10 replies to this topic

[Oryguntroutbum]

I originally thought I would be storing my camper in the garage over the winter but I am using it often enough I just left it on the truck. Any issues with me just keeping it plugged in at my house? Don't want to cause any unnecessary issues with the batteries.

[longhorn1]

2x.  I have my camper stored and covered.  Every 6-8 weeks I roll the cover back to allow my sloar to re-charge.  When I retire I will move the camper home and keep it on my truck.  Once a month I will plug into shore power.  Don't leave it plugged in.

[PaulT]

As long as you have the IOTA power supply with the the IQ4 smart charger module, your batteries will be fine.  

 

Leaving it plugged in isn't necessary if you have the factory Zamp solar panel as that will also keep your batteries in fully charged condition even in western Oregon. I live in Hillsboro.

 

The main thing to understand is that there is no agreement among the various indicators about the State of Charge (SOC). The FWC panel shows fully charged, the Zamp shows 3/4 charged and the IQ4 LED indicates that the batteries are fully charged, all while the Zamp display shows >13 volts except at night. 

 

If you get as picky as some of us about knowing the SOC, buy the Trimetric and calibrate it for your system. A Trimetric is on my list but I need the $200+ for other things right now.  

 

As Kilroy says, keeping it simple is a good thing.

 

Paul

 

[ntsqd]

If the charger is "Smart" it probably would be better to leave it plugged in all of the time than to just let it sit. If the "charger" is like what came in our Phoenix it would without question be better to just let it sit.

 

If the camper doesn't have one of the fancy charging set-up's I'd invest in a battery tender (trickle) charger. There are several on the market  with fairly sophisticated charging methods.

[Oryguntroutbum]

My camper is a 2014 with a Zamp system and I'm pretty sure has the IOTA and the IQ4.   Thanks for the input.

[Riverrunner]

I picked up the IQ4 a few months back for mine.  My camper is off the truck, in the boat barn and I leave it plugged in.  

[craig333]

I'm sure someone mentioned it but as I wasn't paying attention, whats an IQ4 run?

[Riverrunner]

I'm sure someone mentioned it but as I wasn't paying attention, whats an IQ4 run?

$20 on Amazon.  

 

http://www.amazon.co...-1&keywords=iq4

[esimmers]

Both storing a discharged battery and overcharging a stored battery are not good. You have to decide about leaving the charger connected based on your own comfort level.

 

On the one hand, you want to keep the battery charged because you may need to use it and because it's not good for batteries to be stored in a discharged state.

 

On the other hand, you don't want to worry if you charger stays connected that it is overcharging the battery and damaging it.

 

My experience (a FWC-supplied house battery that's now 4 years old) is that a completely disconnected battery hardly discharges any appreciable amount over 4-6 weeks. My experience also is that at other times I've left it plugged into shore power a lot and it still seems OK. I did buy the IQ-4 accessory for the IOTA charger which is supposed to be a "smart charger", one which "maintains" the battery when fully charged at an optimum voltage.

 

Tips for storing a battery not connected to a charger:

 

First, make sure you charged the battery before you store it.

 

Second, be sure a stored battery isn't connected to any load, even those sneaky little loads like the carbon monoxide detector or even a voltage meter or TriMetric; all draw a minuscule amount of juice which will still drain the battery given enough time. There's probably a fuse on or right next to the battery; pull that out to make sure there's no load (and remember where you put the fuse for when you need to put it back in again).

 

Third, go have a home-brew and don't worry about the battery. The worst damage to a battery is caused by deep discharging it beyond 50% of its rating, not by storing a charged battery. There's nothing you can do about that when you're simply storing the battery, so don't worry about it. Relax. Plan your next trip.

Edited by esimmers, 29 January 2015 - 12:45 AM.

[Funstini]

Never thought about it before, but I leave my camper in the driveway with solar panels charging and with no electrical draw except for the two alarms.  After the batteries are fully charged it goes into a "trickle" mode. Is this wearing down my batteries over the long haul?