Disconnects?

[reubenray]

As I was preparing my new (never used) Reflection into winter storage I turned off the disconnect as I have done on three previous RV's. My trailer has 370 watts of solar and apparently I turned off the solar disconnect. This ran my battery down. I started looking and apparently there are two disconnect switches. Neither of these are labeled and there is no paperwork on them either. Now that I have a new battery what do I turn off when I put the trailer in storage? Attached is a photo of the disconnects.

[Country Campers]

Which disconnect did you turn off, the lower right or the upper left?, the other will be the battery disconnect. It is hard to tell from the picture which one is which. Depending on the amount of time in storage you may want to disconnect the battery cables. To do that you would want to turn the solar disconnect to the off position then disconnect the battery cables, positive or negative is fine or both.

Brian

[reubenray]

I turned off the lower right disconnect. If I disconnect the battery cable will the battery stay charged and will freezing temperatures hurt it. After the battery died I got it out but it was a PITA to do. I hopefully won't have to that much. My battery is an AGM and it weight about 50 pounds which is heavy for a bad back. During the spring, summer and fall the trailer may be in storage for 2 to 3 weeks in between trips. During the winter it will be in storage from November to March. My site in the storage facility gets full sunshine.

[TucsonJim]

Neither of those switches are a true battery disconnect. What Grand Design calls a battery disconnect is actually just a disconnect between the battery and the fuse block. There are other circuits which remain on and will drain your battery within a few days. I'd turn off both switches and then disconnect the batteries like Brian suggested above. Make sure your battery has a decent charge before disconnecting.

Jim

[reubenray]

I am new to solar, but won't it keep the battery charged? On my previous trailer that had solar when I brought the trailer to my house to prep for a trip I use the lights, refrigerator, etc that is supplied by solar/battery instead of plugging the trailer into my house. That trailer had a single disconnect that I turned off when I put it in storage. Won't this trailer work the same way?

[TucsonJim]

If you leave the solar on, it will certainly keep up with the small loads while you're not there. As long as you have good sunlight all winter.

Jim

[reubenray]

If you leave the solar on, it will certainly keep up with the small loads while you're not there. As long as you have good sunlight all winter.

Jim

The storage lot that I am in gets full sun all day long. In my area I may get a few days without sun. I thought that when I turned off the big disconnect that the solar would still be on. Apparently the big (lower right) disconnect is for the solar. In the future shorter times that I put the trailer in storage I will turn off the other one (upper left).

For this winter my new battery will stay in my garage hooked up to a battery tender. In the future when I put the trailer in storage for the long winter I'd turn off both switches and then disconnect the batteries like Brian suggested above.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

then disconnect the battery cables, positive or negative is fine or both.

Brian

Removing both is fine, but, always remove negative first and reconnect last for safety reasons.

For example, if you chose to remove the positive first. You get your wrench on the positive post and loosen it. But if in the act of loosening the nut/bolt you touch any metallic part of the trailer, you are shorting positive to negative with your wrench. You will create a light show. You may have to do laundry.

This cannot happen if you remove the negative first.

[reubenray]

Removing both is fine, but, always remove negative first and reconnect last for safety reasons.

For example, if you chose to remove the positive first. You get your wrench on the positive post and loosen it. But if in the act of loosening the nut/bolt you touch any metallic part of the trailer, you are shorting positive to negative with your wrench. You will create a light show. You may have to do laundry.

This cannot happen if you remove the negative first.

I will be re-installing my new battery this weekend where I can bring the trailer home for a few days to do some mods. I am glad I had the battery in the garage being the low temperatures were in the below zero range for four days with 3" of snow everywhere. I will install the positive cable first and the negative cable last. Does it make any difference which of the two disconnects to turn on first?

I also plan on leaving the battery in there until I being it back home again in March.. I will leave the solar disconnect on. Should I turn off the other disconnect? Our coldest weather here is usually in January, so I should not have to worry about the solar not keeping the battery charged. Next week the weather is calling for mostly sunny and the temperatures being in the upper 50's for the highs and the lows being in the low 40's. I will be checking the battery more often also.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

I would leave the just the solar disconnect on. But I would verify it is functioning properly (charging) before I left it.

[reubenray]

I reinstalled my new fully charged battery in the trailer today and brought the trailer home for a few days. It was showing that is was charging with the solar. I have it plugged into a 120v outlet while it is at home. When I take it back to storage in a few days I will verify again that the battery is being charged by the solar. I will also turn off the disconnect (not the solar one, but the other one).

[LeonM]

Hi,
Didn't want to start a new thread on the battery topic, so hopefully I can get some answers on this thread. I have a 23 Reflection, which was put into storage in late fall. Because of how long it would be there, I disconnected battery from cables and took battery home. Yesterday took battery to RV and connected battery. Voltage showed 12.5v, but I have no power to control panel for slides, lights, etc. Any thoughts? TIA.

[howson]

Hi,
Didn't want to start a new thread on the battery topic, so hopefully I can get some answers on this thread. I have a 23 Reflection, which was put into storage in late fall. Because of how long it would be there, I disconnected battery from cables and took battery home. Yesterday took battery to RV and connected battery. Voltage showed 12.5v, but I have no power to control panel for slides, lights, etc. Any thoughts? TIA.

Double-check the battery disconnect. The key should not come out with a gentle tug. If in doubt, rotate to "off" (key will remove) and back to "on" (key will not remove).

Also, was the 12.5V the resting voltage (no load)? Assuming a sealed lead acid, that's surprising low (again) assuming the battery was charged prior to taking back to the RV.

[reubenray]

I checked on my trailer this morning after being in storage for five days. I turned the disconnect back on and my battery was 13.3. I am very pleased with this especially being the last two days had rain all day long.

[LeonM]

Double-check the battery disconnect. The key should not come out with a gentle tug. If in doubt, rotate to "off" (key will remove) and back to "on" (key will not remove).

Also, was the 12.5V the resting voltage (no load)? Assuming a sealed lead acid, that's surprising low (again) assuming the battery was charged prior to taking back to the RV.

The battery had been on a trickle charger up to a couple days prior. I'll mess with the battery disconnect, but the key was in position. I'll re-check the key again just to make sure. Thx