Charging Battery

[Red14]

Hi there, new to the trailer life and was curious about charging the battery prior to leaving for a dry camp. We are doing a close to home 2 nighter 20 mins from home to get used to it before a bigger trip but curious how long I should charge the battery before we leave and also if the panel says it’s full is it actually full or should I charge it past when it says it’s full. Thanks for the help in advance.

[flybouy]

Red14 welcome to the forum. If you are plugged in at home then the converter should charge the battery in a time according to how discharged the battery state is, and what the maximum capacity of the battery(s) are.. It's not a "one size fits all" kind of answer.

As an example: a C cell battery and a AAA battery are the same voltage. The C cell will hold many times the amount of energy than the AAA due to it's increased size. If they were both rechargeable, then the C cell would take longer to recharge if say they were at both a state of 50% discharge.

With that said, if you have the camper "plugged in" to a 120VAC source it should be good to go overnight. It helps when asking these questions if you can provide as much information as you can in the post. If you add the model & year of your trailer and tow vehicle in your signature line it will help eliminate of the questions up front to get that basic information.

[Red14]

Sorry, it’s a 2021 Hideout with a 12 volt deep cycle battery

[sourdough]

Keep in mind going forward that you need to keep the battery charge up. You can't just let it sit for months in between trips then plug it in to charge it up for the next trip. Letting the battery fully discharge kills it quickly. Keep in plugged into shore power or connect a battery tender when not in use to keep the battery in good shape. When doing that be sure and check the water level in the battery every 6-8 weeks or so.

[flybouy]

Sorry, it’s a 2021 Hideout with a 12 volt deep cycle battery

What sort of "panel" is indicating the charge? If you push a button to check the status of the battery and an LED light illuminates over 1/2, 1/2, 3/4, full type reading then it's reflecting the voltage that the battery is at. If you are plugged in and the converter is charging the battery then it will read full because the converter is charging it at the maximum voltage.

As I previously stated, I'd go for an overnight charge. The "deep cycle" battery from the dealer (they supply the battery not the factory) is most likely mot a true deep cycle battery. Most dealers slap in a "marine deep cycle/starting battery". You can tell as it will have a CCA (cold cranking amps) rating. True deep cycle batteries will only have a rating of Ah (amp hours).

I don't know what your plans are for a 2 night stay but would advise using the lights very judiciously. The water heater and refrigerator will be using power from the battery (to power the control boards and gas valves) and the water pump is 12v dc also. If you run the furnace that will deplete a "marine" battery very rapidly.

Edit: Forgot to mention storage. When storing the camper if not plugged into 120v ac the battery disconnect does not COMPLETELY disconnect the battery. There are still parasitic drains like the radio (memory settings), LP/CO detector, and possibly some electronics for remote controlled levelers, etc. This will drain the battery down in just a few days of setting there. The only way to avoid this is to either remove the negative cable from the battery or install another disconnect switch on the neg terminal of the battery.

[Canonman]

Welcome Red,
The best way to know for sure the "state of charge" of your battery is to use a digital volt ohm meter. If you don't know how to use this essential RVers diagnostic tool you can find good instructional vids on the Youtube. Full charge is 12.6vdc.
Your on board converter will supply 3 different charge voltages. 14+vdc for bulk charging a depleted battery. 13.7vdc to finish bringing the battery to full charge and 13.2vdc to maintain the battery full charge level. If you look at your panel charge indicator while the converter is charging (you are plugged into shore power) the panel lights will show a full charge. That's because it's reading the charge voltage from the converter. To know the battery state of charge, you need to unplug from shore power for about 1/2 hour. Then use the VOM to verify the battery voltage. No VOM? Use the panel lights for at least a reasonable estimate.
If you like dry camping (no hook-ups) as much as we do you'll want to invest in a second battery.
Good Luck and Happy Camping

[razor 68]

installed a second battery on my 2018 Lerado 330rl with a 3 way switch. if dry camping and batt gets low just switch to other one just like the propane tanks. I leave my camper plugged in constantly at home since has maintainer feature. if you charge your deep cycle battery then do it at 2amp slow charge. at least overnight. have exact same setup on my pontoon boat-my wife likes to blast the stereo (400 watt amplifier) and do not want stuck on sandbar with a dead battery