Battery Charging Question

[Bondad]

I pulled the battery from my coach this week and brought it to O'Reilly to have it checked out. It was registering about 11.7 V so they told me it needed a charge with a 1-2v slow (trickle?) charger. I know nothing about batteries and get easily confused reading The 12 Volt Side of Life and HandyBob's blog. I'm new to RVing and just need the one and only coach battery to have a full charge so I can test out how long it lasts before deciding if I need to buy two new 6 volt batteries.

Back to my question. I bought a 1v charger and the guy at the counter said to leave it plugged in for two weeks to get it fully charged. Is that accurate? Seems like a LONG time to me... but I have no idea.

[OSSKOBRET]

if you have the room go with the two six volt you will not regret it . i have had four riggs 3 with single 12 volt house batteries..... always had issues. now i have a rig that has the twin six volt for house side and i cant seem to kill them , the have a deeper reserve than a single 12 volt. hope this helps

[Midniteoyl]

I'm sure they and you ment 1-2 AMP trickle charger and not 1-2v (VOLT), but ya.. leave it on for awhile and see..

[RJay]

I don't know what charger your referring to but in general batteries live longer the slower they are charged and discharged, the draw back as you can see is the very long charge times involved. So the ideal charge rate is a compromise between the total time to charge and a loss of battery life. Typically batteries that see regular maintenance and reasonable charging rates may last as long as 9 to 10 years.

[Bondad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midniteoyl I'm sure they and you ment 1-2 AMP trickle charger and not 1-2v (VOLT), but ya.. leave it on for awhile and see..

Like I said, I'm pretty much clueless! But yeah, it's a 1 AMP charger.

Can I just leave this on all winter or will that overdue it? I pulled it from the RV for the winter.

[ArmyEOD]

Bondad, if it is a "battery maintainer" you can leave it on all the time. It will come on and charge when it needs it. They cost 30 buck most places. (Parts store, walmart, farm supply, big box stores)

Now, you should take the battery to someone that has the new electronic tester. The battery can be way down and the tester can tell if it is bad or not no matter what the volts are. (The Walmart) by my house has one in the service dept. They will do it for free.

And last but not least, when it dies go with 2 6 volts. They last a lot longer. Hope this helps you out.

Happy trails

[Dave78Chief]

First, 11.7VDC means your battery is basically dead.


What they are saying is you "might" be able to recover the battery with a slow charge. However trickle chargers are intended to keep a fully charged battery in a fully charged condition not recharge a depleted battery. You need to either buy a real battery charger or have someone charge it for you however do not be suprised if it will not take a charge.

Dave

[GaryKD]

Hi Bondad,
I'm with Dave78Chief. The 1 AMP charger may never get the battery to full charge. Consider buying a 10 AMP or more smart charger. This way in a couple of days the battery will be at full charge (as full as it is going to get). Then take it to the auto parts store of your choice and have it load tested. If the results are the battery will not hold a charge or fails the load test, you have all winter to decide on the replacement.

[hamguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midniteoyl I'm sure they and you ment 1-2 AMP trickle charger and not 1-2v (VOLT), but ya.. leave it on for awhile and see..

A one amp charge will barely cover the basic discharge that normally goes on with the battery system. A 10-amp charger is the minimum I would advise.

In any event, the battery is likely shot.

[Midniteoyl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamguy A one amp charge will barely cover the basic discharge that normally goes on with the battery system. A 10-amp charger is the minimum I would advise. In any event, the battery is likely shot.

Depending on the battery condition.. I have left batts on 1.5amp for 2-3 months and brought them back..