Charging Battery

I am not sure if this is mentioned elsewhere or not, but I found an easy way to charge the battery with the camper closed.

I use a trickle charger and charge via the #4 terminal on the seven-pin TM connector and attach the ground connecton to the frame. I used the bolts that connects to the towing safety cables.

It worked great and is much easier than either setting up or leaving the electrical cord accessible in storage. Using this method, I just turn on one of the outside lights on the camper to check the state of the battery and then charge it if necessary.

Just wanted to share this idea. Perhaps it's something everyone already does, but if not, give it a try.

Dave

[Bill]

Dave -

This is a great idea. It was discussed a couple years ago, but has since gotten lost in the shuffle of things. Thanks for reminding us of it.

Bill

If there is easy access to a wall outlet, is it ok to just leave the camper plugged in all winter during storage? Seems like little could happen and it would keep everything charged up. Any issues with doing this on battery life?

[Bill]

Dan and Lynn -

A better idea - a MUCH better idea - is to fully charge the battery in the fall, and then disconnect it for the winter. You can disconnect it either by removing the main battery fuse (a 30-amp fuse located in the red wire right where it attaches to the battery), or by removing both the white and the bare wire from the negative battery terminal.

In the spring, you will find that the battery is still charged up.

Bill

Thanks Bill and Leon for the advice.

I got this back from TM: "Hi Dan. If you store your camper for an extended amount of time, you may want to disconnect your battery and if possible, remove and then apply a charge periodically. If you do keep the camper plugged in during storage, you may want to check your battery often to make sure it does not receive an over charge and run the battery dry. Hope this helps" ---- so you guys were spot on!

Dan...

We use our TM once a month between February and October, sometimes into November. So, the batteries never have a chance to get very low.

I always charge by just plugging in to shore power. I plug in on Wednesday night when I am leaving town on a Friday.

For November, December and January I don't worry about it.

I added a disconnect switch, so if the TM is in the garage and I am not charging it then the batteries are disconnected so that parasitic loads do not drain them.

On a similar topic...

Did you know that by using a jumper between the proper pair of pins that you could use the TM battery to turn on the TM backup lights, or the running lights.

A handy trick for some circumstances.

With a turn signal flasher you could even make them flash.

[rickst29]

Originally Posted by NiceMustang

If there is easy access to a wall outlet, is it ok to just leave the camper plugged in all winter during storage?

YES! If you have the WFCO converter. Depending on when your 2006 was built, you (like me) may have this "smart" converter instead of the old "dumb" one.

The WFCO converters are great to just leave plugged in all the time. The only thing they're lacking (in the way of charge management) is an occasional high-voltage cycle for anti-sulfonation. I left my 2006 all winter, and the water level stayed perfect. Unless you're doing special "anti-sulfonation" cycles, the WFCO is measuring and responding to the battery's charge state A LOT BETTER THAN YOU can with the "charge it, pull it, recharge it and check the water level every once in a while" strategy.

The advice you got from TM (and our other members) is CORRECT for older model years, but the BEST thing you and I (and other WFCO-equiped owners) can do for the batteries is to plug the TM and let the WFCO take care of them. (DO check the water levels every once in a while, of course.) I don't even bother to switch off the stereo circuit, the parasitic load is of no importance when the TM's plugged in.

That TM guy didn't know you have a 2006, right? Lucky you!

Does anyone know how to determine what converter I have?

I have a 2005 TM 2720 that was built in March 2005. According to the manual I have a parallax 7345, but when I look at photos of that online it doesn't look anything like I have.

The parallax seems to have a horizontal hinge and the "door" flips down, at least as I interpret the photos. My converter has a side hinged door.

I couldn't see any clear markings the one time that I looked, but my eyes aren't as good as they used to be.

[Bill]

Wayne -

TM went through a short period between Parallax and WFCO, in which they installed a converter made by American Enterprises. My very-early-build 2006 TM has the AE converter, so it's possible that yours does too. I posted about it a couple times. I'm not sure why TM went with AE, or why they then moved to WFCO. The AE is a smarter charger than the Parallax units, but I don't know how it compares to the WFCO. My AE has been fine - my only complaint is that there was absolutely no information available about them, including an owners manual of any kind. I even called the mfr (actually, the distributor, since the mfr is in China).

Bill