TT batteries

[Grizzly]

You said that you have a second battery. When you have two batteries, both must be new batteries, both must be the same brand and the same specs. In other words they must be identical or the weak battery will kill the good one.



As far as charging, I have alway felt that it is better to plug in to AC for one day, then unplug for one month when storing the RV. I agree with TRLRTRSH on Post 3.

 

[AClayton]

My batteries are completely dead right now and by plugging it into shore power it will bring them back up just fine.

It will bring them up just fine,however,they are not fully charged!Not to mention the fact that you should not place this kind of load on a converter. This will reduce the life of your converter. Again... a convertor does not completely charge a battery... it brings it up to its own output voltage. To charge a battery properly,the voltage must be higher than the battery voltage by only a couple of volts. Just check the voltage on your alternator on your truck when it is running. Now check the voltage on your TT when plugged in. Even with the converter plugged in,the battery will read approx. 12. 5V's. Hook a charger to it and read again... . approx. 14to 14. 5V's. These numbers are approx. and are based on good charged batteries just for the sake of explaining myself.



Alan

 

[Tractorat]

Thanks for the info. It never occured to me that the converter didnt put a full charge on the batteries. Maybe I can make this new pair last a little longer than the previous.



TRat

 

[K5IP]

Thanks for the info. It never occured to me that the converter didnt put a full charge on the batteries. Maybe I can make this new pair last a little longer than the previous.



Rat

Actually, some converters do a very good job of fully charging a battery. The newer, switching type supplies, are often fitted with, or can be used in conjunction with a commercial device known as a "wizzard". This little device will program the charging level of the convereter from the normal 13. 4Vdc (less than normal charging voltage but good mantainence level) to a higher, about 14Vdc level.

14 Vdc will provide a reasonably good charge without damaging any trailer components that are connected. But a higher charge voltage level would provide a better charge.

As far as lead acid batteries are concerned, they can be charged to as high as 15Vdc without dammage as long as this charge is not maintained. The optimum level for a deep cycle battery is to charge to at 20% of it's amp hour capacity until the terminal voltage is 14. 75Vdc at 25 deg C. (temp correction of -. 05mv/degC). I. E. charge a 200 battery at a 40A rate until the terminal voltage is 14. 75Vdc and them terminate the charge.



I know this more than you asked for but what the heck, how do you keep an EE in control.

Rog

 

[SBashaw]

you don't have a battery disconnect some where on that new trailer do you?

 

[AABEN]

You can buy a battery tender for about 8. 00 at harbor feright they are on sale now for 5. 99. I use them to keep my batterys up on my atv's and my car. They set 4 month in the winter . We are snow birds. I use 105 cold cranking amp batterys in my fithwheel . low draw bat. like you in a boat.



I hope this help you out

 

[Okie-Go]

I do have a battery disconnect on the trailer. It stays off. Last evening I took out the battery and put it on a slow charge. I put it on slow, stayed on all night and today. This evening I will put it back in the trailr and see if it will raise the jacks or even turn on a light in the trailer. If not I guess I will take it to the dealer and have it checked. It is under warranty still.

Okie

 

[TRLRTRSH]

Okie-Go, This may be a dumb question but I'll ask anyway,... on your 33ft 5er you have only one (1) battery? What size battery is it, sure seems most 5ers I've been around have two.
could be that's your problem, the dealer shorted you a battery?

 

[RVTRKN]

A very important lesson I just learned is to buy the new dry cell types (optima) and forget about them. I store my 5ver in the desert and it gets pretty hot and dried out my 2 year old die-hard batteries and then I fried them when I plugged into the AC for two days with out checking levels. The new Optima dry cell (any dry cell brand will work) will illuminate that and will do the same for my boat when I get back to Parker AZ.



They will also not lose the charge as fast over extended periods of time. I have always disconnected my batteries when not in use and I have gone through many batteries. Hopefully this will cure that, at double the cost per battery I'm trying an expensive experiment, but the dry cell technology makes more sense now that they exist.

 

[Okie-Go]

I don't recall the size of the battery. I plum forgot to look last night.

 

[Grizzly]

I believe all 5er's and TT come from the factory with only one battery. Pinehurst RV saw to it that the Arctic Fox we purchased last October had two Deep Cycle Interstate batteries. I didn't have to ask for the extra battery, the dealer just did it. They also filled both 10 gal propane tanks and furnished us with a started kit, which includes the essential things one needs for camping.

 

[SBashaw]

You said that your disconnect switch is always off, You do know that your battteries won't charge when the disconnect switch is off , right?

 

[TRLRTRSH]

Griz; I'll politely disagree with that statement about TT & 5ers coming with only one battery. When we were fulltiming all our friends with TT & 5ers purchased new had two batteries supplied with the rig. Sounds like some dealers are opting to maybe abscond with one.
But then again we have not personally bought a new rig since 2000. so I may be wrong

 

[TRLRTRSH]

One more battery question

Trat, I Don't mean to hijack your thread, but while we are discussing batteries here is a question for the desert rats on anyone else with knowledge of battery water.



Is it OK to use RO (reverse osmosis) water in batteries instead of distilled water?



Thanks

Bill

 

[JMetzger]

I agree with TRLRTRSH when we bought our Holiday Rambler in 1996 it came with two 6voilt Battery's.

Jack

 

[AMink]

When we got our 05 Wildcat, I had to argue with them to give me a second battery, even after the sales guy said that would be part of the deal. I ended up with two second rate batteries that I ended up replacing the following year.

 

[Grizzly]

Griz; I'll politely disagree with that statement about TT & 5ers coming with only one battery. When we were fulltiming all our friends with TT & 5ers purchased new had two batteries supplied with the rig. Sounds like some dealers are opting to maybe abscond with one.

But then again we have not personally bought a new rig since 2000. so I may be wrong

What I said is that 5er's and TT come from the factory with only one battery. Some dealers add the second battery. Some customers buy the second battery. A good dealer, with Customer Good Will in mind will just include the second battery at no charge to the customer, as in my situation.

 

[Loren]

When my trailer is parked at home, I normally keep it hooked up to shore power all of the time, with the thought that they would stay constantly charged.

The only thing that is drawing any current would the the gas sniffer, and the radio (although the radio should only be drawing enough current to keep the pezio (?) battery charged for the preset stations.



Is it better to leave the trailer plugged in all of the time (for at least weeks, sometimes months at a time) ?



Or is it better for the batteries to leave the trailer unplugged, but maybe plug back into shore power the night before I might leave to go somewhere /



Thanks for your help,

TRat

TRat,



1. In general, it would be better to take the batteries out and keep them charged with a real battery charger than to leave them in the trailer. The exception to this statement is if you have one of the expensive converters that is designed to maintain batteries properly. This is one brand:

RV Power Converter/Chargers



2. Your batteries will self-discharge even with nothing at all hooked up to them. This is a property of lead-acid batteries. The AGM batteries, such as Optima and Odyssey, self-discharge much more slowly than other types of lead-acid batteries.



Lead-acid batteries do not have a memory like Ni-Cads or some others. Lead-acid batteries will fail sooner the more they are discharged and recharged. They like to be kept full at all times. The deep-cycle batteries will withstand more cycles of discharge-recharge than regular starting batteries. This is why you should use deep-cycle batteries in your trailer. Trailer batteries are there to provide power to electrical units when you have no shore power. Therefore they are expected to be discharged substantially before being recharged. A starting battery that is discharged completely before being recharged will only take a few (5-10) cycles before failing, while a deep-cycle battery will take many more (100 or so).



The converter (NOT inverter) in your trailer is there to provide DC power to the DC system when you are plugged into shore power (AC). It is also there to charge your batteries when you are plugged in. As mentioned above, most converters will not properly bring a battery to full charge. A good battery charger will.



I like the chargers that also provide a "reconditioning", or "desulphation" mode. I don't know whether or not this works, but I use it on my batteries and they last a long time. Here are two brands:

12117 - BatteryMinder - 877-746-2288 Live Help

and

Amazon.com: Black & Decker VEC1093DBD Smart Battery 40/20/10/4 Amp Battery Charger: Automotive



As an aside, an INVERTER is a device that provides AC power from a DC power source. Many of the newer generators use inverters. This allows them to run at whatever RPM is required for the load rather than run at full RPM continuously in order to provide the correct frequency.



I hope this information helps.

Good luck,

Loren

 

[Tractorat]

Thanks Loren,

It sounds then, that I have been doing the right thing all along. Maintaining a charge by keeping the trailer plugged into shore power. Since these are new batteries, and it hasnt been plugged in for a week, the smart thing to do would be to charge them with my battery charger, and then plug the trailer into the shore power and leave it.



Which brings up another question. When Im on the road, Im obviously charging the trailer batteries with the truck. Any idea on how long it would take to get a full charge that way ?



TRat

 

[steved]

Which brings up another question. When Im on the road, Im obviously charging the trailer batteries with the truck. Any idea on how long it would take to get a full charge that way ?



TRat

Good question... I was wondering this too.



Although it should take minutes, charging through a 10ga wire might take a touch longer... I was wondering if anyone knew about how long.