Removing House Batteries

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tmc1953

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Jan 28, 2018
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We are having difficulties with our house batteries.  They are not charging.  We are currently at a campground and plugged into shore power.  Is it ok to unplug from shore power, remove the batteries and then plug back into shore power?

We will take care of the batteries in the morning but for tonight we would really like some heat and lights. 

Side note, the converter tried to charge the house batteries for several hours.  When we checked the batteries were hot and still not charged.

Thanks for any suggestions/ideas.
 
What type of batteries...6v or 12v, etc. How old are they? Have you checked the water level? Are you sure that converter is not the problem?
 
What is the age of your RV?  Most newer converters will operate fine without the batteries being connected, but there are some earlier designs that need the batteries connected to smooth out their output.
 
What is the water level in the batteries?

It's very important that you don't try charging them with no water in them.

If you've never checked the water level I'll hazard a guess and say they are low on water.
 
Short answer to your question, yes you should be able to unhook the batteries and run off of the converter for the night. Don't forget to label the wiring , and take good pictures before unhooking to make hooking everything back up a smooth process. Ensure all your cable terminals are spotless, and coat the battery terminals with terminal spray when done.
 
If you decide to remove the batteries and hook back up make sure the positive cables are taped up so the don't come in contact with the ground wires or any metal surfaces.
 
Sure, but you don't even have to unhook from shore power - just flip off the 30A breaker that powers the converter/charger.  The breaker should have a label.

Not sure what removing the batteries will do to get you heat & lights, though.  You don't need batteries for that - you need a working converter/charger.  You should have 12v power regardless of battery condition or presence, unless perhaps the converter/charger shut down because the batteries are shorted internally.
 
Generally speaking with any RV manufactured this century...... The answer is yes, you can remove it.
Some older units with Magnetek converters.. Perhaps not.

SUGGESTION.. The day before removal get two bottles of nail polish, or two cans of spray paint, One black and one Red.

SPRAY or paint all the wires hooked to the most positive terminal RED and the negative BLACK.  let dry.


When you disconnect.
First disconnect all negative wires (IF you have six volt in series ignore the jumper for now) TIE all the wires together

THEN Do the positive and again tie them and INSULATE them (A sock over the wiresk, a plastic cup or container, or layers of masking tape)

Reconnect in reverse order  Red first, then black.
 
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