Pat, thanks for the question. Long answer short--no, it doesn't make sense, at least not with respect to our converters.
In the old days, in order to get a battery charged quickly, the charger simply put out a higher single voltage (pressure) to pump in enough current to bring the battery back to full charge in a shorter amount of time--you couldn't leave them on for an extended period of time without overcharging the battery and boiling out the electrolyte. Almost all modern chargers put out a high enough voltage (14V +/-) to charge the battery back up in a reasonable amount of time, but monitor the output and lowers the voltage when the battery reaches its full charge. To keep the battery at its full-charge level (between 12.6V and 12.9V), the converter settles at an output "float" voltage of about 13.2V.
There is always some "parasitic" current drawn that will eventually discharge an RV battery even without an extra load put on it if there is no float voltage there. One is the internal leakage in the battery itself, and there are a few small current drains in the T@B, such as the propane alarm and the Northern Breeze control board. The converter's float voltage takes care of those and keeps the battery at its full-charge level without over-charging.
You can easily use a voltmeter to check the float voltage. Just put it across the battery terminals while plugged into shore power and if it reads close to 13.2V (a few tenths variation is not important), your converter is doing the job.
Jerry J
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 11:53 AM
Subject: [tabtrailers] Re: trickle charger question
Jerry,
We keep our trailer hooked up to shore power year round, one of the benefits of being able to park it in the driveway next to the house. I was recently told with it plugged in, I should keep one of the lights on so the battery doesn't "over charge". I could hold my knowledge of electricity in a thimble, so tell me, does this statement make any sense?
Pat B.
--- In tabtrailers@yahoogroups.com, "Jerry Jones" <jjerryj@...> wrote:
>
> Nancy, you, Carol and Sandra are right. The reason is that the converter does exactly the same thing that a battery maintainer does. It only provides the minimal current needed for the detectors and the battery, as long as nothing else is turned on. The difference in shore power consumption because of the detectors is inconsequential.
>
> Jerry J
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