Battery charging at home

[Perk]

I need a way to keep all 6 batteries charged in our motor home and want to use some type of trickle charger that can be plugged in to a 110 volt outlet. Is there a really good product on the market we can use? While parked at home I am unable to hook to either 30 or 50 amp. power, so to my knowledge the only way other than solar so I will have to use some sort of battery charger. However I want to make sure whatever I use it will keep all six batteries charged.....Is there a way? Our motor home is a 2002 Newmar Dutch Star.

Thanks,

Perk

 

[John From Detroit]

Well. depending on the converter in your MH it may well be the best choice.  If you have a magna-junk batery boiler... Replace it, but if you have any of the good ones (Way too many to list 'em all) such as a Xantrex or Progressive Dynamics WITH Wizard,  That is your best choice

A 15 amp house outlet will run a converter up to 60 amps, and with a proper plug adapter up to 80 amp. (The 80 amp converter in my rig has a 20 amp plug but it never draws that much)

Just so you know

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Since you would need an extension cord to the motorhome for the external battery charger, why not just plug the coach into the extension cord? As John suggests, a 15A power cord will run the coach's converter or inverter charging system fine.

But if you want a separate system, a battery maintainer such as the Battery Minder or Battery Tender would be good choices. Read about them here:
http://www.batteryweb.com/batterymindercomparison.cfm

http://www.batterytender.com/

 

[Perk]

My most important question is if I plug it in to my motor home will it charge all six batteries?

Thanks

 

[LspTpr]

Well. depending on the converter in your MH it may well be the best choice.  If you have a magna-junk batery boiler... Replace it, but if you have any of the good ones (Way too many to list 'em all) such as a Xantrex or Progressive Dynamics WITH Wizard,  That is your best choice

A 15 amp house outlet will run a converter up to 60 amps, and with a proper plug adapter up to 80 amp. (The 80 amp converter in my rig has a 20 amp plug but it never draws that much)


Can u explain this a little better to me.  i was looking at battery chargers also and not aware of being able to plug in to the converter to keep the batteries charged.  or did i misread something.

 

[Kirk]

Probably not. There are a few motorhomes that do have a provision for the converter/inverter to also keep a slight charge on the chassis batteries, but most do not.

What I use is a "Battery Companion" from Shumacher, the same company that makes many of the battery chargers you see. It monitors the battery voltage, raising it up to 12.8V and the cycles off until it falls to 12.4V. I have used one on my chassis battery for the past nine years with great success. I think that I might use two of them, one for the chassis and one for the coach.

 

[scottydl]

Well. depending on the converter in your MH it may well be the best choice.  If you have a magna-junk batery boiler... Replace it, but if you have any of the good ones (Way too many to list 'em all) such as a Xantrex or Progressive Dynamics WITH Wizard,  That is your best choice

A 15 amp house outlet will run a converter up to 60 amps, and with a proper plug adapter up to 80 amp. (The 80 amp converter in my rig has a 20 amp plug but it never draws that much)

Just so you know

^^ That's exactly what I do.  My rig is just plugged into my house, with an adapter that converts my 30-amp RV plug into a 20-amp household plug.  Extension cord runs to an exterior outlet on the house.  My converter is a 60-amp Progressive Dynamics model with the charge wizard, which means it will detect the current state of my house batteries and reduce its charging rate so it doesn't boil the batteries.  I still check the water levels periodically.

I also have a 1.5-amp trickle charger that I plug into the RV exterior outlet, to keep my chassis battery topped off too.  It is not charged by my RV converter (some MH's are) and has a couple drains on it so it goes dead after 2-3 days if I don't disconnect it or keep it charged when I'm not camping.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

My most important question is if I plug it in to my motor home will it charge all six batteries?

Some do and some do not. I'm pretty sure your 2002 Dutch Star is one that does, but maybe another Dutch Star owner can confirm that.  Perhaps Jim Godward or Daisy Thomas could help out here.

 

[John From Detroit]

Most motor homes have two 12 volt systems, Engine or chassis (also called Main) , and HOUSE (Also called Aux)  Some charge both systems from shore power, some don't.

IF yours is one that does not (A volt meter will quickly tell you, when idle the voltage on both battery systems should be identical if it's a dual charge) then the Xantrex Echo Charge or the Trick-L-Start (Which is less expensive) is for you

3 wire hookup.  that's all, both sides of your isolator relay and ground.