Battery Charging 2020 Micro Minnie

[TroutBum1971]

I have a 2020 micro Minnie. My question is should the batteries charge when plugged into a 20amp when I have it parked? I was dewinterizing it and noticed the batteries were dead

Thanks

[Marine359]

Yes. As long as your charger breaker is not switched off, the charger will work with any incoming ac amperage it is given. That’s why you can charge batteries with a very small generator.

[Morich]

There are often details involved that get skipped over, so I like to ask. We get little info on the trailer group, leaving me guessing more than I like.
First some basics of what you have and what may have been done to see if it matches with what we find on motorized?
Do you have a battery cutoff switch that may have been off?
On other RV, that switch will not only cut off many of the drains but also the connection from the converter(charging) to those batteries!

Maybe review if that could have been the cause of the batteries going down. What we often get is the small drains from safety items are left connected, even when the cutoff is operated. In other words the cutoff just makes them go down slower!
Over long term storage, if the cutoff is cutting off the converter, the batteries wind up dead even though the RV is plugged into power!

Not sure on newer trailers but this is common on the other group where we have drawings to look at how it happens, so maybe do a mental check if that could be true?

[Marine359]

^^^2
Your battery cutoff switch does not actually cut off all dc power. In the off position, there are still active circuits that bypass the switch. These circuits are tongue jack and slide (on most models) only when in use, and gas detectors , and radio presets circuit. Neither of these can be turned off. Together, they draw about 0.25 amps, and are known as phantom draws. Doesn’t sound like much, but adds up quickly after a few days. If you want to to turn off phantom draws, there are two ways to do it. One is to turn them off at the distribution panel, which is easy to forget you did it. The other is to install another disconnect switch between you battery and your existing disconnect, moving the bypass wiring from battery terminal and connecting to the other side of this new disconnect switch. A third way is to buy a battery with a built-in (I/O) switch, which when switched off, shuts everything down but the sun. Some LiFePo4 batteries have this feature.

[Morich]

for totally killing battery drains, I like simple and one of those is adding a disconnect at the negative post of the battery.
They come in hundreds of different types but if the battery is handy to get to, the one from Harbor Freight works as well as any for me. I normally am looking at the batteries anyway to check them, so it is handy just to have this small switch there.

One of the reasons for adding it on the negative side, rather than positive is the added safety when doing any work at the batteries. While cleaning the posts, etc. it is very easy to slip and smack the metal handle of a tool into the surrounding metal while it is still on the positive post!
That is one certain way to get a nasty arc and possibly worse if there is any gas hanging around from charging! If we do the same but have the negative part of the circuit open, we get no arcing and save the burned fingers!

Point of warning?
It is then your problem to deal with anything like a leak filling the RV with propane and the safety equipment not warning you!
If you open the door and the steps don't come out? Yes, still your problem!

[RocknRoll]

I upgraded my existing LifeP04 to a smart battery. Bluetooth allows soft-switch charging/discharging among SOC and overall health. Highly recommended.