Charging Batteries

[whitegs]

If I want to use a generator to charge the batteries on my new Flying Cloud 28, is it better to just plug the shore power line into the generator or to use an external battery charger hooked directly to the batteries? If using the external charger hooked to the generator, would I still leave the AS electrical hooked up to the batteries?

Richard

[AnnArborBob]

The simplest thing to do is to plug the generator into the shore power connection on the trailer and let the on board electronics do their job. Get a 15 amp to 30 or 50 amp plug that you plug into the shore power connection on the trailer and then use a heavy duty 15 amp extension cord to hook up the generator. No need to fuss with a 30 or 50 amp cord when doing this as the draw to charge the battery is much less than 15 amps AC.

[alano]

The first way, AS connected directly to generator, will charge your batteries if your Store/Use switch is in the Use position. You will be charging your batteries with your converter (a single stage battery charger), so don't leave it charging indefinitely or you'll ruin your batteries.

The second way, external battery charger connected to generator, will charge your batteries. If your external battery charger is a three-stage charger, then you're good to go. The position of your Use/Store switch will affect the background load on the batteries, so it's best that you keep the Use/Store in the Store position to minimize the parasitic load.

The third way, battery charger connected to generator and AS connected to generator, will work. If the Use/Store is in the Store position, you'll be charging the batteries with your external battery charger and the converter will supply 12 V to the rest of the trailer. Don't switch the Use/Store to the Use position since both your external charger and converter will be competing to charge your batteries.