Can you charge the batteries when the unit is closed with shore power?

[kikeehn]

cmboyd,
I have both and used both when I had my class A
I used the 5 amp model for the chassis battery and the 1.25 amp for the 2/6 volt house batteries, but I'm pretty sure you can use either. All Battery Tenders are for 12volt applications, and I left them connected all the time. For safety I would check the Battery electrolyte every so often just to be safe.
Go to batterytender.com or phone #386-401-4792
cm,
Besides buying direct, I've noticed them at Camping World, Amazon,and Walmart.
I like Bills idea of the Bargman connector and I plan on using it.
Hope this helps.
Kerry

[GolfingDebby]

Below is the quote from Rumbleweed and the link to the one he recommends:

It sounds like you have shore power available to the TM location based on the options you are inquiring about. I recommend adding a pigtail directly to the battery and connecting to a Battery Tender (Link Below). They can be left on indefinitely and will not over charge the battery. I do not recommend connecting the Battery Tender to the Bargman as it will have a negative effect on the sensing circuitry. I have gotten 8+ years out of motorcycle batteries using battery tenders.
http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tender...battery+tender

[EDIT - Debbie - the link from Rumbleweed's post didn't copy. I suggest that you go either directly to the Deltran site
http://www.batterytender.com/?gclid=...FYWFfgodHzkAFA
or to Amazon and do a Search on Battery Tender. Bill]

[kikeehn]

To all
If I can remember, I'll call Battery Tender tommorrow and ask them about Rumbleweeds post, and post later tommorrow.
All Battery Tenders do come with two types of connections. One comes with alligator clamps and the other is ring connectors.

[Padgett]

Just to amplify a little: Float chargers are designed to be connected directly to the battery. The resistivity of 20+ feet of wire (goes from the bargman to the converter and then to the battery) could affect the unit though at less than an amp, should not be much.

[tentcamper]

I went with a battery tender. The issue with using the camper charger is:

- You have to have the wires connected from the converter to the battery. The trailermanor leaks a little electricity and in a few weeks you will have a dead battery,if you are not recharging. Where with the battery minder you can remove the ground leads on the battery and not have that leak. So with the TM charger you end up leaving in on and end up using much more electricity to maintain the battery.

- I also believe that any converter has a limited use life. So I would rater wear out a battery minder than my converter. Twice in my many years of having campers, I have replace my converter. The way I look at it is, if I run the converter for the 5-6 months in the winter, its the same as about 150 - 180 days of camping.

[kikeehn]

To all posters
I just talked to Battery Tender and they do not recommend any other connection other than DIRECT CONNECT to the battery. Padgett is correct in that the Battery Tender is considered a float charger and should only be direct connected.
The way it was explained by one of there techs, the Tender is designed to read the voltage in the Battery and keep it charged, or maintained. Also do not have the TM connected to shore power when your using the Battery Tender. Either disconnect the battery or install a Battery Cutoff Switch.
GolfingDebby is correct in his statement that it will ( The Bargman) have a negative effect on the sensing circuitry in the Battery Tender.
Hope this helps
Kerry

[tentcamper]

Our tender came with a small wire harness that one end fits over studs on the battery and the other end is a quick disconnect for the tender. We just leave this harness on the battery all the time and plug in the tender when we get home.

A few times in the winter, I disconnect it for about 3 weeks to get the battery voltage to drop down into the 12.3-4 range and then re-charge with my battery charger for 24 hours. Then it back on the tender. I read somewhere that it's good to let a battery in storage discharge some once in awhile and go through a bulk charge.

[Bill]

A number of good questions raised here. Let me address some of them.

First, the most common question. Does the Battery Tender have to be connected directly to the battery? Umm, no. The issue is reported to be the length of the cable, and its effect on the ability of the Battery Tender to sense the battery voltage correctly. But in fact, Deltran sells an extension cable for the battery connection, part number 081-0148-25. You can see it on Amazon, or on the Deltran site. It is 25 feet long, made of #18 (i.e., small!) gauge wire. But why use their extension cable? If you plug the Battery Tender into the Bargman connector, you are effectively using an extension cable of the same length, but made of the #10 (i.e., large!) wire that is built into the TM. This is better.

So why does Deltran say that you must connect direct to the battery? It is a CYA for them. Since some of their customers are not electrically knowledgable, Deltran can't know what connectors or connections or wires they might use. But what they do know is that if the customer's arrangement doesn't work, Deltranl get a product return, and a bad reputation. To avoid that, they try to cut off the possibility of any other connection method. But since using their extension cable is quite all right, cable length is not an issue.

So there is no reason that the Battery Tender must be connected directly to the battery, no matter what the phone rep tells you.

Second, in response to your question, Cindy, I use the Battery Tender Junior (0.75 amps capability). It is more than enough, and about half the cost of the larger units.

There are a couple mounting options for the Battery Tender. I chose to mount my Battery Tender on the garage wall near the front of the trailer, simply for convenience. When I back the trailer into the garage, I don't have access to the rear of the trailer, where the battery lives. So instead, I just plug the Battery Tender into the Bargman connector up front. However, it would be just as good to mount it on the garage wall near the rear of the trailer if you can get to it. Or to mount it inside the trailer, permanently connected to the battery, and simply bring the AC cord out.

The important thing is not to power up the Battery Tender at the same time as the trailer (which would power up the converter in the trailer).

Bill

[kikeehn]

Bill,
Good points Bill, I was just passing on what the tech from Deltran told me.
Having said that, did you get my PM on correct wiring up of the Bargman?

[Bill]

Yes, I did, and I will respond later today, with pix.

Regarding parasitic loads. When you connect the Battery Tender to the battery, either directly or through an extension cable, all of the parasitic loads within the TM are still connected to the battery. (If needed, you can do a forum Search on "parasitic loads" and get a lot more info.) The Battery Tender powers these loads as part of its normal operation. Another way to look at it is to say that the battery is still powering these loads, which discharges the battery slightly, and the Battery Tender senses this discharge and replaces the lost energy. Same thing. Conclusion? No need for a battery disconnect switch.

For people who care about tech details, here is an interesting one. This morning I set my DVM to read DC current, and connected it in series with the Battery Tender. I expected to see a constant charge current of about 200 milliamps, enough to run the parasitic loads plus a bit more for battery charging. This is NOT what I saw! Instead, the Battery Tender puts a short burst of current down the line. The burst appears to be about 300-400 mA, and lasts about half a second. Then the Tender turns off the current for about half a second. During this dead interval, it measures the battery voltage, and decides how big the next pulse should be. This is a wonderful charging method, because battery voltage is measured at a time when no charge current is flowing down the line. So once again this puts to rest all the fears about voltage drop in the charge cable messing up the sensing. I'm impressed with Deltran. I didn't know this little charger had that capability. Conventional "trickle chargers" certainly do not.

Bill