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geraldlanc

Temp Storage -- What to Do About Electricity

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I live in my 2002 Beaver full-time, but will soon make a trip to Colorado for a month, leaving the RV behind. I assume that I should leave the unit plugged in to shore power so the fridge doesn't switch over to gas, but should I disconnect the chassis and coach batteries? I know that the inverter will kick in if there is a power outage, but that rarely happens here, so should I turn off the inverter as well? I have solar panels on the roof that are supposed (I think ) to charge the batteries, but will that happen if the battery disconnects are off? Gerald

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Gerald,

Sadly, there is no "here is how all of them are wired".

First question: do you have an inverter or inverter/charger?

Does your inverter/charger or converter charge both house and chassis batteries?

If a converter instead of inverter/charger, is it "smart" (i.e. multi stage charging) or "dumb" (constant voltage)?

Let us know and we can give you better advice for your rig.

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aarrgg, electrical things make my head hurt. The control panel for the inverter/charger has a button to turn the inverter off, and in the on position it goes to standby mode while connected to shore power. Should it be in the off position when we are staying in one spot and connected to shore power? The charger has a separate button on and off and in the on position it charges only the house batts. It will go to the ready mode when the correct charge level is achieved. The two coach batts are not charged by the inverter/charger. I don't know what the solar panels do. Thanks for the help.

Gerald

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Gerald,

What inverter/charger do you have?

Do you have the owners manual for it-- if not, likely available online. That will tell you how to program it (called setting the dip switches on some older models).

If chassis batteries are not charged, you can either disconnect them (should be OK disconnected for just a month).

Be sure to check battery water level before you leave.

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Gerald,

Your question leads to the need of some clarification.

Sounds like you have a RV style refrigerator; not a home style. That being the case you need to have 12 volts DC present for the control board to work. No DC No Cooling. Empty the refrigerator and open it up while gone?

Should you have a 20 amp.AC outlet and adapters to keep things charged, that should keep the refrigerator running.

It is programmable to monitor the AC load, if I'm reading the information correctly.

From your post it sounds like your not real comfortable with some of the equipment your coach is equipped with, so that might not be your best option.

Might just want to place the Coach and Chassis disconnect switches in the off / disconnected state, empty the refrigerator and the coach of any perishables and close it up while your out of town.

You should also drain the holding tanks and the fresh water tank.

Top off the fuel tank and add just a touch of bio-side to the fuel, run the generator and engine for 10 min. or so to get the mixture of Bio-side and fuel into the engines and filters.

A short term storage state.

If the unit is parked outside the solar cells will help keep the batteries charged while you are away.

Rich.

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