Idle RV

[pipepro]

I store my RV in and extra driveway and I leave it plugged in because it seems I'm always going in it to work on something. Do you think this is a good idea? I never knew I had to switch the house batteries on so they could be charged until recently.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

You are correct ,, by doing this you are extending the life of your batteries and exercising equipment
that need it..>>>Dan

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Some converters are "nicer" to batteries than others. Look up the converter you have and see if it's multistage.

Some will say the RV is "made" to be powered and running but I'll present you with this perspective. Even with a "nice" converter you're leaving your RV "on", meaning you're betting the AC power will never go off. In this context it wouldn't have to be a utility outage, it could be a surge that pops a breaker, blows a fuse, a GFCI that trips, or something as simple as a cord getting accidently unplugged. Unless you check on your RV frequently you will likely never notice this happened until the next time you want to go somewhere, and it's dead. Another factor is being connected to the mains all the time it will be subjected to whatever surges or spikes come down the line which can potentially damage electronics. Some might consider the above "paranoia" but I've seen and fixed enough burned up and dead equipment in my life to make me not want to test it. My RV is parked next to my house, unplugged, with an inexpensive battery maintainer on the batteries. 99.9% of the time the maintainer is active, keeping the batteries at 100% and the 120V equipment in the RV is isolated from the mains. In the event something takes out the maintainer the worst that happens is the batteries just sit there. Takes all of 10 seconds to disconnect the maintainer, fire up the RV and I'm on my way. So yes, you can leave your RV plugged in 24/7. Some have done so successfully for years. Reading the RV forums though it's not hard to find posts from folks that discover the very issues I highlight above, so it comes down to statistics and some luck. For the effort of plugging in a maintainer I circumvent all of that.

As a side note, from my perspective of commercial and industrial product design everything has a finite operating life. Few things benefit from being run all the time and you're usually better off from a longevity standpoint to only turn things on when you're using them, if for no other reason than reducing exposure to potential damage in the operating environment.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[SargeW]

I am in the group that leaves the rig plugged in all the time. My RV is all electric, so the parasitic draws are numerous and disconnecting them all is near impossible. That being said, my first line of defense is a good surge suppressor with low voltage protection. Low voltage is much more likely than a spike, particularly in hot weather months.

I too have my rig parked at my house when not in use and enter and work on stuff regularly. I agree that electronics have a finite life span, and all will wear out and need to be replaced eventually. My experience that lack of use has been as bad as over use on some electronics. So it all comes down to personal preference, your rig, your choice.

 

[Ray-IN]

Our MH is on 15A shore power continually inside the RV garage, checking the battery solution level every 3 months is a small price to pay to keep everything operating.
I'm now trying to revive my built-in 10-disc CD changer that now has no sound because I didn't use it regularly.

 

[Larry N.]

Another factor is being connected to the mains all the time it will be subjected to whatever surges or spikes come down the line which can potentially damage electronics. Some might consider the above "paranoia" but I've seen and fixed enough burned up and dead equipment in my life to make me not want to test it.

Like Sarge, I leave mine plugged in all the time (it's in my driveway), and "my first line of defense is a good surge suppressor with low voltage protection." High voltage protection, too.

My RV is parked next to my house, unplugged, with an inexpensive battery maintainer on the batteries. ...and the 120V equipment in the RV is isolated from the mains.

Mine's next to my house, but my "battery maintainer" is the converter in the coach working from shore power. The "isolation" on mine comes from the "surge protector" which, on mine, does ever so much more, including checking the condition of the shore power and not letting it in if there's a problem or shutting it off if a problem shows up. It also lets me have the fridge active if I need it (residential), the microwave, air conditioner, furnace, etc. if I want them, etc.

The remaining nice function is that with the inverter running the fridge and other things are maintained for many hours even with a power failure (rare here these days), and I can (if needed) even set it up for the generator to start if certain conditions obtain (power loss, temperature, etc.).

So, as Marty says, "So it all comes down to personal preference, your rig, your choice." It's not "one size fits all."

 

[ChasA]

Same as Larry N.

 

[pipepro]

This is my second go round for RVing an I kept my last one plugged in, but it didn't have a switch to store the Motorhome like this one. There are so many things I have to learn all over again, and being an old dog new tricks come hard.

 

[Kirk]

Some might consider the above "paranoia" but I've seen and fixed enough burned up and dead equipment in my life to make me not want to test it. My RV is parked next to my house, unplugged, with an inexpensive battery maintainer on the batteries. 99.9% of the time the maintainer is active, keeping the batteries at 100% and the 120V equipment in the RV is isolated from the mains. In the event something takes out the maintainer the worst that happens is the batteries just sit there. Takes all of 10 seconds to disconnect the maintainer, fire up the RV and I'm on my way.

Like Mark, I made my living repairing electrical things, as well as having owned RVs since the early 70's and I do the very same as he. Just because someone has done something for years without problems does not mean that everyone will have that same experience. It is very difficult to prove what has been prevented, but the best way to store any flooded cell battery when not in use is for it to be open circuit (negative terminal lifted) and with a modern battery maintainer in use. Do whatever you choose to your batteries, as you may get lucky, or do what is best.

 

[pipepro]

Don't full timers leave their batteries on? I mean we used to live in the RV 4 months out of the year and they were on.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

For when you're in the RV you leave it on as much as you want or need. I'll plug mine in anytime I'm in it. The issues described above are when the RV is unattended for extended periods.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[grashley]

I'm in Larry's camp. I have a hard wired surge protector which protects from low or high voltage, as well as surges and more.

 

[Skookum]

I leave my RV plugged in, but, it's also parked in my shop, and we have a module that alerts via cellular if the rig loses power. Our converter is modern and has a float/maintenance program for the batteries. I'm also in the habit of regularly checking the battery fluid level. I leave sensitive electronics plugged in inside my house, including TV's, the Refrigerator (most have a "motherboard" of processors and controls, now) as well as my CPAP (but, to be fair, that one is plugged into a UPS). The RV is just another appliance plugged into the house.

To me, the useful life of an RV is about twenty years. Some go well beyond that. Others don't make it that far--it all depends on build quality, maintenance, and also, luck. Leaving mine plugged in doesn't seem to put me in jeopardy of falling short of that goal. Mine has just a few years to go before we send it down the road to its next owner.

 

[pipepro]

Not even 1 month later after leaving my rig plugged in my Battery is dead. I may have turned the batteries off because I have power in the rig for cleaning and inside repairs. But if I didn't turn the batteries off shouldn't they stay charged? Could it be the inverter?

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Since you have power inside your converter is doing something so for the batteries to be "dead" they would have to be disconnected. Perhaps there's a device that's on the battery side of your disconnect, either that or the condition of your batteries is so poor that in concert they discharged in that amount of time. Only you know the state of your disconnect, first test would be to conclusively ensure your batteries are enabled and monitor it from there. Separately, you could test to see what if any draws are present when disconnected.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[ChasA]

Which batteries were dead? You have 2 battery systems..one set is the chassis battery. The 2nd is the coach or house system. It is common for the chassis battery to not be charged when you're plugged in to shore power.

 

[pipepro]

It looks like the battery is the original Motorcraft from 2007.

 

[pipepro]

Which batteries were dead? You have 2 battery systems..one set is the chassis battery. The 2nd is the coach or house system. It is common for the chassis battery to not be charged when you're plugged in to shore power.

All the batteries are dead because I tried using Aux power to start and it didn't work.

 

[SRGuy]

Hmm..... This is not a topic I'm familiar with. I've had five RV's over the last forty years, or so. Four were TT's, one a Class C. I always have kept my TT's plugged in to a dedicated 30A outside line. Never had problems with my batteries. Replaced them every three years, no biggie, given the scorching Texas summers that have gotten worse, over the years.

Now, this thread has given me pause to think: What battery line switch was the OP referring to? When I'm plugged into shore power, isn't my battery normally being maintained by it? I know how to check that, but I've never heard of having to throw a switch.

 

[Oldgator73]

I’ve always kept my RV’s plugged in when possible. Kept the battery charged and the beer cold. If I was working in the driveway or the garage I could listen to NPR. There is a battery cut off switch but I’ve never used it.