Plugging into 110v while in storage?

[buzzman]

Just wondering if any of you know if there is a problem with plugging the camper into 110v shore power while the camper is in storage with no aux battery connected? My aux battery is in the truck. I read somewhere in a Motorhome magazine, that my neighbor gave to me, that leaving the camper plugged into 110v power when no aux battery is connected is hard on the converter and not recommended. I couldn't find anything in the FWC owner's manual about this. This may not be an issue with our "small TC's" but I'd like to know for sure.

Stan or Ben?

Buzzman

 

[EdoHart]

Trickle charger

I don't know about the newer campers, but my 2000 hawk didn't have any kind of 120VAC to 12VDC converter, so I added a small Exide 1.5 Amp battery maintainer to my FWC. It has the sense and logic (it that's the correct terminology) to know when to trickle charge the battery or not, based on the condition of the battery. I connected it so that it gets power when ever I'm plugged into shore power. The one draw back is that when not connected to shore power, it draws a few hundred milliamps which will drain the battery over a few weeks. For now, I unplug the connector to the +12VDC side when I don't use it. The correct solution is to find the appropriate diode to place inline with the +12VDC wire.

 

[EdoHart]

Oops, To finish

According the manual on the Exide, no harm is done if it is connected to 120 VAC, but is not connect to a 12VDC battery.