Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

Hi, my hubby and I just moved up from a 24 travel trailer to a 2003 24' RB. We absolutely LOVE it! We spent a bit of time on Sunday winterizing the plumbing portion of it. In the TT, we use to remove the batteries before we put it into storage for the winter. We intend to keep the BF at our house and drive it through out the winter.....we live up in MI where it can get pretty cold. Are there others out here that live in cold territories? What do you do with your batteries? Remove them? Plug in a trickle charger? Other options? Thanks for any and all help you can offer!

I'm looking forward to getting to know the group out here now that we've FINALLY gotten our BF.

Thanks!

We live in South Dakota where it gets pretty cold also. All I've ever done is run the rv's engine once a month as well as the generator. This keeps the batteries charged and they've never frozen. Just make sure that they're charged real good and often during the winter and just leave them in the rv. If you have a generator, you'll need them anyway to start it. It needs to be run with a load at least once a month, all year long anyway.

Marcie and Tim;

First of all welcome to the Leap'n Lions forum, and congratulaions on your Born Free purchase.

I live in NJ, certainly not as cold as MI, I'm sure. I have never taken the batteries out of any of my motorhomes. I do either drive it for an hour or so at least once a month, or at least let it run in my driveway if the roads are bad.

I am not a battery expert, but I think as long as they are kept charged they will be fine.

In one motorhome I had, there was an alarm system thatw as powered off the chassis battery. The battery would get drawn down from the alarm. I bought a "battery tender" and kept that on the chassis battery over the winter to keep it charged, and to keep the alarm happy.

When you winterize, don't forget about the outside shower and the spray for the toilet. I also fill the gas tank, put some fuel stabilizer in and run the generator to get the treated gas through the system.

I'm sure some others will share their experiences.

John

Marcie & Tim Walcott,

You state that you are intending to use your Born Free coach during the winter months. If you drive it at least 10 miles once each month, that should be enough to keep your coach batteries well charged. I would not recommend removing them from the coach just because it is winter if you continue to drive it during the winter months like you stated. You should of course make sure that you coach battery cutoff switch is on so they will charge when the coach is being driven and then shut that switch off again when parked to prevent residual discharge.

Thank you all very much for your info. I'm not sure where Tim got the idea that he needed to remove the battery from trailer. He just always did it. Thanks again!

In North Dakota - we pull our batteries - Marine - and trickle charge them in the basement to keep them charged through the winter. We fully winterize as much as possible as was recommended by the factory. I put everything in rubber bins, pull out all food - dry and other. I clean cupboard and drawers, use recommended cleaners on the fridge-freezer and have followed guidelines by club members to place mothballs near flames to deter spiders, and chemicals to deter mice populations both inside and out of the unit. We have winterized the generator and gaslines using appropriate stabalizers for the lines. I store in a fully enclosed facility. If/When you remove your batteries, make a diagrahm to indicate the hookups and lines. You think you will remember next spring how to hook up everything, but just in case you don't, have a drawing before you unhook everything.

It has always been our routine - from pup tents through the current use of RV's to fully winterize. We can still take it out and use it in the winter. We tend to store our vehicles for the winter months at this point, then drive from April through early November.

Just a few thoughts which might add to the winter conversation...
Take care all and have a great Thanksgiving holiday.

The Electrolyte Freeze Point for a fully charged battery is quite low. I'm attaching a chart that shows it better.