Roadtrek Electrical Simulator "Revised 7/1/19."

[wny-pat]

Ran across this over at the Roadtrek Chevy Owners forum. Might help some trouble shoot their problems.
http://www.metrotrekkers.org/utility/electrical.htm

[hbn7hj]

We sometimes forget not everyone knows about. Kudos to the author.

[alaskasail]

I'm storing my 2005 190 in an insulated container and can't move around beside it, so when I pull it in, I plug in a trickle charger to the alternator terminal so that I can keep both banks of batteries topped off. I'm wondering if this is a good idea or not. It has to put a little voltage on the alternator anyway, but no problems yet.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by alaskasail

I'm storing my 2005 190 in an insulated container and can't move around beside it, so when I pull it in, I plug in a trickle charger to the alternator terminal so that I can keep both banks of batteries topped off. I'm wondering if this is a good idea or not. It has to put a little voltage on the alternator anyway, but no problems yet.

It is not a good idea. Fully-disconnected batteries of any commonly-used flavor will maintain adequate charge for many, many months without the slightest issue. A trickle charger accomplishes nothing, and has a (small) chance of malfunction.

Also, if you are storing the vehicle is a sealed container, beware of the accumulation of outgassing from a battery on a charger.

[booster]

Originally Posted by avanti

It is not a good idea. Fully-disconnected batteries of any commonly-used flavor will maintain adequate charge for many, many months without the slightest issue. A trickle charger accomplishes nothing, and has a (small) chance of malfunction.

Also, if you are storing the vehicle is a sealed container, beware of the accumulation of outgassing from a battery on a charger.

Agree, especially if AGM as they will normally make a winter storage and not be down more than maybe 20%. Wet cells, especially if older, may get into an issue and be near going dead, though, especially starting batteries that probably are at only 60-70% most of the time.


I also would not have a charger on any kind running in small closed area, just plain bad idea with stuff that can go wrong. Perhaps, if charging were necessary, having a cord in place that you could open the door and connect to would work to occasionally charge, with the door open, could work out. Only if you need it though.



Most sealed containers are usually not totally sealed against temp swing "breathing" of air in and out, so you can get a humidity build up in them besides. We ran into this when using containers to store overproduced products at a place I worked. This was in Minnesota. Even an insulated, unheated, container will eventually wind up at the average of the outside temp, so if the is below freezing, the unit will freeze inside.


I think, personally, if I were going to store in a container, I would use one that that had ventilation and just count on things freezing inside, but it would stay dry that way. Freezing is not an issue in most cases.

[alaskasail]

Originally Posted by avanti

It is not a good idea. Fully-disconnected batteries of any commonly-used flavor will maintain adequate charge for many, many months without the slightest issue. A trickle charger accomplishes nothing, and has a (small) chance of malfunction.

Also, if you are storing the vehicle is a sealed container, beware of the accumulation of outgassing from a battery on a charger.

I'm back and forth to Alaska so I store it in Arizona in the summer. The main reason I use a container is for those *!!#*&^! rodents and it's great for that. I use a 40' highboy with a wall at 24' with a security door (rodent proof). for access to the front of the RV.

This picture was taken before the container was insulated with rigid insulation. I left an airspace between the roof and the insulation so that a temperature controlled blower can pull out the hot air. The system works very well in Arizona, but heat remans the issue for the batteries. When I store it for the summer, I disconnect the batteries and sometimes remove to a temperature controlled space, but I'm getting too old to lug those suckers around.

So from what you are saying, I could just disconnect the two Lead-Acid house batteries, drive it in to the container and then disconnect the engine battery from the front.

I wonder why trickle chargers are so popular?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by alaskasail

I wonder why trickle chargers are so popular?

For the same reasons why tank chemicals are so popular:
1) Buying stuff for our beloved vans makes us feel good.
2) People's rigs have defects that they don't bother to fix, and it is easier to buy a band aid than to fix the underlying problem.

[michaelingp]

Originally Posted by alaskasail

I wonder why trickle chargers are so popular?

I don't know how popular they are, but I can see a situation where they would be useful (I have done this myself). Suppose you have a car that is rarely used, and the parasitic drain on the battery would deplete the battery in, say, a month. It might be easier to put a trickle charger on the battery than to disconnect the battery before each period of disuse.

Also, trickle chargers are less expensive than full-blown battery chargers. So, suppose you have a 12 volt lead-acid battery in the shed that you use very rarely. It's going to self-discharge maybe as much as 5% a month. Eventually you'll have to re-charge it, so just put it on the trickle charger for a day or so.