plug-in battery charger/maintainer

[TerraYacht]

My moho does not have a nice up-to-date 3 stage charging system, and a couple of years ago, when I had it plugged in for a few months, the top blew off one of the house batteries on the way to a weekend getaway.

The battery acid kept bubbling away, even when not being charged, and I replaced both of them but I don't want to blow up any more.

The 1.25 amp output on the little maintainer I got was not enough for the usual parasitic drains and I wanted to keep the batteries engaged so my radio, etc did not lose its memory.

After hunting around I added an ac-powered unit for my home/docked location. The description sounded like it would do what I wanted and it seems to be doing well on two parallel deep cycles.

Microprocessor-Controlled Battery Charger/Maintainer - Battery Care - Car Maintenance - Griot's Garage

Any other suggestions are welcome since I am a relative newB, used to "normal" 12vdc one battery vehicles.

[idroba]

A nice, up to date 3 stage converter/charger which will do everything you want to do only automatically is less than $200. Why not invest the money you would spend on the little charger/maintainer in the right thing, replacing the original single stage unit with something decent. It won't cost much more to do it right.

I would recommend a Progressive Dynamics PD 9255 for your motorhome. (55 amp). Contact Randy at Bestconverter for good advice and a good price.

[TerraYacht]

Originally Posted by idroba

A nice, up to date 3 stage converter/charger which will do everything you want to do only automatically is less than $200. Why not invest the money you would spend on the little charger/maintainer in the right thing, replacing the original single stage unit with something decent. It won't cost much more to do it right.

I would recommend a Progressive Dynamics PD 9255 for your motorhome. (55 amp). Contact Randy at Bestconverter for good advice and a good price.

Thanks, I will check out the charger. My quick look shows really good spec's. including UL Listing, an important item for a guy whose title is "Safety Manager." It would not be useful if I had some major issue because I did not use a Listed product!

[Rocinante]

Idroba is 100% correct, and that's precisely what I just did for our Airstream. Don't waste your money on a battery tender type device when you can replace your built in crappy 1 stage converter (Paralax 4355) with a good multi-stage converter (Progressive Dynamics 4655) for only a little more...and after that it will always be with you, built right into your trailer.

I describe my experience here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...fb-120891.html.

You'll find related threads here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...ml#post1295589 as well as here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...er-114099.html

Of course, the previous content applies to trailers. It's possible that it also applies to Motor Homes...just check first to see what's currently installed in your MoHo to see what the best replacement converter would be.

[AdamB]

Hi Cliff,

I put a new one in a couple of years ago. I was getting dim lights and fans even when plugged in. And as a bonus, that old converter fried my 2 Group 27 house batteries. I just replaced those batteries last month with some new Costco ones.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ent-94978.html

My new converter was able to keep those damaged batteries limping along for 2 years with a lot of dry camping.... so I expect these new batteries to last quite a while.

Cheers!

[TerraYacht]

Originally Posted by AdamB

Hi Cliff,

I put a new one in a couple of years ago. I was getting dim lights and fans even when plugged in. And as a bonus, that old converter fried my 2 Group 27 house batteries. I just replaced those batteries last month with some new Costco ones.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ent-94978.html

My new converter was able to keep those damaged batteries limping along for 2 years with a lot of dry camping.... so I expect these new batteries to last quite a while.

Cheers!

Thanks, my external unit seems to be doing its assigned task: I have not tracked it, but have seen it "exercising" the batteries, putting some load on and then recharging. However, I will talk to my Airstream expert, Vinnie'sNorth Bay Airstream repair, about upgrading the entire system.

Looking at your upgrade link, I agree: data is important, so a voltage gauge (or maybe an app?) is needed to see what is needed next.

The moderate climate here means I don't have to worry about draining the water for winter so seasonal maintenance is minimal, just have to keep everything running. Here is CA I even have to smog my 2 year-old X5 diesel, which doesn't even have any noticeable diesel odor, so trying to minimize off-duty maintenance is important.