Similar Question But Different - Disconnecting Batteries

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arcticfox2005

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Apr 18, 2011
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Our new Winnebago Class C has a label on the house battery tray that says to disconnect the batteries before hooking up external charging equipment to " avoid damaging sensitive electronic equipment". I use a Battery Tender Plus - is this really necessary? What are they worried about - excessively high voltage?
 
arcticfox2005 said:
...What are they worried about - excessively high voltage?
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I suppose there could be transient voltage spikes when connecting/disconnecting a charger, but I think the caution is a reaction to them being super cautious.  The battery acts like a giant sponge (if you will) absorbing transient voltages so I think you can very safely connect/disconnect a charger.

I liken this to all of the caution labels that are more likely than not a direct result of litigation experiences and risk avoidance.
 
I suppose there could be transient voltage spikes when connecting/disconnecting a charger
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This could maybe be minimized or eliminated by following Battery Tender's advice to connect the battery leads before plugging the charger in.
 
Our new Winnebago Class C has a label on the house battery tray that says to disconnect the batteries before hooking up external charging equipment to " avoid damaging sensitive electronic equipment". I use a Battery Tender Plus - is this really necessary?
Click to expand...
They're talking about those big, roll-around shop chargers that can provide enough current to charge a completely dead battery in 20-30 minutes.  To get this current into the battery they raise the voltage on the battery's terminals to very high levels, which is dangerous to any circuit boards that are connected to the battery at the same time.  Like the boards in your water heater, furnace and refrigerator.  And the battery charger's power is unfiltered, making it doubly bad for sensitive circuits.

Don't worry about a battery tender or any other charger that you can lift with one hand.  They don't provide enough voltage or current to pose any danger.
 
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