Re: [A/S] Shore power all winter?

["Terry Tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Chuck, if the univolt in your 1983 has to be plugged into a wall outlet to get power, then there's
another option you might consider. 

Connect shore power to your Airstream all Winter. Plug the univolt into a simple clock timer that's
set to turn on for an hour or two each day. By doing that, you can fly off to Bermuda during the
holidays and not need to check your batteries for water, even occassionally. You guessed it, here's 
another example of the "set it and forget it" mentality.

Background:

Each year for the last 10 years, before we leave the Northeast as Snowbirds, I've used a clock timer
(set for 1 hour on and 23 hours off) with a battery charger (10 amp setting) connected to the
batteries in each of the tow vehicles I leave in our garage all Winter ('86 Suburban, 6.2 L diesel,
1500, factory trailer towing package & '75 Mercury Station Wagon, 460 CID, factory trailer towing
package). When we return in the Spring, they start up immediately and have never needed water. Last
year, I experimented and set one clock timer for 2 hours on and 23 hours off. That tow vehicle
(Mercury) started the same as the Suburban and neither needed additional water. 

I'm sure there's a more scientific way to choose how long the timer should be set, but after ten
years of being successful, I'm not a bit curious about that. There are too many other topics
sparking my attention. 

Terry
'78 31' Excella 500
'78 E250 Ford Van 460 CID

PS - Today (11/10/00 Friday), we're courtesy parking with fellow VAC member Pearl Main in Valle
Vista, CA. How sweet it is.