RE: Plugging in Battery

[mwh710]

 
My CO alarm was going off the other day from my closed up PUT, so I plugged the trailer into our house AC.  Now I know that this is supposed to recharge the battery.  It s been 5 days.  Am I doing any harm by leaving it hooked up?[&:]

[mike4947]

 mwh710
Well it s not helping it. First the battery was DEEPLY idscharged by not unplugging it when you got home and the detector drained it. Second the converter in your PU is designed (no matter what the marketing literature hype says) POWER 12 vot items not to charge a battery. Third the longer a battery stays partially or fully discharged the shorter it s life is.
 IMHO unplug the battery, buy and/or use a charger to bring it back to a full charge.

[chasd60]

 mwh710
I don t have a CO alarm but I do have an LP alarm. I hooked my LP alarm into my galley cutoff switch so it wouldn t drain my battery when the camper is closed up.
 
 As far as leaving it plugged in, the battery is only good for so many recharge cycles. If you want to leave it plugged in for a prolonged period of time you may be able to pull the fuse from the battery and just use the converter to supply the 12VDC while plugged in. Make sure you check the water level in your battery frequently if it is not sealed.

[Joe Gleason]

 mwh710
I pulled my battery to charge and store for the first time this spring...  (after letting it sit all winter)..
 
 I was surprised to see white as Negative and Black as positive ... No markings on the wire to indicate other wise - is this correct?

[BaysideBruce]

 mwh710
Joe,
 Yes that is correct for a Coleman PU.  I ruined a battery once because of that.  Coleman for some unknown reason uses black as Positive and White as Negative.