Brownleaf
Durham
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Grit dog, I am sure that driving it every 9 days is better for most mechanical parts of the chassis, perhaps not the battery, and it deters varmints settling in. I think either very low in gas or very low battery charge could cause it not to catch on first try but second try being successful. Doug
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TCBear
USA
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Joined: 10/06/2023
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Motorhomes are designed to sit longer if needed without driving. If it was mine I might drive it once or twice a month, and of course the alternator will charge the engine battery even while parked and idling. But a more efficient means to charge the battery would be a plug-in trickle/float charger/maintainer as others have mentioned (as little as $10 at Harbor Freight) or a small solar trickle charger you can leave attached, the latter even more helpful in storage lots without electricity. You shouldn't need to drive an RV to charge the battery, there's better ways to do that. You can buy a $10 voltmeter at Harbor Freight to check voltage if needed, fully charged should be roughly 12.6 to 12.7 volts. As for frequent short drives, water condensation can accumulate in the motor oil without it being evaporated out, it becomes acidic and can lead to sludge and related lube issues over time.
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TCBear
USA
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There's manual and automatic battery chargers (larger) and trickle/float maintainers (smaller). The manual devices will charge whenever plugged in and can ultimately overcharge a battery if not monitored. A bit more expensive, the automatic or "smart" devices will automatically monitor battery voltage and turn on or shut off as required, so some of those you can safely leave attached to a battery 24/7. New/used car lots often have small solar chargers they'll leave on a car.
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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TCBear wrote:Motorhomes are designed to sit longer if needed without driving. If it was mine I might drive it once or twice a month, and of course the alternator will charge the engine battery even while parked and idling. But a more efficient means to charge the battery would be a plug-in trickle/float charger/maintainer as others have mentioned (as little as $10 at Harbor Freight) or a small solar trickle charger you can leave attached, the latter even more helpful in storage lots without electricity. You shouldn't need to drive an RV to charge the battery, there's better ways to do that. You can buy a $10 voltmeter at Harbor Freight to check voltage if needed, fully charged should be roughly 12.6 to 12.7 volts. As for frequent short drives, water condensation can accumulate in the motor oil without it being evaporated out, it becomes acidic and can lead to sludge and related lube issues over time.
No they’re not “designed” to sit longer. However it don’t hurt any vehicle to sit for months.
How does maintaining a battery get this far in the weeds??
Too many “theories” and wives tales and such.
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
2017 Heartland Torque T29 - Sold.
Couple of Arctic Fox TCs - Sold
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Sandia Man
Rio Rancho, NM
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Joined: 08/09/2008
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You can use something like this plug in voltmeter to keep track of battery voltage, plus it can come in handy if you need to charge devices via USB. Adding something like this battery maintainer will keep battery charged, trickle charges preventing overcharging chassis battery. Many motorhomes do come with the capability to charge both house and chassis batteries when plugged into shorepower, trickle chargers are a good alternative if a motorhome does not have this capability or if charging solenoid is faulty which can be an expensive repair.
We use our motorhome throughout the year but on occasion it will sit unused for a few weeks, prior owners hardly used it last few years they owned it as they were in their 80s and dealing with health issues. We purchased it and other than changing tranny and engine oil along with a fresh set of tires as they were aged out, we put 25K miles over 3 years without any issues. No problem taking your rig out for a spin as you wish but motorhomes along with every type of RV class tend to sit unused for months although keeping batteries charged can be an issue.
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Brownleaf
Durham
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Thanks to all for good information. Am interested in the idea of the solar charger. I will check them all out. Have not been driving further on my jaunts because still not sure of its mechanics and have yet to be happy with a local dependable mechanic. Doug
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Grit dog
Black Diamond, WA
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Sounds like you’re just burning gasoline for nothing….
But again context is everything. Is it possible that you’ve just discharged the battery a bunch from not running it long but starting it a bunch of times?
Why not just charge up the battery and see if it holds a charge if you suspect it is an issue?
Don’t overcomplicate this.
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Brownleaf
Durham
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Gritdog, just took it out for a few miles and it started out on the dash saying 50% charged and went up to about 5/8 charged by the end. Do I need to worry if that dash indicater is valid? Doug
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TCBear
USA
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"No they’re not “designed” to sit longer."
Of course motorhome chassis, drivetrains and bodies are designed with extended storage in mind -- that's what people routinely do with them, so all that's taken into account by component engineers in their durability and longevity objectives. And because they are, the vehicles can survive certain things (including neglect) that a Ferrari V-12 supercar might not tolerate as well.
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Brownleaf
Durham
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TC, it appears I' going to differ on everybody about letting it sit or getting it out. One more issue is there is rust underneath and it sits in my carport where it is very humid and moisture accumulates and does not drain well below the rv. Because of that I feel those jaunts help dry it out underneath. Doug
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