2021 337RLS Battery Charge

[Dutchman2]

We have placed the unit in storage and switched the battery disconnect to off position. I have also disconnected the shore power. My question is around hooking up a battery tender to maintain the battery till we use the unit again. In looking around the battery area it does not look to me to be an access area (hole) to feed the cable through. Has anyone attempted to hook up their battery in this way to maintain it without hooking the unit up to shore power?

Thanks,
Dutchman2

[FT4NOW]

If using a battery tender, you could use the quick connect with the terminals, then put the negative where the battery connects to the chassis and the positive on one of the terminals from the +12v bus bar (should be behind a black plastic cover). You could also do this on the battery directly. Keep in mind there are parasitic loads that are still drawing power even with the disconnect engaged.

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[Second Chance]

If you have shore power available, the multi-stage on-board converter/charger is the best way to maintain the battery while in storage. As @FT4NOW mentioned, there are parasitic loads (alarms, etc.) even with the battery disconnect switch off. Those of us who are full-timers never disconnect anything and the batteries do just fine.

Rob

[Dutchman2]

I noticed the storage motion lights and the level control panel stay powered up. I typically on our old TT I had a battery tender connected to a timer hooked to shore power. It ran for 4 hours a day and maintained the battery very well. Just trying to do the same thing now with the new unit. I have seen the battery voltage drop over the past few weeks. Maybe I need to drill a hole near the battery box and install a grommet to feed the wires out of? Thoughts?

[SabreDriver]

We have placed the unit in storage and switched the battery disconnect to off position. I have also disconnected the shore power. My question is around hooking up a battery tender to maintain the battery till we use the unit again. In looking around the battery area it does not look to me to be an access area (hole) to feed the cable through. Has anyone attempted to hook up their battery in this way to maintain it without hooking the unit up to shore power?

Thanks,
Dutchman2

I have a 2021 303RLS, and I had the exact same dilemma you had.

I decided to fix the problem after draining my battery due to the parasitic loads during a three week stay in storage while off shore power. I chose to add a true battery disconnect between the battery (-) terminal and the ground, thereby allowing me to truly disconnect my battery from the trailer parasite loads. Then I added a battery tender directly to the battery terminals. The tender came with a quick disconnect and two sets of leads, one with alligator clamps and one with ring terminals. I used the ring terminals connected to the battery and secured the battery cover in place the tender lead can be routed through the hole where the Lippert touch pad cable enters the pass through storage area on the street side. I run an extension cable up through the water hose port below the nautilus panel and plug in the battery tender. All the storage doors can remain locked, and no big/expensive shore power cable or adapter is in view. The battery is truly disconnect from the trailer and on a tender.

The disconnect switch was $16 and the battery tender was $18, I needed a 24” black battery cable, $7, to run from the battery to the new battery disconnect. So, <$50 and 30 minutes of work. The trailer is in storage, or I would attempt to attach pictures. It’s easy, I just attached the disconnect switch to the wall above the battery in the front storage compartment.

Good luck with your project.


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[Dutchman2]

SabreDriver that’s sounds like a solid solution. My question is with the complete second battery disconnect you would loose the auto level setting since you are completely removing power to it. I think I read the controlerndoes not have flash memory to store the auto level settings. Do you have to reset auto level each time you restore power to the unit?

Dutchman2

[FT4NOW]

SabreDriver that’s sounds like a solid solution. My question is with the complete second battery disconnect you would loose the auto level setting since you are completely removing power to it. I think I read the controlerndoes not have flash memory to store the auto level settings. Do you have to reset auto level each time you restore power to the unit?

Dutchman2

No reset needed. I installed a true disconnect in my 399 and in my current 311 and disconnect power frequently. My auto level always works.

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[SabreDriver]

SabreDriver that’s sounds like a solid solution. My question is with the complete second battery disconnect you would loose the auto level setting since you are completely removing power to it. I think I read the controlerndoes not have flash memory to store the auto level settings. Do you have to reset auto level each time you restore power to the unit?

Dutchman2

I have probably used the disconnect 6-8 times since I installed it. My auto level system still functions normally. I have not found any undesirable side effects from my solution. The only real limitation is that you must reconnect it to have trailer breakaway protection and to be able to operate the landing gear.

I was really surprised at how fast the trailer battery could be depleted with nothing on, with the factory disconnect disconnected. I’m going to add some solar, so a good shunt monitor will help tell me where the drain is coming from. I only drained my battery dead once, I just hope I didn’t damage it to badly, it came back to life and seems good for now. It’s just a cheap group 24 interstate from the dealer.


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[Dutchman2]

FT4NOW,
Sounds like I picked up some bad intel on the level controller not having flash memory. This will simplify my situation. I am going to follow SabreDriver's lead on connecting the battery tender. "routed through the hole where the Lippert touch pad cable enters the pass through storage area on the street side. I run an extension cable up through the water hose port below the nautilus panel and plug in the battery tender." I like to have the ability to place the battery tender on a timer as I have (2) other cars that I have connected to battery tenders/timers and have had zero battery issues as a result of the small parasitic losses. Just set the timer for 4 hrs. a day run time.

[CoChris]

SabreDriver that’s sounds like a solid solution. My question is with the complete second battery disconnect you would loose the auto level setting since you are completely removing power to it. I think I read the controlerndoes not have flash memory to store the auto level settings. Do you have to reset auto level each time you restore power to the unit?

Dutchman2

When you remove power, you will loose your "last hitch height" setting, but that is it. The zero point (calibration) setting remains without power.

Chris