Battery Problem - How Does This Work?

[ljsigman]

Jack,

Our battery is new, purchased early fall of 2013 and requires no liquid. Like you our battery use is minimal as we always stay at parks with full hookups. We have a 2010 16' International Serenity! We call it our Bead and Breakfast!

[dkottum]

Originally Posted by ljsigman

There is power! We use the same outlet for other things with no problems!
Any time you are connected to shore power the relay automatically trips to USE so......

When plugged to external power, you can isolate and protect your batteries from the constant too-high charging voltage the Airstream converter supplies by selecting STORE on the Battery Disconnect panel. The propane detector is not disconnected, takes some current because I think it has a tiny heater in it. So you need to switch to USE position from time to time, or much better to use an external "smart" battery charger.

The relay should not automatically return to USE and probably doesn't. You would need a voltmeter checking the battery charging voltage to know the batteries are disconnected, the converter will power everything else in the trailer. That is, you will have interior lights etc. in USE or STORE if plugged into external power.

If your only need for external power is Airstream battery charging, I would not leave it plugged in. You will shorten the life of the converter plugged in constantly. Get an external "smart" charger or a $olar installation.