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10-25-2022, 01:38 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 5
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disconnecting battery for multi-month storage
A real newbie here. We have 2720. We bought it in 2021 From Scott in Hawaiian Gardens, wonderful support.
We have had a few things get in the way of taking any long-distance trips. I park the unit in the garage with the help of a neighbor and a Trailer Valet.
Do I need to disconnect the battery or install a kill switch? I imagine we would be connected to our tow vehicle, a Ranger, for at least 3 hours before we would arrive at any destination we are likely to visit on this battery, which is whatever the factory supplied.
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10-25-2022, 02:13 PM
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#2
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Site Team
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,112
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You have some options.
TrailManors, like all RVs, have a number of small parasitic loads (electricity users) that are permanently connected. In 7-10 days, these loads will cause significant (but not fatal) discharge of your battery. This depends, of course, on the size of your battery and its initial charge state, and it assumes that all the switchable loads - lights, appliances, etc - are turned off. So your first option: if you are going to leave the TM sitting for only a couple days, don't worry about it.
Second option is to disconnect the battery. This is easily done by pulling the main fuse in the battery positive wire. This wire will be either red or black, and the fuse will be located less than a foot from the battery's positive (+) post. With this fuse pulled, the parasitic loads are completely disconnected, and the TM can sit for a month or more without ill effect. A fancy way of doing this, and more convenient in the long run, is to install a battery cutoff switch in the positive (+) wire from the battery. I did it on my previous TM, and liked it a lot.
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...off#post121160
Third option is to leave your battery connected, and get a "battery maintainer" (not the same as a trickle charger) and connect it to your battery. A battery maintainer is a small but smart battery charger that monitors the battery voltage, provides enough charge current to make up for those parasitic loads, and stops charging when no charge is needed. There are a number of good battery maintainers, and if you search this forum for the word "maintainer", you will find a lot of discussion. My personal favorite is called Battery Tender (sometimes spelled Battery Tenda), and the model is called Junior, which can supply 0.75 amps of charge current. You don't need more than this. However, there are a number of other good maintainers, so you have choices. With a maintainer connected, you can leave your battery forever. No worries about forgetting to turn it on or off.
Bill
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10-25-2022, 02:38 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,112
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Some additional thoughts:
1. If you are going to let your TM sit for a while - maybe a week or two - don't just plug your TM into house power and leave it, thinking the onboard converter-charger will take care of the battery. The converter-charger does a great job of providing lots of charge current when it is needed, but isn't so good at fine-grain control of small current. Some of them eventually overcharge your battery, some eventually undercharge it. You want to avoid both.
2. You didn't mention the model of your TM, but if it is one with the battery in the rear compartment, it can be kind of annoying to get access to it to pull the fuse and/or make connections, especially if your TM is backed into the garage, blocking access to the rear compartment. If this is your case, you can be a little fancy and arrange to charge the battery through the Bargman connector (the 7-pin connector that you plug into your car when traveling). It makes things easy. When I finish backing my TM into the garage, I just go up to the front end, and plug the Bargman into the matching connector coming from the Battery Tender. There is some good info here, along with photos and details in the later half of the thread.
https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ner#post118140
Bill
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10-25-2022, 05:04 PM
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#4
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Site Sponsor
Join Date: Sep 2021
Posts: 83
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I am a firm believer in a battery cutoff switch. I want to be able to know that there is no current coming off of the battery and that all circuits are dead. Note that if/when you go this route though, you will have to rewire the breakaway switch so that it is not switched off with the battery disconnect. Easy to do but also easy to miss.
__________________
Jim and Kelli Gizzi
Ferndale, WA
2005 2720QB
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10-29-2022, 11:18 AM
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#5
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 5
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I bought a Battery Minder brand charger at Costco; however, it says nothing about a third stage of charging is this worth keeping? p/n 022-0370-DL-WH. Costco ITEM#1510107. dDistrubed by Deltran ZUsa Inc. Dbt Suto Electrical products ltd
output120 ..1.1A 12v 4.5A 6v 4.5A.
It came with two prong power cord and battery clamps as well as ring leads??
So will this boil my battery dry????? thanks so much.
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10-29-2022, 01:35 PM
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#6
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TrailManor Master
Join Date: Jan 2022
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 2,846
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbill2720QS
I bought a Battery Minder brand charger at Costco; however, it says nothing about a third stage of charging is this worth keeping? p/n 022-0370-DL-WH. Costco ITEM#1510107. dDistrubed by Deltran ZUsa Inc. Dbt Suto Electrical products ltd
output120 ..1.1A 12v 4.5A 6v 4.5A.
It came with two prong power cord and battery clamps as well as ring leads??
So will this boil my battery dry????? thanks so much.
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The issue with some of those low amperage chargers is that they are not regulated. In other words, they continue charging even those the battery is fully charged.
That low amp of charging is just enough to keep the battery warm enough to cause evaporation. What can happen is the battery can low on water (over time) and damage the battery.
You may be wise to put that on your battery for 24-hours, once a month.
__________________
TrailManor Elkmont
640W solar- 230AH LiFeP04 Battery
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10-29-2022, 03:16 PM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: The mountains of Scottsdale, AZ, and the beaches of Maine
Posts: 10,112
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnbill2720QS
I bought a Battery Minder brand charger at Costco ... p/n 022-0370-DL-WH. Costco ITEM#1510107. dDistrubed by Deltran ZUsa Inc. Dbt Suto Electrical products ltd
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I can't find any info on this charger using the info you have provided. Nothing on Costco, nothing on Battery Minder that is anywhere near the specs you listed, nothing on Deltran or Deltran ZUsa, nothing on Suto Electronics. Can you dig up a reference and clue us in? Deltran does have a 4 amp 6/12v Battery Tender (not Battery Minder), but it is kind of expensive.
Kinda makes you wonder ...
Bill
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