also must change out your battery wiring to at least #2. If you get serious about it email me and I will send you an installation guide I wrote on my installation. Maybe I should post it in the tech section here, but it certainly is not about trucks. HMMM???? A sidenote here, this type unit will only supply 120v so it is wired into your choice of plugs and into one side of your 50a service only. These plugs are removed from your main service and run thru the inverter. Now, are we really confused???

By the way, I recommend Phred again for some great discussions on inverters. He is phuny at times but always very down to earth. Here is his discussion on inverters:

http://www.phrannie.org/invert.html


Bob