Community Forums

Adrenaline · 05-18-2017, 06:49 AM

Hi All!
I'm tinkering with the new-to-us 2003 Sea Breeze and I came up with yet another question that I couldn't find a reasonable answer to with a quick search online...
With all the ads about "Smart" battery tenders I see in camping world, and other RV equipment stores am I safe in assuming it's NOT okay to leave the RV plugged in for days on end without cooking the coach batteries?
I have a light on inside and the fridge is running so the batteries are powering something but is the built-in converter smart enough to know when to trickle charge and when to charge harder?
I don't want to destroy the two 6 volt golf cart batteries.

TIA!

Kennzz05 · 05-18-2017, 06:56 AM

The answer is yes if the inverter had a charge function it should be able to throttle back to a trickle as needed. If you know what model inverter you have look up the mAnual online to get a definitive answer

Kennzz05 · 05-18-2017, 06:58 AM

No you can leave it plugged in indefinitely. I asked that same question a couple weeks ago

Adrenaline · 05-18-2017, 07:02 AM

I'm looking through all the original papers from the original owners (they kept everything!) to see if I can find a model of the charger so I can look deeper into this...

Thanks for your help!
I guess if I keep an eye on the water levels in the batteries and keep them topped off with distilled water I should be okay?
Where the heck does one buy distilled water anyway?

13charlie · 05-18-2017, 07:11 AM

You can purchase distiller water at the grocery store. You should check water level monthly and you will be ok.

nothermark · 05-18-2017, 07:16 AM

The answer is "it depends". If you have a smart charging system it most likely has a control panel on the unit and/or mounted on a wall somewhere so you can monitor it and change settings. If all you have is some idiot lights they don't tell you much because you have a dumb controller that does not do much. One of the things it does not do is drop the voltage to a lower level to do maintenance charging. In that case pull the plug.

FWIW I check mine more or less monthly and pull the plug for a couple of weeks at a time. I do keep it plugged in during really cold weather. I don't do much in summer because we use the unit often enough. The exception is to plug it in to cool the refer a day before we load up fresh food.

One can get a good enough indication of the charge state with a Digital Volt Meter to know when to plug in. A hydrometer is more accurate but as I said, volts are good enough for whether to charge or not.

Adrenaline · 05-18-2017, 07:27 AM

I have the typical idiot light set-up in the same unit as the water and waste levels.
Is there such thing as an honest gauge that can be installed that will show the state of the batteries?
I had a cheap digital one a few years back that only plugged into the 12v socket like a cigarette lighter but I never really felt it was of much quality.
I know the full timers and dry campers would need to know exactly what kind of shape their batteries were in at all times.

JJH3rd · 05-18-2017, 08:41 AM

For best generator health (and fewer expensive repair costs) it is best that you run the generator UNDER LOAD for about a half hour every month. During warm/hot days I operate the HVAC, for cold days I run the HVAC fan on manual-on and have a pair of halogen work lights to provide additional electrical load.

I know this is an adjacent topic but, as a new MH owner, it is something of which you need be aware.

dix39 · 05-18-2017, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nothermark

The answer is "it depends". If you have a smart charging system it most likely has a control panel on the unit and/or mounted on a wall somewhere so you can monitor it and change settings. If all you have is some idiot lights they don't tell you much because you have a dumb controller that does not do much. One of the things it does not do is drop the voltage to a lower level to do maintenance charging. In that case pull the plug.

FWIW I check mine more or less monthly and pull the plug for a couple of weeks at a time. I do keep it plugged in during really cold weather. I don't do much in summer because we use the unit often enough. The exception is to plug it in to cool the refer a day before we load up fresh food.

One can get a good enough indication of the charge state with a Digital Volt Meter to know when to plug in. A hydrometer is more accurate but as I said, volts are good enough for whether to charge or not.

That's what I do.

You can get a cheap digital multimeter at Harbor Freight that will work for checking battery voltage. I've even picked up a few there that were free with the purchase of another item using a coupon. There are many other places to buy them, but it is difficult to beat "free".

Just my 2c.

Steve

nothermark · 05-19-2017, 05:47 AM

I'm a fan of the cheap HF meters for tool box use. I have checked a few against much better quality meters and found them reasonable. For a more constant monitor I am thinking of adding something like this:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/575

That is the base meter that a lot of the sub $20 products use where they add a molded bezel with screw hole mounts. Search for 12 V panel meter and you will get a lot of hits. The nice thing is that they power off the same wire pair as what one is measuring. They won't go to zero but your battery should not be there either!