Using RV 30 amp outlet at home

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Bozopolis

Bozopolis

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Posts
23
Location
Kingman Arizona
Not sure yet how much we'll be using our newly purchased used RV. My wife still works a couple of weeks each month. I have a place at home to park the RV with connections for water and power (a 30 amp outlet). Since we just got it we've been in it a lot doing little projects. I replaced the old TV in our 2006 unit with a newer LED set and built a mount for it. My wife has been cleaning and lining cabinets and drawers. I've turned on the Air Conditioning a few times but don't leave it on. About the only thing we've used is the overhead lights and the 110 outlets for a radio and the TV. I've read different things about the batteries of the RV regarding overcharging. If I'm going to be parked at least 2 weeks each month here is there anything I need to do to make sure I don't ruin our batteries? I'm new to this but if I understand correctly the batteries charge while plugged into the 30amp outlet? The light for the AUX battery on the control panel is on anyway. I see devices like trickle chargers and other devices people say to use to preserve the batteries.

Any tips from the experienced RV'ers on this and other things I should or should not do while parked?
 
If the inverter is a 3 stage then there should be no problem leaving it plugged in.
They are designed to not over charge the batteries.

Many times the Engine batteries are NOT charged when the unit is plugged in.
2 weeks should be no problem.  I use a battery tender every so often on my engine batteries to keep them topped off.
 
What Red said.  Without more info, hard to guess what quality & type of converter/charger you have, so overcharging is a impassibility. RV year/make/.model would help, but charger brand & model would help even more.
 
Would not think having it plugged in at home would hurt it. If you were camping for weeks at a time you are not going to keep unplugging it. I load my fridge in the spring and it stays on until winter when we park the rv. When its at home, its plugged into the house. When we are camping its plugged in there. When we in transit, the fridge runs on propane. It never shuts off. I do occasionally check my batteries for fluid and top up with distilled water if they are down. They seldom ever are.
 
I leave two campers plugged in from April 1 - October 31 each year.  I haven't had any problems.
 
Gary RVer Emeritus said:
What Red said.  Without more info, hard to guess what quality & type of converter/charger you have, so overcharging is a impassibility. RV year/make/.model would help, but charger brand & model would help even more.
Click to expand...

The first thing I had to do was change the converter as the original one failed or was already bad. I put in a Progressive Dynamics Intellipower 9100 series and I just ordered the Charge Wizard that interfaces with it to hopefully avoid any issue. My wife and I read about checking the water in the batteries. I have done that and so far it is okay. I tried to check everything I could since I'm really new to this and wanted to learn as much as possible. I even figured out how to check the dually tire pressure on the back tires.

Appreciate all of the responses. I have read so many different things in different places about disconnecting batteries, etc. I just wanted the straight scoop from people who know and I'm glad all of the responses were the same. The place I bought it from told me I had to use the Aux battery exclusively for 12v and run the engine 30 minutes a day. Evidently that's what they tell their renters too. When I asked them about the converter (that was bad) they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. After 4 days of ownership I felt like I knew about as much as they did?
 
I dont run my engine 30 minutes a day either. Never had a problem starting the coach. The batteries that start the engine are separate from the house batteries and do not get drawn down by using the motorhome. You dont start your car everyday if you arent going to drive it. Maybe if it sat for months or the batteries were bad.  Mine also has a boost button on the dash i can push and jump the house batteries to assist the engine battery to start the engine. I believe it would work the opposite  way as well. I believe my generator starts off the house batteries. If i ever accidentally ran down the house batteries and wanted to start the genny, I would use the button to help start the genny.
 
Running the engine for 30 minutes a day is fine IF that running is by driving around until the engine is thoroughly warmed up. But idling for 30 minutes is not good, as it won't get all the moisture out of the oil and engine parts. But sitting for several days or even a month without starting it won't hurt anything, and is actually better for it than sitting and idling.
 
The 9100 with Charge Wizard will do a fine job of charging batteries and can be left powered on 24/7/365.

I think the dealer was talking about running the engine for 30 minutes to charge batteries, which would be useful if no shore power or genset to power the onboard charger for charging te Aux (house) battery(s). Also, some coach brands/models do not charge the chassis battery from shore power, so it is helpful to run the engine occasionally (every week or two) to re-charge the chassis battery. Other than that, avoid running the coach engine just for drill. It is neither necessary nor desirable.

Yes, the Aux (house) battery(s) is the sole source for house power. The chassis battery is for starting the engine and operating chassis systems and should be saved for that purpose.


The many variations in RV models and the way people use them make it very difficult to give general rules about battery charging and use.
 
Damon shipped my Class A with a Progressive Dynamics Intella-Power 9180 + Wizard

I plugged it in, and save for when I'm on the road, or boondocking,  perhaps a total of one month a year.. it is plugged in 24x7... Original batteries lasted a year without any attention, then they needed a drink of Distalled water.. Over the course of the next EIGHT years they started to drink a bit more frequently but they lasted 9 years before replacement.. The new ones last I checked (Will check again soon) were not yet thirsty.. got 'em in 2014
 
My Charge Wizard arrived today. Plugged it into the converter. Hope it does what it's advertised to do.

I also replaced several of the bulbs with LED ones. Has anyone had experience with LED's? The overhead ones sure are a lot whiter. Brightness seems about the same. Maybe slightly better. They sure seem cooler. After having them on quite a while it was still pretty cool.
 
For the most part LED's come in
Cool White (Very bright white light)
Warm White (More yellow)
Crap (Dim, blue, not as advertised)

Cool is actually slightly blue but it appears very very very white.
 
Few people are aware of the brightness (lumen) and color (Kelvin) spec for the incandescent bulbs they use and in most cases there was no choice anyway. All 1157 bulbs, for example, conform [roughly] to the same spec. When you buy Leds, though, you generally have a wide choice of color range (show in degrees Kelvin) and brightness (lumens).  All brands of Leds are most definitely NOT all the same, even is built on the same BA15S  base as an incandescent. It's double edged sword: you have more choices but you have to learn how to choose.

I've put an article in the RVForum Library on Led Lighting and how to understand the choices.  See http://www.rvforum.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=507:led-lighting-for-rvs&catid=24&Itemid=132
 
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