Maintaining chassis battery

[whemme]

Thank you, Roger and Al for the lesson.

I grasp it, and am interested in perhaps getting one of those cigarette lighter type orifice chargers, that I can plug in to a 110 outlet in the house part of my coach when plugged in.

What I really would like to outfit my coach with someday, is the type/model inverter that can just stay plugged in all the time with the trickle charger incorporated into the house batteries, as many of you already have on board your coaches.

Sam,

What you are talking about in your 3rd sentence above is to replace you existing single-stage Parallax 7345 charger/converter with a modern 3-stage charger/converter and the model I definitely recommend is the Progressive Dynamics PD4655. In you 3rd sentence above you use the word inverter that I show in red. An inverter converts 12 vdc power to 120 vac power. The system that converts 120 vac power to 12 vdc power to both power all DC appliances and charge the coach batteries is more properly called a charger/converter.

You can maintain your Ford chassis battery(s) using the two products shown below - they are what I use while my coach is in storage. The Battery Minder P/N 12117 comes with two different plug-in changeable terminations - one, a set of red and black alligator clips and the other, as set of red and black ring terminals. What you need is the second type termination shown in the 2nd photo below (P/N VPP-12) which allow you to just plug the Battery Minder directly into one of the two dash mounted cigarette lighter power connectors. If you don't want to spend the extra money for the VPP-12 adapter, you can use the alligator clips adapter that comes with the P/N 12117 Battery Minder to connect directly to the chassis battery under the hood.

These products are made by VDC Electronics and you can either order them direct from the factory on their website. However, you can save money by buying them from one of the many independent vendors that handle their products such as Amazon.com.

The Battery Tender product shown earlier in this thread is very a similar product to what I am discussing here and should work equally well.

[whemme]

Sam,

OK, so can I plug in either of these two products and leave them for weeks on end? Yes

The second product I savvy.

The first product I'm not really grasping. It (the first product) has either black and red alligator clips, or black and red terminal rings?? That's where I'm getting confused. The red alligator clip or red terminal ring should be connected to the + battery terminal and the black alligator clip or black terminal ring should be connected to the - battery terminal.

So, the first product has two styles of battery terminal attachment? Yes. I take it that the first product is for use outside the coach - and the second simple product is operated from within your coach? Yes

It seems to me the first product could be used by plugging in into the kitchen counter AC plug, and running it's line outside the coach down to the coach batteries compartment? You could do that but you would need to plug your coach into shoreline power and make sure and shut off your coach batteries master switch. Simpler just to plug the Battery Minder directly into a source of 115 vac power.

I think I would like to up date my Parallax brand inverter (converter/charger - not inverter) to the type of brand inverter you suggest whereby I can just leave the coach master electric switch in the ON position without worrying about overcharging my coach-house batteries while plugged in.

At any rate, I am going to get the second style trickle charger for my Ford chassis battery. I'll bet I can use it for my automobile that just sits for up to a month at a time at home in the garage when I'm out in the RV traveling. You sure can!

I have answered your questions in red type within your quote above. Hope this helps. Read my post titled Converting Parallax 7345 Charger/Converter to PD4655 system in the Coach Modifications section concerning the PD4655 installation.

[whemme]

Sam,

If you want to maintain both your chassis battery(s) and your coach batteries using the Battery Minder, you will need to purchase two of them, P/N 12117, as shown in the photo above labeled Picture 5.png. Another photo of the unit is shown below labeled Picture 6.png and shows more details. This unit comes with a 8 ft long AC power cord and plug as one of two cables going to the unit. The other cable leaving the unit is the 12 vdc output cable that terminates in a 2-pin connector. The unit comes standard with two different supplied adapters that plug into that output cable using a compatible 2-pin connector. Those two adapters are 1) a short termination cable with both red and black alligator clips and 2) a short termination cable with both red and black ring terminals.

Amazon.com currently has this P/N 12117 Battery Minder for sale on their website for $45.29 rather than the $69.95 list price shown on the VDC Electronics factory website. Shipping from Amazon.com is also free if you choose the right shipping method.

You can use one Battery Minder with the alligator clip adapter cable to connect up to your coach battery terminals. You can use the other Battery Minder also with the alligator clip adapter cable to connect up to your chassis battery terminals, if you want to run the output cable under your hood to the battery(s). Or you can purchase the extra cost optional VPP-12 cigarette light adapter cable shown in photo above labeled Picture 4.png that will also plug into the Battery Minder's 12 vdc output cable using the same 2-pin connector. Using this method you run the cable thru either the driver side door or the passenger side door and connect to one of the two dash mounted cigarette power connectors - this rather using the alligator adapter cable to connect to the chassis battery(s) by running the cable under the hood instead.

The optional VPP-12 adapter cable is also available from Amazon.com for $9.99.

I currently have two of these Battery Minders connected to my coach every since I put it into winter storage back in October. I used them last winter for the same purpose and any time the coach is in storage for more than a couple of weeks even during the summer, I have these maintenance chargers hooked up.

When initially hooked up to a battery, the green charging light will come on steady indicating that it is topping off the battery charge. Usually within a day or two (as long as the batteries were not discharged), each Battery Minder's green light will start to flash indicating that batteries are now topped off and being maintained at full charge.

They will also charge a discharged battery but it may take a week since the maximum charge current available is 1.33 amps.

[Jim Hofmann]

Bill; You have been very helpfull on this subject. Unfortunately the old addage: "A little information can be dangerous" applies here to me.

I know from Sam's previous posts that he has a diesel, this means he has two batteries for the engine. Can he hook up one battery minder to one of the two engine batteries and have both of them charged? Or must he hook up somewhere else in the wiring scheme to charge both batteries?

I ask this question as I too have a diesel

Jim

[whemme]

Jim Hofmann,

Yes, for any batteries connected in parallel, the Battery Minder would only have to be connected to the + and - terminals on one of the batteries. Then both batteries will be charged. That is why I used the term battery(s) because I knew that a diesel chassis normally is equipped with two batteries connected in parallel.

[hrgermany]

I have solar cells installed on my coach. They charge the coach batteries. I also wired the chassis battery to the solar cells thru a switch, so when the coach is in storage the chassis battery is also maintained.

Hans Rueckert

[Dan Gilmore]

In the case of the TRIK-L-START charger. Is a 5-Amp maximum charging rate sufficient or or would the AMP-L-START 15 amp maximum charger be applicable for a BF?

Dan Gilmore

[Dallas Baillio]

I have the PD 4655 charger to maintain the house batteries so I leave the shore power connected all the time. To maintain my chassis battery I then connect my Battery Minder to a 120 volt outlet in my BF and plug the 12 volt end into a dash power port. This makes for a clean and easy connection using only one outside connect.

[Dallas Baillio]

Bill,

While your BF is in storage why don't you plug into shore power to maintain your house batteries? Is it that you do not have access to a 30 amp outlet or is it another reason. I ask in the event my solution outlined above has a flaw.

[Mel Wilbur]

Dan, I used the Trik-L-Start for many years which kept the chassis battery at the correct float value without any problems.

[whemme]

Dallas,

I had purchased a pair of VDC Battery Minders before I installed a Progressive Dynamics 3-stage charger/converter in my BF including a + and - ring tongue terminal connection to the house batteries for the Battery Minder.

I certainly could just plug my shore line power cable into a 120 vac outlet in my storage building using a 30-amp-to-20-amp adapter and use my Progressive Dynamics 3-stage charger/converter to maintain my house batteries while in storage but for no particular reason continue instead to use the Battery Minder.

The Battery Minder and the Battery Tender that you use are essentially identical chargers.

[Mel Wilbur]

Although there are several solutions to maintaining the chassis battery the reason I chose the Trik-L-Charge was that it was an install it and forget it operation. This systems works anytime there is 120v power supplied to the coach via hookup or generator.

[Dan Gilmore]

Thanks Mel. I think I will order the TRIK-L-CHARGE.

Dan

[stevek]

I did a little looking on my computer of sellers, with no luck
Wheres the best place to buy the Trik-l-charge?

[Mel Wilbur]

Steve, purchase from the manufacturer http://www.lslproducts.net/index.html