Battery maintenance

[Scamp]

While taking the tour at Middlebury it was mentioned that once a year the level of water should be checked in house batteries. I have a 2015 Cornerstone and am unable to locate where water should be added if necessary. I have Discovery Batteries in my coach.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Scamp

[Beau388]

I suspect you have VRLA batteries. Valve Regulated Lead Acid. As such they never need the water checked because the electrologist is usually AGM or gel type and not a liquid.

[brobox]

That would only apply to an Aspire as the Anthem and CS have AGM house batteries.

[757driver]

You do not have flooded house batteries they are AGM batteries and are sealed. For those that have flooded house batteries (pre 2017 Aspires) they should be checked more often than once per year. I would check the level at least every 2-3 months until you get to know how much water they consume.

Checking only once per year is a sure way to potentially uncover plates and ruin a battery.

[vsheetz]

Wet batteries I check water levels once a month. Sealed batteries, can't check or fill...

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Beau388

I suspect you have VRLA batteries. Valve Regulated Lead Acid. As such they never need the water checked because the electrologist is usually AGM or gel type and not a liquid.

That should be electrolyte (sorry)

[Cruzer]

No water to check on AGMs but they should be cleaned. Any dirt accumulation on the top of batteries will contain some moisture and water is conductive so that will result in a slow discharge of the battery as the current flows from the negative post to the positive post.

Don't use a garden hose to clean these because the batteries do have valves on top to allow for thermal expansion and contraction and you don't want to get water in there. While at the Spartan Academy Big Mike told me to use Windex with ammonia. The traditional stuff. Just spray it on and wipe it off.

Naturally, you also need to ensure that the terminals are free of corrosion but with AGMs that takes much longer than flooded.