[medcrest]

I've got a 98 Newell.  There are three battery locations.  Two batteries are in the engine compartment, and logically they're the engine start batteries.  Four batteries are in a passenger side bay.  They are set up in two banks of two, with disconnect switches.  These must be coach batteries.  Then there are two more batteries in a smaller passenger side bay, squeezed in between the rear wheel well and the engine compartment.  They're the ones I'm confused about.  Are they generator start batteries, add-on batteries for the engine?  Decorative?

[HoosierDaddy]

On my 1993 all six on the driver side are house batts. I am only using the 2 in the rear compartment. I believe they also start the generator.

[folivier]

Yes all 6 are connected for the house batteries.

[Richard]

The two behind the tag are house batteries, and are wired in parallel with the four in front of the drive wheel.

[medcrest]

The two behind the tag are house batteries, and are wired in parallel with the four in front of the drive wheel.

The next question would be, should I disconnect the disconnectable trays and use a four circuit battery tender, one circuit for each of those trays, one for the tray behind the tag and one for the engine batteries?  It seems to be asking a lot to expect one tender to handle all six house batteries.  I always have a tendency to over engineer things.

[jcus]

The two behind the tag are house batteries, and are wired in parallel with the four in front of the drive wheel.

The next question would be, should I disconnect the disconnectable trays and use a four circuit battery tender, one circuit for each of those trays, one for the tray behind the tag and one for the engine batteries?  It seems to be asking a lot to expect one tender to handle all six house batteries.  I always have a tendency to over engineer things.

If you are plugged in why do you need a battery tender? Your inverter/charger should take care of all of them.

[Fulltiming]

Paul, I am not sure if #500 charges anything other than the house batteries from the inverter/charger unless the merge switch is turned on or not. Mine doesn't.

[jcus]

If you use this device all batteries are connected above 13.2 volts [charging] and disconnected when there is no charge.
https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Cyrix-ct-...y+combiner
inverter/charger charges ALL batteries, no need to use merge switch, and no worry about start
batteries running down if you lose shore power.

[HoosierDaddy]

My 1993 does not charge engine batts from invertor/charger unless they are merged. While in storage I depend on the charger to charge the house AGM batts and a trickle charger/maintainer hooked to the lead acid engine batts. I never merge unless it is necessary because of a low batt condition.

[Fulltiming]

My 1992 is like yours. I use a AMP-L-START to charge the start batteries from the coach batteries when the coach batteries are being charged by the inverter/charger.