[medcrest]

The two behind the tag are house batteries, and are wired in parallel with the four in front of the drive wheel.

The next question would be, should I disconnect the disconnectable trays and use a four circuit battery tender, one circuit for each of those trays, one for the tray behind the tag and one for the engine batteries?  It seems to be asking a lot to expect one tender to handle all six house batteries.  I always have a tendency to over engineer things.

If you are plugged in why do you need a battery tender? Your inverter/charger should take care of all of them.

Unfortunately, I can plug into anything more than a 15 amp house circuit.  I have covered parking 15 miles from where I live, but no 50 amp circuit.  You do what you can in the valley.

[jcus]

The two behind the tag are house batteries, and are wired in parallel with the four in front of the drive wheel.

The next question would be, should I disconnect the disconnectable trays and use a four circuit battery tender, one circuit for each of those trays, one for the tray behind the tag and one for the engine batteries?  It seems to be asking a lot to expect one tender to handle all six house batteries.  I always have a tendency to over engineer things.

If you are plugged in why do you need a battery tender? Your inverter/charger should take care of all of them.

Unfortunately, I can plug into anything more than a 15 amp house circuit.  I have covered parking 15 miles from where I live, but no 50 amp circuit.  You do what you can in the valley.

Once you get your batteries charged up, your charging part of the inverter should not take more than 2 or 3 amps to keep your batteries charged up. On many inverters you can actually limit the current that the charger uses and also your max incoming current. Even if you do not use these settings, just make sure everything is turned off, and you should be okay. Make sure all your other equipment is turned off [ fridge, heaters, ac's etc] If you are using a separate small charger for your start batteries, it will not take more than 2 or 3 amps either.
Of course you will need an adapter to go from your 15 amp receptacle to your 50 amp shore power plug.
Most people do it with two adapters, 15 up to 30, and then a 30 to 50. You might be able to find a 15 to 50 amp adapter.
I often store my coach with only 15 amp 110 volt power and even run the fridge and aqua-hot [diesel only] as well.

[Richard]

To add to what Jim said.

First, he is absolutely correct, you can use the existing inverter/charger on 15 amp service to keep the house batteries charged. Look at your inverter charger manual to see how to limit the amount of power it uses. Remember to set it back to 50 amp when you travel.

Next, you need to determine if you already have a system for charging the chassis batteries too. The easiest way is to put a voltmeter on the chassis batteries without the engine running or the coach plugged in. Plug in the coach and see if the voltage rises slightly. If so you don't need to do anything but plug in the coach and your batteries will be good to go.

Some Newells came from the factory with a secondary system for robbing power from the house batteries to keep the chassis batts topped off. A previous owner may have added such a system.

If the chassis batteries don't automatically charge when plugged in, you have three options. Add an echo system such as described above, use a battery tender for the chasssis batteries only, or turn on the merge switch.

Be aware that if you turn on the merge switch, and you lose power, ALL of the batteries will drain down together.

[Chester Stone]

I am considering putting my coach in covered storage next year for up to six months rather that driving it to my home in Mexico. My current thinking is to disconnect the negative cables on both the start and house batteries (which are 12 deep cycle golf cart batteries). Hopefully one or the other will maintain enough charge to start the generator. If not, I will connect a cable to my car to start the generator. Is this plan logical?

[Trainer]

Chester,

Storing the coach used for six months will allow the diesel on the AH nozzle to congeal to the point it will not work correctly. It might congeal to the point of completely plugging the nozzle.

So, plan on burner service when putting it back on the road. OR, if someone turned the burner on for one diesel heating cycle once per month, all will be well with the burner and its nozzle.

Merry Christmas to you. Well the Gurus too even, or especially, Tom.

[jcus]

I am considering putting my coach in covered storage next year for up to six months rather that driving it to my home in Mexico.  My current thinking is to disconnect the negative cables on both the start and house batteries (which are 12 deep cycle golf cart batteries).  Hopefully one or the other will maintain enough charge to start the generator.  If not, I will connect a cable to my car to start the generator.  Is this plan logical?

Sounds good to me. Do you not have disconnect switches for both sets of batteries?

[Chester Stone]

The disconnect switch on the house batteries does not disconnect separate cables going to the inverter. There are two positive cables exiting the house batteries, one to the cut off switch and one to the inverter. Do not know why it is set up that way.

[jcus]

The disconnect switch on the house batteries does not disconnect separate cables going to the inverter.  There are two positive cables exiting the house batteries, one to the cut off switch and one to the inverter.  Do not know why it is set up that way.

That does seem to defeat the purpose of the disconnect, guess you will have to remove the cables or put a
disconnect in the line going to the inverter.

[Richard]

Chester, if the batteries won't crank the gennie, hook up the jumper directly to the disconnected cables.
If you try to jump with the cables connected to low batteries your car alternator will not be up to the task

[Chester Stone]

That is good advise Richard. I was not aware of this. Thanks