Equalizing batteries

[vacation on wheels]

I haven't read any information on this until yesterday and I thought I would pass it along FYI - you should equalize your house batteries at least twice a year, maybe more. I read up on my Xantrex charger/inverter on the procedure which involved programming my wall remote for the correct information of my (4) wet cell Trojan T-105 batteries and it was a 8 hour procedure. Nice to know that you can prolong your batteries.

[vacation on wheels]

I haven't read any information on this until yesterday and I thought I would pass it along FYI - you should equalize your house batteries at least twice a year, maybe more. I read up on my Xantrex charger/inverter on the procedure which involved programming my wall remote for the correct information of my (4) wet cell Trojan T-105 batteries and it was a 8 hour procedure. Nice to know that you can prolong your batteries.

[RV Wizard]

Here are some additional links of information about batteries that for those serious about them will find useful. Be aware that when you "equalize" that the inverters are using a high voltage for a long period of time and you may want to disconnect your appliance controls from this circuit during this time; I do. It is a good time to defrost the refrigerator and do other maintanance.
http://www.usbattery.com/care.htm
http://www.dcbattery.com/faq.html#1
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Bat...ery%20Charging
http://www.rvsolarelectric.com/sources.htm

[GStream40]

Mike,
Do you physically disconnect the wires or do you just shut off the appliance?

Ron

[Gary RVRoamer]

If possible, electronic devices should be physically disconnected (unplugged). That's because devices with digital controls, clocks, remote controls, etc. are alway on, in the sense that they have power applied to their control panels so they can sense a button push or a signal from a remote. They can be fried by ultra-high voltages of equalization.

I recently noted that Xantrex has begun pushing frequent equalization in their literature, but I'm skeptical of the need. I wonder if they are merely justifying a feature that they have in their products but less expensive ones usually lack. It would be a way to make the competitive product look deficient. Yeah, batteries can sulphate up and sometimes equalizing will help reduce the process, but [in my opinion] it's a procedure with marginal benefits for most RVers under most circumstances. And if the charging system is working properly to begin with, significant sulphating generally won't occur anyway.

[LVJ58]

When I equalize with my solar panel, I disconnect the ground cable from the house batteries to ensure the higher voltage is completely isolated from any 12v systems in the coach. As RV Roamer stated you can fry your 12v circuit boards if you don't isolate those circuits from the higher voltage during the equaliztion process.

Jim

[footdoc]

I was told by the Magnum folks when I asked about equalizing that it is NOT good to do unless necessary, what ever that is, as the batteries are put through alot of stress during this process and is should NOT be done just because you CAN...