Author Topic: Coach storage power question  (Read 6697 times)

Richard Higley

  • Guest
Coach storage power question
« on: August 13, 2013, 04:08:07 AM »
Going to put my coach in indoor storage next week for 2 months with 30amp power available.  I want to plug into shore power for the refrigerator and battery charger. If I turn the inverter off, I know the fridge will run but will the batteries charge?  And if this my thinking is not correct, what is the recommended procedure?  Thanks.

Rich

Keith Oliver

  • Guest
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2013, 05:41:08 AM »
With 30 amps you will have plenty of charging for your batteries.  The inverter/charger will be charging the coach batteries, but not necessarily the chassis batteries.  With shore power connected, the "inverter" part will be inactive, but if the shore power fails, it will quickly draw down the batteries, even without any AC loads connected, so have the "inverter" side turned off.
To ensure that the chassis batteries stay charged up you need to have either an "echo" charger or "Bird" connected and operating, especially if your coach is in covered storage and the solar panel on the roof is inactive.  If you have neither, get a separate "smart" charger for the chassis batteries, or at least disconnect the batteries from the ECM or its constant draw will quickly exhaust those batteries.
The fridge (assuming it is the original Norcold or Dometic) runs on AC power or propane, except for the control circuits which use 12 volt DC power from the coach batteries.  I wouldn't leave the fridge on for 2 months.  At best it will need defrosting and its contents will be old and dried out.  At worst, it will be off when you return and all of your food will be spoiled.
So wiith everthing turned off, you would likely get away with no shore power, but hey, you have 30 amps, so all will be well when you return.

Stan Simpson

  • BAC Member
  • *
  • Posts: 786
  • Thanked: 202 times
  • One mile South of the Cheddar Curtain
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2013, 05:41:32 AM »
It depends if you have just an inverter...then no. But if you have an inverter/charger combination, and the charger is enabled, then your house batteries will charge. In fact, you can disable the inverter during that time.

Stan
Stan Simpson & Becky Glover & Moe the cat
2005 Monterey Laguna IV
C9 400 Cat
Honda CRV toad

Richard Higley

  • Guest
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #3 on: August 13, 2013, 12:55:05 PM »
The refrigerator is a residential unit. All electric, no propane. So I guess I can shut off the chassis batteries and inverter and the fridge will run and house batteries will charge.

Rich

Bill Sprague

  • Guest
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2013, 05:37:12 PM »
Test it first.  Wiring can be a surprise.  It may be that your fridge goes through the inverter system wiring to support "dry camping" events.  It can vary with model of coach and model of inverter.

By the time they built '05s, the inverter/charger systems were pretty "smart".  And you should be wired so that all your batteries are connected to the charge system.  You probably have a "BIRD".  The smart chargers go into a "float" mode that maintains long term battery health.  My view is that it is better to leave the inverter/charger system on.  30 amps is plenty if you are not running any heating or A/C.

Gerald Farris

  • Guest
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2013, 06:26:59 PM »
Richard,
Your coach came with a "Bird" system, therefore if the "Bird" system is functioning properly, and you want to have the refrigerator running, you should leave the inverter and charger on when you leave the coach. The only potential problem that I see in this scenario is if you get a power failure and it never comes back on. In that case, you will have dead house batteries, a warm refrigerator, and possibly dead chassis batteries. However, power failures are almost always for a short time frame that is measured in hours, and in that case, you will be fine. The inverter will keep the refrigerator running when the power is off and the charger will recharge all batteries when power returns.

Gerald    

Richard Higley

  • Guest
Re: Coach storage power question
« Reply #6 on: August 14, 2013, 04:49:21 AM »
Gerald,

Thanks for the info and education as I'm still a newbie. I will do as you suggest and hope there isn't a freek power outage.

Rich