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Overwintering AGM Batteries


Hans111

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Our previous trailer was a little teardrop with a single marine battery. In the winter the battery just went into the basement on a trickle charger.
We're--sadly--starting to think of our first winterization with the Oliver and aren't sure how to maintain a deep-cycle AGM--let alone 4 of them.  The Oliver will be indoors without heat or electric.

What's best for the batteries? Thank you!
 

Doug & Dan

Des Moines, Iowa

(waiting on a ) 2020 LEII

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Mine sits outdoors, uncovered, and the solar keeps everything charged. Even with some ice and snow on the panels we seem to get a charge. We do top off the water, well before a freeze, in the fall and spring. Can you put a portable panel outside in the sun and plug it in?

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How far is the storage area from your house or an outdoor 120 volt outlet? Can you run a small extension cord across to that spot? If you shut off all inside breakers except the converter, that cord should easily handle the current and it will keep your batteries in great shape. Make sure the batteries are fully charged before you put it inside, otherwise the converter may draw too much power for a small cord to safely handle. It will handle a maintenance (trickle) charge, no worries...

Install a Victron smart bus; it allows you to check on the battery condition from fairly far away via Blutooth. It provides great peace of mind and saves needless trips to go check in person. Here is “Mouse”, I checked the battery condition about a minute ago while lying on the living room sofa 50 feet away. Once I checked and it was down 96%, alarmed, I went out to see why and I found out that I had accidentally turned off the converter breaker instead of the one for the water heater. 
 

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John Davies

Spokane WA

 

Edited by John E Davies
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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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  • 2 months later...

We have Hull #665, so we are newbies.  We are now at the end of 'our' (western ND) camping season, and "SNYSDUP" is resting in a heated (45-50 deg.) Quonset for the winter. The Quonset is dark, no ambient light, except when we enter and turn on the overheads.  I have std. 120 power, but do not have 30 Amp circuit wired in yet, so no shoreline connection at this time.
My question is what kind of ‘winter’ Battery Maintenance I need to be mindful of, so we are ready to go this next Camping season.
-    We have the (4) 12V AGP setup, with the Solar,
-    I have tripped the Battery breaker in the front compartment of the Street-side bed,
-    I purchased a NAPA (90-510) Batt Charger, which is a 12V 10A charger.  I connected it as the instructions said, but wondering if that was a good option, so I have disconnected it for now until I get some weigh-in from others on the Forum.
-    I seem to remember a discussion thread about using a ‘Smart Charger’ or ‘Battery Minder’, but not finding that specific thread when I search the forum.  
-    If I get a ‘Minder’ what would the recommended Output Amp (2, 4, 6 >?) be? 
-    Is the charger I have @ 10A, okay to top off the Batteries when we are getting ready to go camping again?

this Forum is Great, learned so much, from hundreds of accumulated years of just Ollie Camping experiences.
 

Edited by SunySdUp

Maggie & Bryan | Arnegard, ND | 2020 LE II "Twins" Hull #665 | 2021 RAM 2500  6.4L HEMI Gasser  4dr  6.5' bed

ABBCMBNBNTNSONPEQCSKYTALARCTDEFLGAILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMIMNMSMONENHNJNYNCNDOHOKPARISCSDTNTXVTVAWVWIxlg.jpg.d41b39fcf844ad1935d35acdc8a6c203.jpg

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We store our trailer at a facility that provides a covered space with an AC outlet, I assume it’s probably 15 or 20 amps.  The cover prevents any meaningful solar charge.  I plug my power cable into the outlet when it’s stored with a 30a to 20a adapter.  It keeps the batteries charged (4 AGM) and the fridge on.  You don’t need a 30a circuit to keep you batteries topped off.  We’re going on 5 years and no issues.

I did have a 30a RV plug installed on the side of my garage for when I bring it over to do work on it.  It’s hot here a lot and working inside is impossible without the air conditioning on!   Mike

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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

ALAZARCACOFLGAIDILKSKYLAMDMSMOMTNENVNMNYNCNDOHOKSCSDTNTXUTVAWVWYsm.jpgALAZARCACOCTDEFLGAIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMS

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Mike & Carol, Thanks for the reply

So you have a (F) adapter that plugs into the Furrion 30a Power Inlet of the trailer, which then has a STD. 120V 3-prong (M) plug.  Is this one you built, or one you purchase.  

Maggie & Bryan | Arnegard, ND | 2020 LE II "Twins" Hull #665 | 2021 RAM 2500  6.4L HEMI Gasser  4dr  6.5' bed

ABBCMBNBNTNSONPEQCSKYTALARCTDEFLGAILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMIMNMSMONENHNJNYNCNDOHOKPARISCSDTNTXVTVAWVWIxlg.jpg.d41b39fcf844ad1935d35acdc8a6c203.jpg

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9 minutes ago, SunySdUp said:

Mike & Carol, Thanks for the reply

So you have a (F) adapter that plugs into the Furrion 30a Power Inlet of the trailer, which then has a STD. 120V 3-prong (M) plug.  Is this one you built, or one you purchase.  

I use my power cord from the trailer to the outlet and use a 30a (F) to 15A (M) adapter.  Like this from Amazon:  Adapter

 

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Edited by Mike and Carol
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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

ALAZARCACOFLGAIDILKSKYLAMDMSMOMTNENVNMNYNCNDOHOKSCSDTNTXUTVAWVWYsm.jpgALAZARCACOCTDEFLGAIDILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMS

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FYI, be aware of poor quality electrical adapters, especially ones with weird Chinese names. They are made of inferior materials, small gauge wires and soft bendy pins, and they do fail. Hopefully when they fail, it won’t cause a fire. Research carefully and do not buy the cheapest one there. You don’t have to buy a Marinco adapter (“yacht grade”, mega $$$$$) but do invest in a higher quality part.

I bought this adapter ....  NUSET RV Adapter  ..... and it failed in less than a year, one of the contacts inside the 30 amp housing bent and lost contact. I replaced it with a Marinco unit. I personally put safety over cost when it comes to electricity.... When holding the two adapters next to each other, the Marinco was noticeably better made, and was significantly heavier. It’s a high quality part.

NUSET adapter Davies Amazon Review 1 star

I do not recommend the type pictured above, it puts a whole lot of weight and stress on the 15 amp receptacle. Plus the rain cover may not close. Instead use an adapter with pigtail at the trailer connection, and run a heavy gauge (10AWG wires) 20 amp extension cord to the receptacle. That saves wear and tear on your expensive factory supplied shore power cable. If your trailer is exposed to lots of rain, you can make a water shield for the cord to adapter connection with some heat shrink tubing. Mine is connected indoors during storage, and when I camp it is rarely used.

John Davies

Spokane WA

9E6D1D01-98E8-4AD5-B63A-85D6CE955C1F.jpeg

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Edited by John E Davies

SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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OKAY, I think I have it.  Thanks to all who contributed.

Last question, do I leave the Battery breaker (in the front compartment of the Street-side bed) 'Tripped' for the winter (non-use) to have minimum draw or reset it.

If I trip the Battery Breaker does that negate any benefit of supplying 'winter power' via the Furrion shore line input.

Edited by SunySdUp

Maggie & Bryan | Arnegard, ND | 2020 LE II "Twins" Hull #665 | 2021 RAM 2500  6.4L HEMI Gasser  4dr  6.5' bed

ABBCMBNBNTNSONPEQCSKYTALARCTDEFLGAILINIAKSKYLAMEMDMAMIMNMSMONENHNJNYNCNDOHOKPARISCSDTNTXVTVAWVWIxlg.jpg.d41b39fcf844ad1935d35acdc8a6c203.jpg

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  • 2 years later...

please confirm I'm understanding the above stream.  the trailer will manage shore power of 15-20amp connection to service the batteries and run a couple of small appliances ( small dehumidifier and 750 watt oil heater set at low level in my case). the trailer has a trickle charge type circuit that will shut off when the batteries are fully charged and the batters will not become over charged.  Is this correct?

 

   

 

 2016 Legacy Elite II, Twin Beds, Hull #124

Tow Vehicle: 2019 Ford F250 4x4  / Short Bed / Crew Cab / 6.7 Diesel

Fieldbrook, Ca

 

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42 minutes ago, taylor.coyote said:

Is this correct?

Yes.

However, it is still advisable that you check how things are going every few weeks or so.  If it were mine, I'd be checking it at least every other week given that you have things "running" inside.  Even in my case where I have turned off everything but have an exterior add-on solar panel charging the batteries I check things every 5 to 6 weeks.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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2 hours ago, taylor.coyote said:

the trailer has a trickle charge type circuit that will shut off when the batteries are fully charged and the batters will not become over charged.

Is the trickle charger an external unit that connects directly to the batteries?  Have you verified that the trickle charger does in fact shut off when the batteries reach a fully charged condition?    A lot of the trickle chargers simply reduce their output when the battery is fully charged.  Will you turn off the Oliver 12v charging function?

Mossey

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Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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On 11/19/2020 at 7:40 PM, SNY SD UP said:

 I have std. 120 power, but do not have 30 Amp circuit wired in yet, so no shoreline connection at this time.

If you  have 120v power, get a converter plug to fix your garage duplex outlet and the 30  amp shore power plug that comes with your Ollie.  Both are single phase so no worries.  If your OTT provided 30 amp 120V single phase cord is too short, I recommend getting a running a 12 AWG extension cord (up to 20' long to get to your house power.  With that, you can manage power to only use 16 or so amps at a time, assuming your house power circuit is a 20 amp breaker.  If it is a 15 amp, then you can play safely with 10 amps or so long term.

GJ.

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TV:  2019 F-150 SuperCrew Lariat, 3.5L EcoBoost, Max Tow, FX-4, Rear Locker      OLLIE:  2018 OE2 Hull 342, Twin Bed.    OLLIE DYI’s:  BB LiFePO4's, Victron 712 Smart, 350 Amp Master Switch, Houghton 3400, Victron Orion DC - DC, 3000-Watt Renogy Inverter, P.D. 60-amp Converter, Frig Dual Exhaust Fans, Kitchen Drawer Straps.    TV DYI’s:  2 5/16" Anderson System, Timken Bearings, Nitto recon’s, Firestone Rear Air Bags, Bilstein 5100’s, Mud Flaps & Weather Tech all.

  image.jpeg.9633acdfb75740f0fd358e1a5118f105.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

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