Storage

Storage area in galley is very warm. Should I be concerned?

 

It could be a sign of an electrical problem. Which side, how hot, and where exactly is it hot? If it is hot on the far right, near the battery cutoff switch, I would be very worried. That is where the battery lives.

 

It is on the side where the batter

 

It is at the battery area.

 

The panel on the side is held on with only a few screws. I suggest opening that panel to see what is up. After the screws are removed the panel comes out easily if the storage area is empty. Inside you will find the fuse panel and the battery. Identifying what is heating up should give a clue as to what is going on. Then give Cary a call to see what he suggests.

 

I had this problem last year. I had to have a new battery and charger installed. The galley area near battery was Hot not just warm. When I took the camper to the Campinn shop, the actual battery had bulges in it from over charging. The voltages on the meter were in normal range. Cary and the guys will fix it.

 

how do you overcharge a battery? we leave our trailer plugged in all of the time when not in use.

 

It is fine to leave it plugged in all the time, in fact that is ideal. It will become overcharged only if the charger fails.

 

I seem to recall that you could develop battery issues if you have your TD plugged in to AC (shore power) but your fridge is plugged in to the battery (rather than to the AC outlet). But I may be wrong about that.....

-Al

 

AlCat - Craig mentioned that to us and Jenn when we were at the factory last week. It is more of a battery charger concern than a battery issue. When the compressor on the refrigerator kicks in it draws pretty heavily from the battery. The battery charger senses that and goes into overdrive mode for a set period of time. The compressor shuts down, but the BC is still going full steam. About the time the BC throttles back down, the compressor kicks in again and the BC goes back into overdrive. So, yes, it is always a good idea to have the refrigerator on shore power so that the battery charger doesn't work overtime to recharge the battery.

 

It is hard on both the battery and charger. The charger is working unnecessarily hard and the battery is running pretty hot. In general I would say running the fridge on DC when the trailer is on shore power is going to add years of stress to both the battery and charger. Best to switch to AC power on the fridge when shore power is available.

A customer in FL did some great research on this subject. He even connected thermocouples to his battery to get heat data running the fridge in his closed up garage while on shore power.

Cary

 

If the TD battery is charging via solar (and not plugged in to AC), should the fridge be plugged in to AC or to DC?

(I have been assuming that DC/12V is the answer....)

 

DC. Solar only trickle charges. It has no impact on the battery charger.

 

Bear,

Your battery has probably come to the end of it's useful life because of age. My concern is your battery charger may now be damaged from keeping a unchargeable battery on it too long. Take the battery out and get it load tested. Then (as we will always insist on when anyone asks battery or battery charger questions) provide us with your battery voltage readings before and during charging cycles so we can help determine if your battery charger is still healthy.

Cary