Open/close to maintain 12 V battery constantly???

There should be no safety issues carrying a gel battery inside a vehicle, except for keeping metal objects from shorting the battery terminals.

That being said, no one mentioned in this thread (that I saw) that the battery needs to be in the trailer for the emergency brake disconnect to operate if the trailer separates from the tow vehicle. So, for the original poster's benefit, connect the battery in the trailer before each trip.

I take the battery out of the trailer after each trip. I have to, there is no electric available for battery maintenance where I keep it. Never thought much about it, it's part of the trip planning...

Thanks-you all have helped me get on the right track as a new TM owner. I'm going to try and keep my battery connected to my battery maintainer while the battery is in the collapsed trailer. Hope I can find a way.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by Juniper Spring

Thanks-you all have helped me get on the right track as a new TM owner. I'm going to try and keep my battery connected to my battery maintainer while the battery is in the collapsed trailer. Hope I can find a way.

For what it's worth, I've had great results so far with the gel-cell battery (Optima, in my case) holding a charge through the winter as long as I use an isolation switch that completely disconnects it. The electric tongue jack offers me a fail-safe notification if I ever forget to switch the battery back on before hitching up.


- Battery chemistry is sulphuric acid when charged, changing to lead sulphate as it discharges.
- A charged battery will freeze at a lower temperature than a discharged battery (as I learned growing up in Minnesota).
- Overcharging a battery can not only produce hydrogen gas which is flamable, but also sulphur dioxide (with Chinese drywall effects inside a closed trailer hypothetically possible).

[Joesjunk]

If you have a newer model, you can plug the power cord in periodically to charge the battery. If not, you can make a plug for your battery charger that plugs into the Tow Vehicle (TV) plug and charge the battery that way.
All this depends on where you store your TrailManor when not in use. If you are not able to connect to AC, you are better off disconnecting the battery.

[scrubjaysnest]

As joesjunk said if AC power isn't available disconnect the battery. Before leaving this spring I disconnected the battery on our jeep wrangler, several months latter I reconnected the battery and started the jeep. Yes it turned over slow but for the little 4 cylinder it was fine. After running the jeep for awhile I shut it off and connected a 3 stage charger. For next year I'll just hook up a 12 to 15 watt solar panel which will keep a tricle charge to the battery.
This will work on a TM also if the battery is fully charged to start.