To Plug In or Not To Plug In ...that is the ...

Cccjim

Sparky, our 2017 Tag will be sitting in cozy garage for about 6 months. Last year I left it plugged in and everything worked fine when we we hit the road. My question is, is it okay to keep our TAG plugged in with the battery switch in the ON position for the next 7 months? Is it better to leave it unplugged and of course turn the switch to the OFF position? Secondly, would it be helpful to leave the cooler turned On or Off or does it make any difference when sitting for a long period?

BBsGarage

I use a battery float charger with the battery disconnected from the trailer.
This way the converter is not powered on for all of that time.

Cccjim

@BBsGarage said:
I use a battery float charger with the battery disconnected from the trailer.
This way the converter is not powered on for all of that time.

Do you take the battery out or leave it sit in its compartment when connecting your float charger?

BBsGarage

I bring the battery into the garage as the trailer stays outside under a tent.

ontheroad

we unplug our baby and bring her batteries into the house (crawlspace)...clean out the norcold (leaving some baking soda inside)...damp rid and dryer sheets inside the emptied T@G...at least I can still see her...

OutdoorEd

Big Pimpin' winters in a storage facility. I take out the battery and leave it in our garage, on a battery tender.

Michigan_Mike

I've owned 5 of these teardrop trailers and live here in Michigan. If you are using a wet cell battery check the fluid level and top it off with distilled water as needed. I've never taken my batteries out of any trailer, merely charge them up good before storing for the winter, turn the battery switch to off and close the door.

As for running the electric converter non-stop over the winter, I wouldn't do that as it is an electric component and although the manufacturer says it's okay, nuCamp recommends running it for a few days every few weeks to top off the battery. This way it prolongs the life of the converter and minimizes wear and tear on the converter.

If you are worried about losing a charge in the battery use a battery tender or smart charger as this way it floats the charge as needed and you can rest easy! I do use battery tender Jr's on my riding lawn mowers of late and it makes life easier and the battery is always maintained. That would probably be best for you and eliminates the hassle since they come with a quick disconnect wiring harness and allows you to unplug/replug easily and as needed.

Good luck!

Cccjim

Regarding plugging the camper in and turning the switch to on every couple weeks is in keeping with some others advice. As I said it's a 2017 and has the original battery. I am not concerned with a battery going dead because my tag is in a nice dry garage and I will not be using the camper until spring. As always Mike, thank you or your sound advice.

beaky

the battery shouldn't lose more then 1% of its charge in the off position. we just give it a 12 hour jolt before we go out

rich67

Kind of new to this. I store my Tag in my garage and plug it in on occasion, but never with the battery in the ON position. So what I am gathering from this thread is I should either plug it in and turn the batt ON and let it charge periodically, or get a battery tender and trickle charge it regularly. I noticed also that when the battery is ON, it sounds like a cooling fan is running in the fuse panel when I am plugged in. Is that normal?

Cccjim

@rich67 said:
Kind of new to this. I store my Tag in my garage and plug it in on occasion, but never with the battery in the ON position. So what I am gathering from this thread is I should either plug it in and turn the batt ON and let it charge periodically, or get a battery tender and trickle charge it regularly. I noticed also that when the battery is ON, it sounds like a cooling fan is running in the fuse panel when I am plugged in. Is that normal?

This is from the 2017 T@G Manual, "Battery Disconnect Switch
The battery disconnect switch is used to separate the batteries from the 12-volt distribution panel and converter charging system.
When the switch is turned to ON and the trailer is plugged into a 120-volt shoreline, the 12-volt distribution panel will receive power from the converter and the batteries will be charged through the converter charging system.
When the switch is turned to OFF and the trailer is plugged into a 120-volt shoreline, the 12-volt distribution panel will still receive power from the converter, but the batteries are disconnected from
the system. The batteries will not be drained with the switch in the OFF position. The converter will not charge the batteries with the switch in this position."

tagurit

I looked up the converter in our T@G after our first trip in really hot weather, kept hearing that noise off and on all night. With the hot weather seems our Norcold was working overtime and so was the converter. Apparently there is a microprocessor in the converter that regulates the cooling fan based on how much current is being processed versus a temperature based fan, supposed to prolong the equipment life.

Sharon_is_SAM

@rich67, completely normal. As noted, that fan cools the converter as it charges your battery.

TomD

Tagurit..my SS has a Norcold and when I’m connected to shore power the converter does a cool cycle regardless of outside temperature. I drop shore power to the SS at night so I’m not disturbed. The batteries can easily carry the Norcold load overnight.

tagurit

TomD, we will do the same, but on this trip it was 114 as we crossed into California at Needles and 109 when we got to the campground, could hear the fridge running most of the night as well and got protective of our little Interstate group 24 even though it has never failed us.

TomD

Tagruit...With those temps I would have had the AC on all night. The minuscule sound of the converter cooling would have been totally wiped clean.

Cccjim

@TomD said:
Tagruit...With those temps I would have had the AC on all night. The minuscule sound of the converter cooling would have been totally wiped clean.

We run our air conditioner all night with much lower temperatures then was named above. We have come to sleep best by a very sound of it.

tagurit

I can barely bear the a/c noise but the wife can't so we only run it till it's time for sleep. Then it's just the fantastic fan although it's almost as loud. My winter project is to pull the a/c and see if I can come up with a duct system for it or look at buying one. I can hardly hear the a/c running from outside the camper, I'm hoping the reverse is true.

TomD

I’m afraid sleeping 3 feet away from the AC has some unavoidable issues such as noise and wind velocity.

tagurit

I would like to try to modify the Danby to work like this but may just have to spend the 500 bucks. https://www.google.com/shopping/product/10597447203471214063?q=climateright&client=ms-android-verizon&sa=X&biw=360&bih=559&tbs=vw:l,ss:44&prds=epd:4839405025562629012,paur:ClkAsKraX7BZyWDKALlPiKlh748MGEiHGuk8os25vanZfX9b5qHVVsEK8c4pspwAJu-aT4KSA8jZ2e7tPv4psS2yTNVv7taM_gRGm305hbIgMtyfKZx0378zYBIZAFPVH73YrjB0aTszMGeB69E5PFJFY9od8A,cdl:1,prmr:1,cs:1&ved=0ahUKEwjn24Cl4qLeAhWB71MKHQQhCW4QgTYI-gQ

Cccjim

@TomD said:
I’m afraid sleeping 3 feet away from the AC has some unavoidable issues such as noise and wind velocity.

I have said it before, my wife and I love the air conditioning, and the noise puts us to sleep. I would not change a thing about it.

LuckyJ

@Cccjim said:

@TomD said:
I’m afraid sleeping 3 feet away from the AC has some unavoidable issues such as noise and wind velocity.

I have said it before, my wife and I love the air conditioning, and the noise puts us to sleep. I would not change a thing about it.

Plus, it cover to outer loud sounds like train, plains and automobile that pass near by if you have to sleep overnight in a KOA.

Cccjim

We have used the sound of our air conditioner and fantastic fan to cover up outside noises.

TomD

White noise

Michigan_Mike

My wife has a small fan she likes to keep on to help her sleep! I think it is a noise addiction of sorts. LOL

Cccjim

I like the small fan idea. As such, one is not bringing the dust in from outside which can happen using the fantastic fan.

Michigan_Mike

A small fan adds value too in that it circulates air inside the trailer and this helps in minimizing and eliminating condensation.

Cccjim

@Michigan_Mike said:
A small fan adds value too in that it circulates air inside the trailer and this helps in minimizing and eliminating condensation.

Did you use one where you all day tag and if so, where did you set it?

Cccjim

@Cccjim said:

@Michigan_Mike said:
A small fan adds value too in that it circulates air inside the trailer and this helps in minimizing and eliminating condensation.

Did you use one where you all day tag and if so, where did you set it?

I meant to ask if you used a fan when you had a tag and if so where did you mount it