Battery charging

[Mandtra]

While at home I keep my tt plugged into ac power all the time . Is the charging system , a smart system that will stop charging the battery when it's full , or will it keep going and eventually ruin the battery ? It's a 2017 2670BH

[chuckster57]

Most newer converters are "smart", so they will reduce the amps as the battery reaches full charge. Bigger danger for those of us that stay plugged in is not checking the water levels in the cells. I try to check mine once a month and add distilled water as needed.

[PARAPTOR]

I just completed installing a couple meters to monitor discharge and charging of my batteries. I have a 100 amp converter, two 12 volt batteries in parallel. Converter charging voltage levels are 14.4, 13.6, 13.2. Watching it over a couple days converter never went into the lowest trickle charge (13.2) as loads changed converter switched between 14.4 and 13.6 volts and never seen 13.2. As we all know there are loads always requiring power from the 12 VDC system such as indicator lighting, radio memory, detectors, etc.

Since I was expecting to see the converter at 13.2 volts at some point, call mfg of converter. He said as long as there is a load on the battery the converter will never go to the lowest level (13.2). He claimed to get that converter to drop to that low level of 13.2 volts the battery would need to sit with no load for around 20 hours.

So based on the above your battery will have a constant charge on it. It my case my converter sits at 13.6 volts with residual loads, start loading it and will go up to 14.4.

Seems like converter will not let battery take on a load by itself

[sourdough]

I used to leave mine plugged in all the time at the storage facility......until I didn't check the batteries often enough and ruined one. Now I plug it in for a couple of weeks then unplug for about the same amount of time.....unless I forget. Always plug it in 1-2 weeks before we leave on a trip. And now, I am much more diligent about checking water levels at least every 2 months or so.

[BuxCamper]

Before a boondocking trip I take the battery off the camper and use a smart charger to charge it up. The charger also has a desulfate mode that takes 24 hours to run and is supposed to clear sulfates from the plates and improve capacity.

-- Mark

[chuckster57]

Boondock?? What's that, our mantra: if it doesn't have full hook ups, we don't go there!!

[BuxCamper]

My wife always said that until we joined our friends at places without hookups and loved it. We got batteries on our campers for a reason.

-- Mark

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Boondock?? What's that, our mantra: if it doesn't have full hook ups, we don't go there!!

^^^I agree. Until I hit 55 my mantra was "off the grid". I liked being in "nowhere land". If I was gone a week I felt imposed upon if I saw 2-3 people....preferably none. We learned to adapt and loved being "alone". Well, we got older, multiple physical maladies came upon both of us but we still loved it. Then, on one trip we were in a "boondock" location. Camp was set and we did what we always did; set out to look at things. Hit a tree stump with a tire and blew it. Just had the tires rotated and balanced before we left and they had cross threaded 3 of the 6 lug nuts. Wouldn't come off without twisting the bolts off which I did. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere. I had just had one of many surgeries on my knee and DW had a pin in her leg.

Nothing like cell service or anything else so started walking....which was very painful. We were approx. 50 miles from anything and had no idea what we would encounter but about 25 miles away there were a few houses. At about 7 miles I was dragging my leg and wondering exactly what my plan was. We rounded a bend, and there, in the trees we saw a tent....in the middle of nowhere....one of those "I wish you weren't here people" previously, now I was overjoyed.

The fellow there was wonderful. He took us down out of the high mountains to some folks who took us back, got the wheel and actually mounted a tire on the wheel on their ranch, took us back and put it on the truck (along with a lot of improvisation and help from others in the mountains - bolts/nuts/manpower), along with a friend that came to help.

Long story short, that was our last foray into "boondocking". We found that we aren't 30 anymore and "stuff" happens. We've had to adapt but found that although we are many times too close for comfort we find friends, which I never really wanted to mess with....now, we look forward to it. I guess age and physical limitations help us change the way we see/do things but keeps us where we can still have a lot of fun. Just thoughts on boondocking.

[B-O-B'03]

Originally Posted by Mandtra

While at home I keep my tt plugged into ac power all the time . Is the charging system , a smart system that will stop charging the battery when it's full , or will it keep going and eventually ruin the battery ? It's a 2017 2670BH

We are going on our third season with this trailer and I have a covered pad, with water and 30 amp service, at the house to park it on.

I leave it plugged in all the time and while de-winterizing it and getting it ready for the season I noticed the batteries would not keep up with running the water pump, even though it was plugged in.

Turned out the converter was bad as well as both batteries.

Since I was going to have to replace the batteries I took the opportunity to replace them with 2 x GC2 6V golf cart batteries and I replaced the converter mother board with one from progressive dynamics (PD4655MBA).

The stock converter was a WFCO 8955 - 3 stage unit and I posted a thread about the situation and JRTJH suggested I contact the manufacturer, even though it was a few weeks passed the 2 year warranty period, I did and they replaced the old motherboard, under warranty, so I have a spare. Given the things I read on-line about the WFCO, I might just sell it.

Given what I went through, I am not sure about leaving them plugged in all the time.

YMMV

-Brian

[Javi]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Most newer converters are "smart", so they will reduce the amps as the battery reaches full charge. Bigger danger for those of us that stay plugged in is not checking the water levels in the cells. I try to check mine once a month and add distilled water as needed.

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Boondock?? What's that, our mantra: if it doesn't have full hook ups, we don't go there!!

This..... at 68 and a stroke survivor I don't do off the grid...

[talk2cpu]

We still love off grid, although it usually is a State park with no hookups or overflow in an RV Park. We can stay put that way for 3-5 days, until tanks are full, and that includes using the CPAP, TV and sewing machine.
Tom

[nellie1289]

Ok I will ask the dumb question. How do I go about checking the water in my batteries ?

[PARAPTOR]

Originally Posted by nellie1289

Ok I will ask the dumb question. How do I go about checking the water in my batteries ?

Take the battery covers off and check them like your car unless you have maintenance free battery(s) If you have two batteries, highly suggest an adult beverage before you start getting those covers off

[cardinal96ss]

PARAPTOR, I'm very interested in the setup you installed. Do you have any pictures or diagrams you're willing to share?
12V vs 6V discussion- I stay with 12V after getting tired of boiling out plenty of 6V batteries and dealing with the resulting mess.

[PARAPTOR]

Originally Posted by cardinal96ss

PARAPTOR, I'm very interested in the setup you installed. Do you have any pictures or diagrams you're willing to share?
12V vs 6V discussion- I stay with 12V after getting tired of boiling out plenty of 6V batteries and dealing with the resulting mess.

Sure no problem. Like I said just recently threw this thing together while I was installing a true battery disconnect off the battery. Still have basement open and running wires (RG6 and 12VDC power lines) for some other future projects before I close it up. Have not totally exercised these newly installed meters other than the limited info in my previous post concerning monitoring my 100 AMP three stage converter. As I said have not been testing all of it but did glance over and seen than the converter is now spending a considerable time in the trickle charge state, which I have not seen before (see previous post).

I would like to verify everything is working before I release anything. We have to deal with enough crazy things from Keystone, do not need others from me. Will provide you an update, heading out in a few weeks

I have two 12V maintenance free batteries in parallel. If no full service I am not there

[Lic0rice]

Originally Posted by nellie1289

Ok I will ask the dumb question. How do I go about checking the water in my batteries ?

Here is a good explanation: http://www.wikihow.com/Check-Car-Battery-Water-Levels

Be certain that you do not fill the cells to the top. The fluid should just cover the membrane in each cell.