If you don't use your truck/camper for a couple of months, what do you do with the truck's battery? Disconect it? Put it on trickle charge? Something else?
Is it safe to have a truck battery on trickle charge for several months?
Thanks.
Steve & Caroline
1990 Lance LC980
1990 Chevy 3500 dualy
put it on a automatic charger just check from time to time for over chargeing,my rvs sit all year being plugged in and on a charger.if i didnt have a charger hooked up i would unhook the batterys.if below freezeing for months i would bring them inside.
1985 Class A Holiday Rambler Imperial 33 +1979 Class C Holiday Rambler Statesman 1000 = 24 ft
On my vehicles/ toys that have an off season, I pull the batteries and bring them inside.
But its cold here in winter.
If your in a more moderate climate, just yank off the neg battery cable to make sure it has no draw placed on it by alarms, clocks, radio memory etc.
And then about once a month put a charger on it, and using an automatic charger to not overcharge it, top it off.
If its not sealed check the fluid, and if it needs topping off use only distilled water, not tap water.
Don't try to short cut the charging by using a really high amperage, its better to slowly charge a battery.
A truck battery is fine at say 10 or 15 amps max.
if its a little battery like say a jetski or motorbike battery use just 1 or 2 amps max.
Traded my travel trailer for a camper.
Now I have to learn all the tricks to campers, I already knew for travel trailers.
2010 F150 Super Cab XLT 5.4 4X4 Short Box
1988 Nortstar 8' pop up TC
Honda 2000 26th Marines RVN 69-70 Semper Fi M-14 was the only Woodstock I saw in 1969.
This is what I use also. I rotate it every week or so between the truck, camper, and my lawn mower batterys.
I installed the little Waterproof 800 model semi-permanently under the hood of the truck, ran the cord down to the front bumper, and just keep it plugged in all the time. I have a similar setup for the camper battery, but using a BatteryMinder instead. One of these days I'll get around to putting in a better converter/charger.
Dirt Sailor wrote: Is it safe to have a truck battery on trickle charge for several months?
Thanks.
If it's an older charger, it may boil the water out of the batteries if left connected long term. The newer chargers are smart enough to not do that. Battery Tender and BatteryMinder are battery MAINTAINERS, and are safe to leave connected all the time.
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2001 Lance 1121/1995 F-350 PSD CC DRW. Many mod's and upgrades. See my Profile page.
....I was going to ask you if you parked indoors while truck was off-line, however I stopped short noticing that you are in PB
...Our truck (rather, entire rig) is parked indoors in a heated facility (storage temp varies from 60F to 70F) from December 1st onward till end March...that's about 4 months.
I just disconnect all the battery leads (2 batteries under the hood; takes about 5 minutes) after the 45-minute drive to the facility. Over the past several winter indoor storage years I drove out there to monitor the Battery Minder (TM) trickle charger (moving it from one battery to the other on occasion, and doing some tinkering on the TC, too), however this winter I just couldn't be bothered (because of the horrific winter conditions we're experiencing this winter). If we experience a substantial warming, I may drive out once to test the batteries, and perhaps put them on a vehicular battery charger...if need be. I have never had a warm fuzzy feeling leaving a $30 apparatus connected to our rig's batteries when it is so far away, and I can't check on it regularly (like in past storage seasons).
Interestingly, 2 storage seasons ago I neglected to maintain the aux under-hood battery for nearly 3 months; the result was...well, frankly, it had lost nary any charge at all! Probably because of the cool (60F +/-) storage facility ambient temps ?
...anyhow, the 2 truck batteries are slated for replacement in a year or 2 anyway. So, I'm saving the several hundred in fuel it would have cost me to drive out there monthly, and saving hundreds in lost billable hours, too. Additionally, the elimination of aggravation and stress driving 60 return miles across the frozen tundra in blinding snow on icy roads all winter just to check on truck batteries is priceless!
Truck batteries only? Or also camper batteries?
When camper is stored, I use my camper batteries in my golf cart -- with a 650 amp controller and 16 HP motor. Charged frequently, and floated otherwise.
Dirt Sailor wrote: If you don't use your truck/camper for a couple of months........
Say it ain't so! Poor truck....left out all alone for months at a time. Don't you feel it calling you? Begging to be taken for a ski trip, or even a jaunt around town to be shown off? Maybe taken to work for a lunch outside?
Mine never sits longer than a month, and even that was only once that I can think of......
Just teasing, but to me the best thing is to fire it up and drive it around once a month or every 3 weeks or so. I think it's probably better on everything than leaving it sit that long. Rather than just take of the batteries, take care of the whole system....carb/injectors, fuel system, oil systems, transmission etc. I think that's what I'd do if my rig were parked very long but still accessible. For someone like Silver with it 45 minutes away maybe that's not practical....
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