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Old 11-10-2019, 06:19 AM   #1
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2016 25' Flying Cloud
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Winter battery question

Im winterizing my flying cloud. Do i remove batteries or simply leave unit plugged into 30 amp shore?
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:38 AM   #2
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Depends.

Leave 'em in if you have the proper converter and stay plugged in.
Leave 'em in if you put a battery maintainer of some sort on 'em.
Take 'em out if you want to, put 'em in your garage, keep 'em charged.

The goal is to keep them charged, and not let them freeze, or overcharge/boil out, depending on type of battery.

That search bar on top the page, if you type in "batteries" and the word "winter" you can read til you fall asleep
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:44 AM   #3
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we bring our Lion inside as they do not work under 0C
we move our old lead acid battery into the As for the winter
we swap them in the spring
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Old 11-10-2019, 06:57 AM   #4
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I think bringing Lithium's inside is overkill and way too much work. Most newer Lithiums have a BMS that prevents charging below a certain temp and they can still be used/discharged below freezing, if the BMS allows. Even with older Lithiums(like mine) and no automatic freeze protection, there is a small level of charge allowed and my solar is below that threshold with the batteries floating on no load. Bottom like is you really can just leave your Lithiums in the trailer during the winter, just open the disconnect to assure no load.

Larry
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Old 11-11-2019, 02:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lkeener54 View Post
Im winterizing my flying cloud. Do i remove batteries or simply leave unit plugged into 30 amp shore?
Lkeener54, as others have suggested you can leave them in but if you have Interstate batteries make sure to periodically check the water levels - don't let them go dry when charging.

If you have factory solar option you'll have sealed AGM batteries so watering is not an issue.

I pulled my Interstates and connected then to a Pulse Tech battery maintainer to keep them charged. It will go into float mode once the battery is fully charged.

A dead battery will freeze but a charged one will not.
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Old 11-12-2019, 07:10 AM   #6
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Yes i have interstate and checked water and it was covered. Thanks
for impute. One other question any issues or procedure for removing batteries? Do I turn off anything
Thanks
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Old 11-12-2019, 07:35 AM   #7
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Hi

As long as the batteries are fully charged and fully disconnected from any active loads, they should be fine over the winter. They will not freeze or otherwise be damaged. If you have batteries that will not hold a charge, they should be replaced. That's independent of any winterization issues.

Both lead acid and lithium are likely ok to -40C (or -40 F). That's silly cold. If indeed you expect it to get that cold where you live, bring them indoors. Better yet, move south for the winter

If you are going to pull batteries, pull the negative lead first. That way a short from a slipped wrench is less likely to create sparks. Once pulled, there should be no need to charge them unless the time in storage is measured in years.

Bob
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Old 11-12-2019, 04:31 PM   #8
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I leave mine in. I have a convenient outlet. I plug the trailer in once or twice for a day or so during the off season to top off the batteries.
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Old 11-13-2019, 06:59 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by CRH View Post
I leave mine in. I have a convenient outlet. I plug the trailer in once or twice for a day or so during the off season to top off the batteries.
Hi

The results ( = disaster ) would be very different on a more modern trailer with all the parasitic loads .....

Bob
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Old 11-13-2019, 07:08 AM   #10
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Do more modern trailers no longer have a battery disconnect switch?
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Old 11-14-2019, 06:30 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by CRH View Post
Do more modern trailers no longer have a battery disconnect switch?
Hi

Very much a "that depends" sort of thing. For a lot of years, they shipped with propane detectors (and other parasitic loads) and no disconnects. Recently (like in the last two years) disconnects started to show up on "stock" trailers.

Further confusing things, the "use / store" switch has been around for a while. It does not disconnect the parasitic loads.

Bob
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Old 11-14-2019, 04:58 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lkeener54 View Post
Yes i have interstate and checked water and it was covered. Thanks
for impute. One other question any issues or procedure for removing batteries? Do I turn off anything
Thanks
Lkeener, no special procedure, just best practices.

Make sure the disconnect switch is in “Store” mode. I take a photo of the battery box so I can reconnect everything back to where it came from.

I also take a Sharpie and put a 1 or 2 on the cables to remind me which battery they were attached. Always take the negative cables off first to prevent a short if you touch a wrench to ground when removing the positive cables.

While you’re at it, remove any rings from your fingers. There’s a lot of amperage potential in batteries that would make a ring glow red in seconds if you got it shorted.

If you had factory solar, pull the connectors on the roof from the 3 port box. Otherwise they will send power to the cables in the battery box and could short out if the positive and negative ends touched. Or, just tape all the cable ends to prevent shorting.

By the way, I found one of the negative cables upside-down (tapered end up) from the factory. Will put it back the right way in the spring.

Hope that helps!
Jeff
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Old 11-14-2019, 06:53 PM   #13
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We leave ours in all winter but we also have solar panels which keep them charged.
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Old 11-14-2019, 07:11 PM   #14
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It has to get colder than -77 F to freeze an Interstate battery. I store my AS in the pole barn and live in a fairly cold climate. Interstate batteries last longer when they are kept fully charged. I have kept them plugged in the AS to a 20 AMP cord and it works just fine. You do have to keep the switch to “in use” mode and not “store” mode. I just checked the water level from time to time. Now I put a trickle charger on each battery, and put switch to “store” mode. Works great. In fact I keep them on a trickle charger all the time when the AS is not in use. I do the same for my lawn tractor battery. No problem starting in the Spring.
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Old 11-15-2019, 06:09 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by Daquenzer View Post
It has to get colder than -77 F to freeze an Interstate battery. ......
Hi

If it's brand new and 100% charged. Drop the charge level way down and that same battery will happily freeze at 20 degrees.

Bob
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Old 11-15-2019, 07:06 AM   #16
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Hi

If it's brand new and 100% charged. Drop the charge level way down and that same battery will happily freeze at 20 degrees.

Bob
When I went to college in the 1970's I would leave my car out in the parking lot in South Dakota in the wind for weeks at a time during the winter. I've yet to freeze a battery. Did have to jump start them from time to time to crank over the big V8 390 cubic inch engine though.

If a trickle charger is used the battery stays at a 100% as well.
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Old 11-23-2019, 06:53 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Daquenzer View Post
It has to get colder than -77 F to freeze an Interstate battery. I store my AS in the pole barn and live in a fairly cold climate. Interstate batteries last longer when they are kept fully charged. I have kept them plugged in the AS to a 20 AMP cord and it works just fine. You do have to keep the switch to “in use” mode and not “store” mode. I just checked the water level from time to time. Now I put a trickle charger on each battery, and put switch to “store” mode. Works great. In fact I keep them on a trickle charger all the time when the AS is not in use. I do the same for my lawn tractor battery. No problem starting in the Spring.
Why "in use" mode? doesn't your converter connect directly to the batteries? Just wondering. Woody.
ps. And yes when travelling thru Ohio to Florida 2 years ago in daytime high of 5F and night low of -10F one of my interstate batteries froze.
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Old 11-23-2019, 10:49 PM   #18
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IMHO, batteries will only freeze in normal NA conditions if there is some issue with the battery . ie water level is wrong.
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Old 11-24-2019, 05:39 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by woodytwo View Post
Why "in use" mode? doesn't your converter connect directly to the batteries? Just wondering. Woody.
ps. And yes when travelling thru Ohio to Florida 2 years ago in daytime high of 5F and night low of -10F one of my interstate batteries froze.

From my 2013 FC manual-"When the switch is turned to STORE (off) and the trailer is plugged into a 110-volt shoreline, the 12-
volt distribution panel will still receive power from the
converter, but the batteries are disconnected from
the system."
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Old 11-25-2019, 07:56 AM   #20
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Hi

The whole "battery on or off with use or store" is highly variable. Move one cable over one position on the relay and you have switched it the other way around. Some trailers have the battery always hooked to the converter / charger regardless of the use/store switch position. Is this deliberate or an error? Who knows .....

One thing that is more consistent is solar. It seems to always be hooked to the batteries regardless of the use/store switch position.

Bob
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