Is a on/off switch necessary for batteries?

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   John, I do leave my pod plugged in all the time via a 30 amp circuit I wired into my garage.  No damage to any system after multiple months of doing so, and the battery was ready to go with no issues.  It also means the inside has AC for when i need to spend time inside (such as making mods).
If you plug your battery maintainer into the zamp port you are:-- bypassing the built-in inverter, which has smart charging as part of its design.  Your battery maintainer will hopefully also have smart charging.  Any internal consumers of energy will still get their power from the battery, despite not being connected to shore power.  
-- still connecting the pod to shore power, since the battery maintainer has to get its energy from somewhere!  you're just reducing the current level and limiting what can be done inside.  I understand it might be easier to use an extension cord to a lower amperage outlet.

So far as i have been able to determine, the zamp wiring goes straight to the battery.

Charging two batteries depends on how they're connected:  if 6 volt in series or 12 volt in parallel, then you'd be addressing both batteries with the maintainer.  However, not all maintainers understand they are connected to multiple batteries, and cell-to-cell differences might result.  You might be better off disconnecting multiple batteries from the pod and using individual maintainers, or charging one, then the other.

I'm also not sure why you'd use the zamp circuit with the battery maintainer.  Why not just connect directly to the battery(ies)?  For motorcycles, I've left a Battery Tender connection permanently attached to the battery, led to a position that's easy to connect.

Could you expand a bit more on your concern and what you want to accomplish?

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Q7-retired Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Dec 2014 Location: Pittsboro, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 100	Topic: Is a on/off switch necessary for batteries? Posted: 17 Sep 2016 at 1:11pm
	John, I do leave my pod plugged in all the time via a 30 amp circuit I wired into my garage. No damage to any system after multiple months of doing so, and the battery was ready to go with no issues. It also means the inside has AC for when i need to spend time inside (such as making mods). If you plug your battery maintainer into the zamp port you are: -- bypassing the built-in inverter, which has smart charging as part of its design. Your battery maintainer will hopefully also have smart charging. Any internal consumers of energy will still get their power from the battery, despite not being connected to shore power. -- still connecting the pod to shore power, since the battery maintainer has to get its energy from somewhere! you're just reducing the current level and limiting what can be done inside. I understand it might be easier to use an extension cord to a lower amperage outlet. So far as i have been able to determine, the zamp wiring goes straight to the battery. Charging two batteries depends on how they're connected: if 6 volt in series or 12 volt in parallel, then you'd be addressing both batteries with the maintainer. However, not all maintainers understand they are connected to multiple batteries, and cell-to-cell differences might result. You might be better off disconnecting multiple batteries from the pod and using individual maintainers, or charging one, then the other. I'm also not sure why you'd use the zamp circuit with the battery maintainer. Why not just connect directly to the battery(ies)? For motorcycles, I've left a Battery Tender connection permanently attached to the battery, led to a position that's easy to connect. Could you expand a bit more on your concern and what you want to accomplish?
	Best regards, Jim 2015-RP178 TV 2015 Audi Q7 TDI and 2017 Ford F150 At home in "Our Pod"

voisj Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 19 Jul 2016 Location: San Luis Obispo Online Status: Offline Posts: 471	Posted: 17 Sep 2016 at 8:07pm
	Jim, Thanks for the info! My Rpod is sitting out in the back 40 on a ranch of a friend of mine. I have an extension cord plugged in to a 110 20 amp circuit , but it's a hundred feet away on a 12 gauge cord. I have heard of multiple owners having problems with their converters and felt it might be better to just charge/maintain the batteries while it sits there rather than use an expensive to replace converter if it goes bad due to full time use. Charging them one at a time means i would have to disconnect one or the other because they are still connected together and the current would still go to both? so this seemed like the same thing to me. I was out there today tested /Toned and followed the wires and they do go straight to the batteries, 2-12 volt batteries). I plugged in the charger/maintainer to the Zamp port and it's charging. my charging unit has the same plug. My first mod was to move the spare tire mount to the front triangle, I welded the tire mount between the batteries, to both battery cross braces so the tire sits upright between the batteries and the propane tank, had to move the propane tank forward a four inches to have it all fit. It's a little tight to get to the batteries behind the tire Without taking tire off, and was looking for a simple solution. thanks again! rgds John
	SLOPODMODS John&Sue,SLO,CA 2016 180 HRE, 2013 F150 Eco Boost

techntrek Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062	Posted: 18 Sep 2016 at 5:52pm
	You can connect the maintainer to both batteries at the same time, just connect them on the + of one and the - of the other (for two 12 volt batts). We had a long discussion here about maintainer vs. the converter, and where I used to promote the use of a maintainer to save some power over the long-haul, there is little saved and a lot more hassle. Just use the converter which has 3-stage charging and won't overcharge.
	Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual