dickandlois Report post Posted December 6, 2019 With all the conversations about battery issues when the Coaches are in storage and the use of auxiliary battery chargers when the OEM charger / inverter units are not being used for a number of reasons. One needs to read over the information in the Owners manuals very carefully. Smart chargers contain operating software in many cases and how each make and model reacts to a particular application can cause more issues then one expects. There are a number of items they can perform, but some chargers react to any and all external loads or phantom loads as a defective battery oven a given time period. If the batteries are disconnected from any load they can maintain the charge, but if the battery sets of extended periods of time, the natural slow Sulfation process can be interpreted as a bad battery and the chargers can stop any and all charging. When that happens smart chargers will refuse to run a charging mode! Just indicate a bad or defective battery. So one might request a charge maintainer style charger that ignores external or internal load changes. But always read the operators manuals ans ask questions. Sales personal most often consider all chargers to be equal. That information is not in there pay grade! The water levels need to be checked before starting any model charger. USE only distilled water to refill low cells. Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rls7201 Report post Posted December 7, 2019 OK Rich, I see no facts in your post, only ambiguous comment. Please explain what software, how it reacts and what issues one would expect.. How would one know which charger ignores external or internal load changes? Who would we ask? Richard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted December 7, 2019 I use an inexpensive battery maintainer from Harbor Freight for my chassis batteries. Float charge from the inverter for the house Lithiums. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted December 7, 2019 19 minutes ago, desertdeals69 said: I use an inexpensive battery maintainer from Harbor Freight for my chassis batteries. Float charge from the inverter for the house Lithiums. I hope you read the fine print on the HF "maintainer." I don't know if this is still true, but they did offer one unit of the trickle charge variety that will maintain a fully charged battery, but will not bring one that is not fully charged up to a full charge. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted December 7, 2019 43 minutes ago, FIVE said: I hope you read the fine print on the HF "maintainer." I don't know if this is still true, but they did offer one unit of the trickle charge variety that will maintain a fully charged battery, but will not bring one that is not fully charged up to a full charge. That is correct. Why wouldn't start with a full charge to begin with? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted December 7, 2019 My trickle charger is $24 & I use another (same make) for my HD MC ...got them at NAPA 5 years ago! I do not own any Acid Batteries. Rich, I do understand your point. DD69, yours too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted December 7, 2019 12 hours ago, RLS7201 said: OK Rich, I see no facts in your post, only ambiguous comment. Please explain what software, how it reacts and what issues one would expect.. How would one know which charger ignores external or internal load changes? Who would we Richard Richard, The software varies with each manufacture it is loaded into a ROM type device. As mentioned in OP, some smart chargers see phantom loads or Engine ECM and other devices that need power all the time to maintain stored preset information. When that happens many smart chargers will stop charging and issue a defective battery warning. They are not always that smart! OK Rich, I see no facts in your post, only ambiguous comment. That is because it was intentional! Different manufactures make smart chargers and they all have different internal parameters. So it is a buyer beware issue, to match application to the information offered in the owners manuals. How would one know which charger ignores external or internal load changes? Who would we ask? My suggestion would be to contact the technical help departments and down load a Owners manual for each model's manual you think might do what you need. The other suggestion is to buy the dumbest battery maintainer on the market, if the vehicle is going to be off the road for extended periods of time. Always check the water levels monthly or no less then every other month. Does This Help! Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted December 8, 2019 On 12/6/2019 at 8:03 PM, desertdeals69 said: That is correct. Why wouldn't start with a full charge to begin with? I need a trickle charger that will bring my toad back up to a full charge after a day of driving. The HF model won't do that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted December 8, 2019 The OP was about storage maintenance not after a days usage. In your case just get a smart charger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mailman Report post Posted December 9, 2019 FIVE "I need a trickle charger that will bring my toad back up to a full charge after a day of driving." I believe the answer to this subject, Is after towing behind Motor Home above says we have a dead battery. Well, does that mean we have no brakes in the towed at this time? If so we have a real safety concern. We need to look at a charge line from the Motor Home to the towed battery. Have it install by a tech . Next Make sure to read the manual of the towed car or truck. The problem might be a fuse not remove. You have to address the position of the key in the towed to not be in assy mode, just unlock wheel steering . Have the Battery check in the towed. For defects. I have had this problem and after doing this above mention clues, I am safety FIRST. Tim the Mailman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted December 9, 2019 Tim. Depends on the type of coach and brake system, as to weather or not you have brake in a toad with dead battery! The M&G system works off my coach air brakes and attaches directly to toad master brake cylinder. My key is in my pocket. Every toad, brake system is different. Rich is the OP on this tread. He tried to give a heads up on a problem that happens when coach is in storage for an extended period of time! NOTHING to do about Toad & dead battery! The newer (modern high tech) the coach is, the more phantom draws you have, if your not on 50 or 30 amp, electric and you only have enough juice to plug in a charger, what type do you need? Unless your older coach is highly modified, like DD69, but a 1974 model like Richard's, then your just plug in and play! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted December 9, 2019 If I were going to store my coach for the winter I would make sure my water system was drained, fuel tank full and fully charged (fluid level full) batteries are disconnected (both positive and negative). But since we go all year long I have a trickle charger mounted in my Battery compartment. It is plugged into my Block Heater outlet. The plug is only hot when plugged into shore power or the generator is running. When plugged in to shore power my inverter is keeping my house batteries and my trickle charger is mantining my chassis batteries. Since I have been using this method I have not had a low chassis battery. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jleamont Report post Posted December 9, 2019 48 minutes ago, hermanmullins said: When plugged in to shore power my inverter is keeping my house batteries and my trickle charger is mantining my chassis batteries. Since I have been using this method I have not had a low chassis battery. Your's doesn't do this automatically, or did the factory system fail? My chassis batteries are charged while on shore or generator power (coach engine off of course). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted December 9, 2019 My Trace Inverter charges only my house batteries and not the chassis. My little $14.00 charger from Wally World is in its 4th year and still working strong. Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
