Storage undercover without power

[Roy C Tyler]

We just moved to the Phoenix area and can no longer store our MH at our house with hookups.  We are storing it at a RV storage facility under cover outside but with no power to plug into.  With the overhead cover, the solar panels will not keep the batteries charged. What do you do in this case to keep the batteries charged?  I was thinking about just disconnecting them but don't know if this will cause any problems. Thanks in advance for any solutions.

[Bill Lampkin]

Its a real problem, as we were in the identical situation as you for years, until the only space opened up with a 30A receptacle. I had to replace my house batteries as they went dead.

First, you will have to disconnect the negative battery cable so you don't drain your batteries. even with the house battery disconnect switch 'open' or off, you will drain your batteries due to parisitic loads from your inverter/charger. Next, once every couple of weeks, reconnect the battery cable and run your gen for 2 or 3 hours to partially recharge your batteries. even this way, you will not get your batteries into 'float' or fully charged, as the 'absorption' phase takes hours. After doing this a few times, you may be able to stretch out the interval between charges to 3 weeks or so. It's really not a good solution. Now that we have a 30A hookup, my battery problems are over. Don't forget to do your gen maint (filters, oil change) as you will be putting hours on your gen. Good luck!

[Bill Sprague]

Roy,

You have to either charge them or disconnect them. 

We kept or '04 Monterey powered for 12 years.  Once, for about 6 weeks, we left it in Texas while we flew home for Christmas.  I turned the big switches off in the back.  When I turned them back on, all was well!  It started and we drove off!

Be sure an leave the fridge wide open so mold does not grow and expect to reprogram the radio memory. 

[Bill Sprague]

I should add that, from what I can read, a completely disconnected battery will discharge at a rate of up to about 5% a month.

[Leon Scroggins]

Just replaced my 4 house batteries for the same reason. Turned off Battery Connect Switch l and the Inverter but did not disconnect the negative ground and killed the batteries beyond salvage in just 4 months. Now have it stored next to a 15 amp plug so I can keep it plugged in.  Got to remember to add water on a regular basis if those are the kind you have.

[Roy C Tyler]

Thank you all for the ideas.  The lady at the storage facility says my space is open to the south and that many of the MH people are using small solar panels propped up at the back of their rigs to trickle charge their batteries.  She said they are getting them off Amazon and the cost is about $140. Being it is the Phoenix area in winter, the solar should work fine. I had planed to shut off the main switches in the battery compartment anyway.  The batteries are all new in May of this year and I don't want to ruin them.

[Bill Sprague]

Just replaced my 4 house batteries for the same reason. Turned off Battery Connect Switch l and the Inverter but did not disconnect the negative ground and killed the batteries beyond salvage in just 4 months. Now have it stored next to a 15 amp plug so I can keep it plugged in.  Got to remember to add water on a regular basis if those are the kind you have.

That's odd.  Turning off the switches should be a complete disconnect.  Something must have been wired bypassing the switch. 

[Bill Lampkin]

Not sure about the Monterey's, but on my PT, the inverter is connected directly to the batteries, bypassing the disconnect switch. With the inverter not running, the current reading at the batt neg cable was 3-5 amps. That'll drain your batteries quick. Solar would be great, but remember, a 100w panel puts out about 5 amps for about 5 hrs a day, maybe an hour longer days in the desert. As long as the solar puts out more amps per day than the parasitic loads, your batteries should be good. Easy to check the amps with this quality clamp-on meter UNI-T UT210D. 

https://www.amazon.com/UNI-T-UT210D-Digital-Current-Capacitance/dp/B06ZY68JJG

[Stan Simpson]

If you have an AGS system on your inverter/charger, program the generator to come on when a certain threshold on the batteries is reached. The generator will run until the batteries are at float and then shut off. If you don't and its an option for your inverter/charger, you might want to consider it as an option. Of course, you need to let the owner of the storage facility know about the possibility your generator might automatically start.