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Topic: Stay connected to shore power when stored for winter? (Read 811 times) previous topic - next topic
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Stay connected to shore power when stored for winter?

Yahoo Message Number: 103435
That unfortunate time of year is here, when us Northerners put our coaches into winter hibernation for the next 6 months.  In my case, my 1998 Intrigue sits on a concrete pad alongside my garage, where I have a dedicated 30A shore power connection for it.  For the past two winters (since I have owned it) I have left the shore power cord plugged in, all the breakers in the coach in the on position, and would turn the 30A outlet on and off from my garage's breaker panel.  My methodology was to leave it off most of the time and turn on for 24-48 hours every few weeks throughout the winter in order to keep the batteries charged.  And it worked well; my 6+ year old house (conventional lead-acid) batteries survived the zub-zero winters just fine, and the 3 year old chassis battery is going strong as well.

But the time has come to replace for sure the house batteries in the spring, so that got me wondering whether I should continue my past practice to keep the chassis battery happy in the event it is still strong enough for another season, or whether I should just charge up good, shut off the breakers (and/or disconnect battery cables directly), and leave shore power disconnected all winter.
Then of course next year when I have new batteries, what is the best practice for keeping plugged in all winter, my method of charging every few weeks, or complete disconnection with no attention all winter?  I don't exactly know what the inverter/charger system does when plugged in to shore power for months continuously, whether it has the 'smarts' to trickle/maintain charge and kick in higher amperage only when needed etc. or if I am wasting electricity or battery or charger life by doing so.

Any recommendations or experiences from fellow northern winter survivors would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mark M

1998 Intrigue #10661

Re: Stay connected to shore power when stored for winter?

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103438
Mark, I leave mine plugged in constantly while parked in my driveway. I have done this for many years for several months each year. If your inverter/charger is working properly, then it will go to automatic trickle charge which will do no harm. If you are concerned about electricity usage you may want to hook up a "Kill A Watt EZ" Electric usage monitor. This device will record actual power usage over time.
Daron Hairabedian, 98 Allure 30226
 

Re: Stay connected to shore power when stored for winter?

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 103441
For the last 13 years I have left my coach plugged in during virtually any storage time. I only have access to 20 amp service so I throw off all unnecessary breakers. Got my original house AGM'S to last till this year using this approach. My lead-acid chassis battery is 10 years old and still performs fine, but I use a separate $40 smart charger (Battery Tender brand) to maintain that one since the echo charger was never up to the job. I do not recommend your approach of shutting the power off for weeks then running it for a day or two. A float charge is battery heaven but takes time to get there. The electricity I use is marginal once the batteries are fully charged. New Hampshire winters are tough, but the coach is always ready to go in the Spring. Good luck.
Jeff T '03 Intrigue 42 Ovation w/400 ISL.