|
|
11-08-2018, 12:26 PM
|
#1
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Louisville
Posts: 9
|
RV Battery for storage
Just wondering what you do with the RV battery during storage?
Does anyone use a solar charger to keep the battery charged and leave the battery in the RV?
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 12:42 PM
|
#2
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Windsor
Posts: 236
|
since I store away from the house. I pulled them (6 volt GC batteries), brought them home and put them on a trickle charger in the garage.
Just what I did. During the season, I installed a full cutoff switch. the batteries last between trips that way. A solar trickle charger would do the job as well.
__________________
2016 Cougar 1/2 Ton Series 283 RETWE
2018 F150 EcoBoost FX4 Lariat Max-Tow and Heavy Duty Payload Package
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 01:15 PM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: radium hot springs bc
Posts: 2,007
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jchism759
Just wondering what you do with the RV battery during storage?
Does anyone use a solar charger to keep the battery charged and leave the battery in the RV?
|
Not sure of your location. I tried a solar panel to keep an RV battery charged. Trouble is we get snow here and the panel has to see the sun to produce power. So my plan didn't work. Cloudy weather is also a deterrent though some may say it only needs daylight. If you do use a solar charger be sure to have a voltage regulator in the system. YMMV
__________________
2018 Ram 3500 6.4 Harvest Edition
2018 Cougar 27RESWE
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 01:51 PM
|
#4
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Louisville
Posts: 9
|
Thanks for the reply’s! I am in Louisville, KY so can get some snow but usually not a lot. I live in an apartment/Condo and do not have a personal garage to leave a battery plugged in to a trickle charger, that would be the ideal situation. I will probably get a full cutoff battery switch as suggested that can also somehow be used switched to solar charging during the off season.
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 01:58 PM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: South Jordan, Utah
Posts: 2,227
|
Personally, I wouldn't charge a battery I couldn't keep an occasional eye on. I pull the batteries at the end of our season and store them in the garage on a battery tender. I check the water level a couple of times a month just for my peace of mind.
We do use a solar panel to charge the batteries when in the field during the season.
__________________
2017 Cougar 279RKSWE
2007.5 Dodge Ram 2500 6.7 Cummins
Retirement Training Completed
I think the little voices in my head have started a chat group.
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 02:55 PM
|
#6
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: California
Posts: 1
|
I removed the battery when the session ends and storage them into the holder.Then I check the water level and start to charge .
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 03:04 PM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Bainbridge NY
Posts: 214
|
You guys adding distilled water or tap.
I buy a gallon of distilled, it last a long time.
I use a dog syringe with a little hose ,also works good if you overfill past the line.
__________________
2017 Keystone 1750rd
2006 Hummer H3
1968 Oldsmobile 442
1983 Honda CX650C
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 08:59 PM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,090
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by fourfourto
You guys adding distilled water or tap.
I buy a gallon of distilled, it last a long time.
I use a dog syringe with a little hose ,also works good if you overfill past the line.
|
I have 2 X GC2 6 volt batteries and bought this to hook the battery's cells together and this pump to fill them from a gallon bottle of distilled water.
It works great, the hose from the batteries is accessible from a hole in the battery box and I just connect it to the pump, drop the other end of the pump tube in a jug of water, squeeze the bulb until it will not squeeze any more and then they are full of water and never get over filled.
I have 30 amp service where I park the camper, so the batteries are connected all the time.
-Brian
__________________
2014 Bullet Premier 22RBPR - let the camping commence!
2013 F150 Platinum - 5.0 - 3.55 ELD + towing package
|
|
|
11-09-2018, 06:01 AM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Essexville, MI
Posts: 262
|
I remove and connect a battery tender to it.
__________________
2014 Passport Elite 31RE
2017 2500HD Crew Cab
|
|
|
11-09-2018, 06:08 AM
|
#10
|
Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,996
|
I'm just thinking out loud here, and I realize that many of us don't live anywhere even close to places where insulated boots, gloves and ski masks are necessary, so this certainly doesn't apply to all the membership.....
Wet cell batteries typically don't freeze when subjected to extremely cold weather. They do lose some of their capability to store and release energy, but the cold temperature won't damage them as long as they are fully charged. That's not the case with "add on water systems" that keep the battery electrolyte level full. Hanging a gallon of distilled water, tubing and a manifold system to keep the battery "topped off", isn't protected from the weather. That system, at least in "this neck of the woods" would be rendered frozen solid, unable to deliver water to the batteries and potentially damaged from the ice expansion within the tubing/manifold.
I guess what I'm saying is that this type of "automatic watering system" can work great for some of us, but not for those who live where it's colder than 32F for prolonged times.
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
|
|
|
11-15-2018, 08:34 AM
|
#11
|
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Radnor
Posts: 3
|
just plugged in
Am I doing it wrong? I just leave the trailer plugged in over winter. Never had a problem.
__________________
Stan Broadway N8BHL
2006 302RLS Radnor, OH
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 03:37 PM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Windsor
Posts: 236
|
always distilled in the batteries. and irons and steamers etc.
__________________
2016 Cougar 1/2 Ton Series 283 RETWE
2018 F150 EcoBoost FX4 Lariat Max-Tow and Heavy Duty Payload Package
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 08:38 PM
|
#13
|
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: South Jordan, Utah
Posts: 2,227
|
I think our water would be considered "Hard" if weren't for the arsenic
Distilled for sure!
__________________
2017 Cougar 279RKSWE
2007.5 Dodge Ram 2500 6.7 Cummins
Retirement Training Completed
I think the little voices in my head have started a chat group.
|
|
|
11-08-2018, 08:45 PM
|
#14
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Picacho, Az
Posts: 6,809
|
I disconnect the ground cable, leave them in the rv with a 2 amp solar charger connected. In Arizona so NO snow, thank goodness, & plenty of sun. So far they've went from 12.3 volts to 11.9 in 2-3 months & have ran the slides once in that time, so very pleased with the setup.
__________________
Full-timed 10+ years
Sold '13 Redwood FB
Traded '13 GMC Denali DRW D/A
Replacement undetermined
|
|
|
11-09-2018, 08:14 AM
|
#15
|
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2016
Location: South Jordan, Utah
Posts: 2,227
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by travelin texans
I disconnect the ground cable, leave them in the rv with a 2 amp solar charger connected. In Arizona so NO snow, thank goodness, & plenty of sun. So far they've went from 12.3 volts to 11.9 in 2-3 months & have ran the slides once in that time, so very pleased with the setup.
|
Danny, I'm pretty sure 11.9 volts is a 60% discharged battery. You may want to beef up your charger.
__________________
2017 Cougar 279RKSWE
2007.5 Dodge Ram 2500 6.7 Cummins
Retirement Training Completed
I think the little voices in my head have started a chat group.
|
|
|
11-09-2018, 07:10 PM
|
#16
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Picacho, Az
Posts: 6,809
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Canonman
Danny, I'm pretty sure 11.9 volts is a 60% discharged battery. You may want to beef up your charger.
|
Thanks I'll check it out.
__________________
Full-timed 10+ years
Sold '13 Redwood FB
Traded '13 GMC Denali DRW D/A
Replacement undetermined
|
|
|
11-15-2018, 10:07 AM
|
#17
|
Member
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Nanaimo
Posts: 34
|
1st season with an TT and I am wondering about battery storage.
I live on Vancouver Island, doesn't go below 32F very often. I live in a small townhouse with no garage, TT is stored off site. TT has battery cutoff and no power to it so I can't keep a charger on them.
Should I remove them ? Ok to leave them on my covered concrete porch on 2x4 blocks with a trickle charge on them ? I have a Genius 3500 charge that says will maintain the batteries.
Sorry, pretty dumb when it comes to electrical.
TIA
|
|
|
11-15-2018, 10:17 AM
|
#18
|
Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,996
|
JGriff,
Let's compare "apples to apples":
If you leave the trailer outside (unheated) and plugged into shore power or with the battery cutoff switch "OFF" and a trickle charger connected, then from an "environmental perspective" you've got essentially the same environment, if you store your batteries on your covered porch with a trickle charger connected to them.
I don't see anything to preclude you from storing them on the porch, provided you can protect them from being covered with snow/ice. If it were me, I'd probably place them on a sheet of plywood (or 2x4's), connect the trickle charger and then put a sturdy box or a plastic storage bin over them, just to keep them from being exposed to the wetness from melting ice/snow through the winter.
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
|
|
|
11-15-2018, 10:23 AM
|
#19
|
Member
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Nanaimo
Posts: 34
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH
JGriff,
Let's compare "apples to apples":
If you leave the trailer outside (unheated) and plugged into shore power or with the battery cutoff switch "OFF" and a trickle charger connected, then from an "environmental perspective" you've got essentially the same environment, if you store your batteries on your covered porch with a trickle charger connected to them.
I don't see anything to preclude you from storing them on the porch, provided you can protect them from being covered with snow/ice. If it were me, I'd probably place them on a sheet of plywood (or 2x4's), connect the trickle charger and then put a sturdy box or a plastic storage bin over them, just to keep them from being exposed to the wetness from melting ice/snow through the winter.
|
Thanks for replying so quickly John
I will put the batteries on 3/4" plywood and cover them.
John
|
|
|
11-09-2018, 08:22 AM
|
#20
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Winnipeg, MB
Posts: 329
|
Mine are removed and stored in my garage. I fill with distilled water when necessary and charged monthly or when needed. With temperatures reaching as low as -40 degrees Celsius in my neck of the woods there would not be much of a battery left if it sat in those conditions for 6 months.
__________________
____________
John & Ekeen
2009 Ford F-150 5.4
2015 Nissan Armada 5.6
2021 Keystone Residence 40FLFT
|
|
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Threads |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|