22MLE Battery Winterizing

[Average Jane]

I'm not sure if the 2021 22mle has a built in converter.

[Dick Noble]

You must have one. If there is a 12v battery, it has to be charged and an on-board converter is necessary. The one you may not be for constant charging with out over charging.

[Average Jane]

You must have one. If there is a 12v battery, it has to be charged and an on-board converter is necessary. The one you may not be for constant charging with out over charging.

That was what initiated my question was if it will over charge by leaving it plugged in.

[Riverbug]

I'm not sure if the 2021 22mle has a built in converter.

Yep, it does. It's built into the WFCO power panel. Been doing a bit of wiring work on my MLE to move the battery location under the dinette (switched to lithium), so I can confirm you have a charger/converter. With your location/outdoor temps, I would just leave it plugged in all the time and run your dehumidifier when you want. If you still have the original flooded cell battery just remember to check the water level on occasion.

[Corky2]

You must have one. If there is a 12v battery, it has to be charged and an on-board converter is necessary. The one you may not be for constant charging with out over charging.

If it's the WF-8735 then it does have a Three-Stage Converter Charger which includes trickle charge. I would think most RV power converters/battery chargers these days are modern three stage battery chargers.

[Buckskin]

I found that disconnecting shore power and using a trickle charger to keep battery topped off extends life of battery. I used several chargers over the years and like the one below. It came with quick connect that make it easy to hook up charger. Just replaced my 4 year old battery; that more than the average life for deep cycle battery that is in use daily. I just use the cheaper deep cycle batteries found at Walmart and found they work good, especially for what you pay for them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ynot4me2]

That was what initiated my question was if it will over charge by leaving it plugged in.

Your 22mle does come with a converter but they are not the best on the market. Given your location, I would disconnect the battery but leave the tt plugged in. This will save your battery. Leaving your battery plugged might boil it over where it would run low on fluid and get damaged. Give it a full charge then unplug it. Maybe give it a charge every other month. If leaving the tt plugged, I would turn the main breaker off when not using the dehumidifier. This will give some protection against power fluctuations.

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[Average Jane]

Your 22mle does come with a converter but they are not the best on the market. Given your location, I would disconnect the battery but leave the tt plugged in. This will save your battery. Leaving your battery plugged might boil it over where it would run low on fluid and get damaged. Give it a full charge then unplug it. Maybe give it a charge every other month. If leaving the tt plugged, I would turn the main breaker off when not using the dehumidifier. This will give some protection against power fluctuations.

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Thanks. When you say disconnect the battery do you mean at the battery or at the red battery disconnect?

Are all batteries fluid filled? I'll do some research on this later.

This is our first year with it so I'm curious how often I'll need to run the dehumidifier; we get allllll the rain.

[Ynot4me2]

Thanks. When you say disconnect the battery do you mean at the battery or at the red battery disconnect?

Are all batteries fluid filled? I'll do some research on this later.

This is our first year with it so I'm curious how often I'll need to run the dehumidifier; we get allllll the rain.

At the battery. If you have the regular lead acid battery that came with your tt then yes it has fluid in it which you have to keep topped up with distilled water. When disconnected, pop those little covers off. There's a few good YouTube how too on this.
As for the dehumidifier, you could leave in on and simply run a tube outside via the side of the slide. There's a little hole there along the wall to let water out.

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[Riverbug]

Your 22mle does come with a converter but they are not the best on the market. Given your location, I would disconnect the battery but leave the tt plugged in. This will save your battery. Leaving your battery plugged might boil it over where it would run low on fluid and get damaged. Give it a full charge then unplug it. Maybe give it a charge every other month. If leaving the tt plugged, I would turn the main breaker off when not using the dehumidifier. This will give some protection against power fluctuations.

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I don't want to start a debate here, but just want to clarify. The older units were notorious for "burning up" batteries as they did not have smart charge capabilities. These days they are pretty good. The WFCO units do have multi-stage chargers which do shut off at full charge and apply appropriate charging as needed. I've confirmed this with my Victron battery monitor; once full charge is achieved and cycle is complete, the charger does not continue to send voltage to the battery. I'm not saying these are top quality chargers, I wouldn't use them in my boat where I have 4 batteries to maintain, but they seem to do much better than the older versions in my experience.