2004 Starcraft battery Charging

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missingLinke

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Mar 26, 2018
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2
Hello,

So I am going to a site in a few weeks that is completely without any hookups.  I have a nice 2000 watt inverter generator that I'm planning to bring, along with a solar setup (2 x 100w panels with a 120ah AGM deep cycle battery).

In my old popup I was able to go pretty much indefinitely with just the battery and solar since just about everything but the lights and the couple 12v fans I had ran on propane. I'm expecting similar with the TT, but what I'm not so sure about is having multiple items charging the battery at the same time and how that will effect everything.

So first thing, I know that the TT itself will trickle charge the battery when it is on shore/generator power.  If I have that hooked up at the same time I have my solar panels plugged in, will that effect the system at all?

Also, since the TT only trickle charges the battery, can I plug in my actual battery charger to the battery and hook it to the generator as well as having it connected to the RV while running the genny?  The could potentially mean the battery will be getting power from the TT, from the battery charger connected to the generator and the solar panel. 

My goal is to be able to set everything up once and not have to connect/disconnect wires depending on what I have running.

Thanks in advance for any assistance

PJ
 
In most trailers, the built-in converter will fully charge the battery over time when plugged in. They are typically a full charger, not a trickle charger. Make and model of the converter might confirm that and, if so, there will be no need for that additional charger to be hooked up (unless the converter is defective and not up to the job).

The solar system with a with a regular can be hooked up at the same time as the converter is run with no ill effects. You might benefit from an additional panel and/or an additional battery  if there is room and if the panels are in full sun for the whole time and not in a partial shade situation.
 
Alfa38 pretty much covered the salient points.  It's not something you need to worry about. The battery(s) just see voltage on the wire and suck in whatever amps are available.

The onboard charger in your 2004 Starcraft is capable of much more than a trickle.  Most onboard converter/chargers can provide 30 or more amps @ 14v+ for charging. If you would identify the converter/charger model we could probably tell you more, but I found a manual for a 2004 Starcraft TT that stated a 45 amps capability. Your '04 is likely the same.
 
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