Leave TV hooked up overnight or disconnect

[Hastalavista]

Silly question maybe? We park our 25RBT in the driveway overnight to pack and leave the next day. Any negative reasons to disconnect the TV (a 2014 Touareg diesel) from the AS? We had hitch reinforced at can am in London Canada.
Using load distribution hitch. What do y’all think?

[DKB_SATX]

When I'm in the middle of a cross-country run, I may leave the trailer hitched for several days. It makes for much quicker departures, especially since I'm NOT a morning person. I can have a cup of coffee instead of fiddling with the hitch.

If we're both on board I'll put the jack and maybe stabilizers down to reduce the wiggle in the trailer (and when I do that, I put the case for my electric drill on the driver's seat to remind me that I need to use that before driving off... even if I didn't put the stabilizers down it's a "remove before flight" reminder about the jack.)

I haven't encountered a problem with this method so far.

[pteck]

In general, there is no concern with leaving the rig hitched up. Indefinitely.

The one thing to be cognizant is any extra strain on the WD bars/trailer/vehicle due to the profile of your driveway. Specifically, if there is a dip or surface plane difference causing the tow vehicle to be "nose up" relative to the trailer. The forces can be huge in these cases.

Mitigation could be as simple as disengaging WD prior to parking in this orientation, or using the tongue jack to level things a bit more to take load off the WD bars.

[Bobbo]

As long as the trailer is fairly level, front to back, you can leave it hitched. I like to lower the tongue jack until it just begins to raise the hitch. That way, any extra weight on the front (we have a front bed trailer) is not transferred to the hitch. I also like to unplug the 7 pin from the truck. My Ford supposedly disconnects the 12v+ wire when the truck is off, but unplugging the trailer guarantees that the trailer can not run the truck's battery down.

[Daquenzer]

Leave it hitched.

[Al and Missy]

Overnight, fine. Longer term is OK mechanically, but it is advisable to disconnect your umbilical cable if not connected to shore power to prevent your trailer from running down your tow vehicle battery. Some TV's disconnect the 12V charge line in the 7-way connector if the engine is not running but some do not.

Al

[moosetags]

We often stay hooked up overnight, but always unplug from the tow vehicle.

Brian

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We often stay hooked up overnight, but always unplug from the tow vehicle.

Brian

YEP...👍

Bob
🇺🇸

[Rocinante]

If you have standard wiring in your trailer, definitely unhook from the tow vehicle unless your trailer is plugged into shore power. This is because many vehicles provide power via the pigtail even when the ignition is off. However, you don't want the trailer drawing from the tow vehicle's battery while you're parked and the engine isn't running, as that could significantly delay your start in the morning due to a dead TV battery.

Agreed on using the tongue jack overnight to help reduce strain on the TV and reduce bouncing in the trailer a bit. We don't bother with stabs overnight, as the whole point is to get out quickly in the morning and we want that checkout list as short as possible. A simple reminder on the driver's seat to raise the jack and lift any stabilizers before "flight" seems an excellent idea.

[Hastalavista]

Thanks everyone hadn’t thought about unplugging but will check and see if the VW keeps power on when engine is off.
Keep on rolling
Keith

[Mollysdad]

For an overnight, I leave everything connected.
I put my block under the tongue jack to level it IF I'm staying in it.
No stabilizers.

[drbrick]

OK to leave hitched (level no worries, not level take the strain off the WD bars) unplug from TV so your TV battery isn't killed

[tcrum]

We put the jack down to take the weight off the TV and unplug the cord.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

YEP...��

Bob
����

Yep; us too...leave her hitched...just disconnect plug; and don't forget to plug in before heading out next day!

[Rhinno]

I have pretty much the same set up. There is another reason to disconnect the electrics: The Touareg pulses the trailer lights every now and again to see if there is anything there. With LED lights, you'll find that they mysteriously flash now and again.

I always use the jack to either level or at least stabilize. That also reduces the chances for me to forget to plug the electrical back in.

[cazual6]

Short Answer: No problems leaving it connected.

However, you need to disconnect it during a full moon.

[rmkrum]

Or high humidity or darkness. [emoji41]

I use an EZconnector that hooks up magnetically and has a storage point on the Airstream A-frame. I also use “remove before flight” streamers as reminders. They go on hooks on the back of the closet door. Empty hook means I missed something.

[21Airstream]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We often stay hooked up overnight, but always unplug from the tow vehicle.



Brian

+1. I haven’t bothered to look up whether I can leave our FC 27FB plugged in to the Ram overnight or not... anything made by man can fail so I just unplug every time we stop for the night. Just one less thing to worry about.

[banderabob]

Originally Posted by moosetags

We often stay hooked up overnight, but always unplug from the tow vehicle.

Brian

Ditto.

[johnparris]

I'll leave it hooked up if it's in my driveway and I'm not sleeping in it. If I'm sleeping in it anywhere, I disconnect in case of the very very small chance someone somehow steals my vehicle I'm not stuck in the Airstream being pulled around by an idiot.