Does the built in charger charge both house and engine battery?

[gandwadventure]

My dealer closed and i forgot to ask, does the built in charger charge both house and engine battery? Or just the house batteries?
Thankd


Edit by John - made subject more descriptive

 

[afchap]

Some do, some don't.  My guess on your Adventurer would be "no", but I wouldn't bet lunch on that answer!!  The best way to know for SURE about YOUR coach would be to call or email Winnebago Owner Relations at (800) 537-1885 or [email protected] and provide them the s/n of your coach along with any questions you have.

Welcome to the forum!!  Enjoy the RV adventure...

 

[emiddleb]

Generally, the solar panel, generator, and shore power all charge the house batteries.  Engine batteries are usually charged (like a car) by the engine alternator.

Some models (mostly newer) have a bridge, like a Trik-L-Charger, that will draw current from the house batteries to keep the engine batteries charged from parasitic drain but it's running the engine that really charges up the engine batteries.

Your owner's manual should tell you, or you could contact Winne customer service to be sure.

 

[SargeW]

You would have to have something like a "Trick-L-Start" installed. It pulls a minute amount of the current supplied to the house batteries and diverts it to the chassis batteries. Other than that it is not generally built into the charger.

 

[John Canfield]

Your shore-powered charger will not charge your chassis battery unless like Marty said, there was an after-market device installed like the Trik-L-Start.

Beginning with the 2006 model year, Winnebago added Trik-L-Start to the diesel pusher line but I don't believe they are doing them on the gas chassis.

Oh - welcome aboard!

 

[gandwadventure]

Thanks for your help. I am going to like this forum

 

[emiddleb]

Yes, a great forum.

Gotta watch out for John Canfield though...  he keeps coming up with seriously good projects that end up making work for you when you see them and think "I can do that!" 

 

[John Canfield]

I like to refer to myself as a change facilitator.  ;D

 

[muskoka guy]

My 37 g winne has a boost button on the dash. In the event that the engine battery had gotten run down but my house batteries are charged, I can hold down the boost button and it will link the house batteries with the engine battery to allow me to start the motor.  Should also work the other way as well. My generator starts off my house batteries and if I let the house drain too far down it will not start the generator.  It is not advisable to run your batteries below 50 percent charge. If your charger does charges your engine battery, this info might still be helpful as the engine battery doesnt get discharged  by the house fixtures and appliances.

 

[DeWat]

I think just about all of today's Class As have an Emergency/Boost button, but as you said, the best thing is not to run any of the batteries down in the first place (below 50%).  And in line with John Canfield's reply, my '13 Vista... gasser... does not have any form of after market chassis battery charger.  I'm looking at getting a BatteryMinder for mine, just don't know when yet.  So many toys, so little money  :'(.

 

[Director]

My answer would be -- if you are gas, no. I had to add the Trick-L Charger. Took less than ten minutes. The part even has a Winnebago part number on it. The cost is about $ 35.00.

Here's a link to a good read on the unit and situation in general:

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Trik-L-Start-Is-The-Trick-For-Easy-Starting-RV-Engines&id=6485156

 

[M1894]

They even work on non-Winnie units as well. I tried one called trickle charge, and ended up with the trickle start when the trickle charge wouldn't maintain the chasis batteries. [3 AGM size 31's


Lee

 

[SargeW]

Oh yes, we never meant to imply that the Trik-L-Start would only work in Winnebago units. It is a great add on to ANY motorized RV.

 

[winnie32v]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a $4.99 (on sale) Trickel charger, connect the alligator clips to the respective engine battery treminals, run the wire from the battery box to the nearest 110 outlet and plug it in.
DONE.
I have one installed in my unit and I ALWAYS have a fully charged battery.  I have been in Florida all winter and my battery is always fully charged.
When I pull the shore line, battery charger is disconnected but waiting for the next time I am hooked into 110 supply.
Nothing can be easier than this.

I also use these for my cars and motorcycle batteries that are in storage when I am in Florida in the winter.

Battery is never overcharged or run dry.

That's what these chargers are made for.................................................

 

[Director]

I never meant to imply the Trick-L-Start was only for Winnies. I just found it interesting that it now has a Winnebago part number on it. Like it may now be standard.

I like it because it does exactly what you want - keep engine battery ready and does so without any 110v involved. Here's a shot of it mounted in my battery compartment.

 

[John Hilley]

What I like about the Trik-L-Start is that it works with whatever charges the House Batteries. When I am boondocking out here in the Arizona desert, my solar panels charge my House Batteries and my Chassis Battery.

 

[Clay L]

Go to Harbor Freight and buy a $4.99 (on sale) Trickel charger, connect the alligator clips to the respective engine battery treminals, run the wire from the battery box to the nearest 110 outlet and plug it in.
DONE.
I have one installed in my unit and I ALWAYS have a fully charged battery.  I have been in Florida all winter and my battery is always fully charged.
When I pull the shore line, battery charger is disconnected but waiting for the next time I am hooked into 110 supply.
Nothing can be easier than this.

I also use these for my cars and motorcycle batteries that are in storage when I am in Florida in the winter.

Battery is never overcharged or run dry.

That's what these chargers are made for.................................................

We tried to use those on my SILs orchard for the equipment in the winter and had a number (3) of them die within a month or so.
We ended up using a BatteryMinder (handles 4 batteries at once). That was 4 years ago and it is still working fine.

Maybe we got a bad lot of the HF units or something.

 

[Molaker]

The easy way to answer the question would be to measure the chassis battery voltage while plugged in to shore power.  If being charged, it should read up around 13.5 vdc.  When unplugged it should drop.  If no change between plugged in and unplugged, the chassis battery is not being charged by shore power.

 

[Wavery]

I had the same question on my newly acquired '98 Adventurer.....

On mine, all batteries are charged by the engine alternator while driving. Only the "House batteries" are charged by the 110V converter and it does a poor job of it.

I am installing a 160W solar array on my roof to top off my house batteries. I had it on my travel trailer and I never had to be concerned about battery charging. I am now selling the TT and transferring the 2, 80W solar panels and may add a 3rd.

We rarely camp with hook-ups. We carry a little Honda EU2000i genset for battery charging and basic 110V requirements but this crummy converter won't charge the batteries adequately. Hopefully, your 2004 has a "Smart Charger" in the converter.

 

[Garyk]

Your shore-powered charger will not charge your chassis battery unless like Marty said, there was an after-market device installed like the Trik-L-Start.

Beginning with the 2006 model year, Winnebago added Trik-L-Start to the diesel pusher line but I don't believe they are doing them on the gas chassis.

Oh - welcome aboard!

You're right, mine did not come with Trik-L-start