House Battery Information

[rpgibbs]

We just picked up a 2013 Winnebago Aspect. The previous owner said that everything had been checked, Batteries etc. I cjhecked the group 31 house batteries and they were completely dry. My questions is will these batteries return to a full charge once I fill them with Distilled water? They are 4 years old so would I be better off just replacing the batteries? Thanks

[Persistent]

Put enough water in them to cover the plates.
Put them on charge for 24 hours.
Fill them the rest of the way.
Test them by using them. If they work OK for you then use them until they don't.

[Mark_K5LXP]

If they were literally dry, it took a long time for them to get that way, which means some portion of the plates are guaranteed to be compromised. But you have little to lose by filling them, putting them on charge and trying them out. Worst that can happen is you end up replacing them anyway. It's a fair bet that it will take more than one cycle to wake them up so don't let the first test be the decision maker.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[Isaac-1]

The big question here is how do you plan to use them, if you are just going from one full hookup campground to the next, they may still have enough life left in them, if you plan to do a lot of off grid camping, you may want to replace them sooner than later. One thing we can be sure of is that they have been compromised, what we don't know is how bad.

[NRR]

Not trying to sound sarcastic. But I would wonder what else was not checked?

I would change the batteries because of condition found and age.

[Sonic]

At 4 years old with evidence of them not being properly maintained, I would replace them vs. trying to resuscitate them.
For me, the peace of mind of having batteries I can trust when needed is worth the cost.
If you do attempt to resuscitate them, you’ll need to run an equalization cycle after a full charge cycle to attempt to boil some of the sulfation off the plates.

[Gary RVRoamer]

Will they recover? All you can do is try. Add distilled water and start charging at a low amp rate. Prayer may help.


Will they recover OK? Probably not more than 50% of their original rated capacity (amp-hours). Good enough if you travel from electric hook-up to electric hook-up. Probably not good enough for even a single overnight stay without electric.


It sounds like the former owners definition of everything "checked out" is that they tried operating the major appliances and they turned on. I would not assume anything more than that.

[SJ-Chris]

Add distilled water and then charge for 24 hours.
If you have a battery charger at home that has any sort of "repair" or "recondition" setting, use that setting for 48hrs. Then let them sit for a couple days. Then take them to your nearby AutoZone or O'Reileys and ask then to test your batteries. They have a tool for this. It will tell you if your batteries are good or not.


New, inexpensive lead acid batteries can be bought at Walmart for cheaper.


Good luck!
Chris

[creativepart]

Save yourself the worry and the hassle. Just replace them right now. I'd replace them with AGMs - sure they cost more but you'll not have to ever worry about putting water in them.

Winnebago uses NAPA Commercial #9831DT AGMs for Group 31 House batteries. They're kind of pricey but many like them are available. Eastern Penn makes those for NAPA and other battery companies.

[SJ-Chris]

Is there a date listed on the batteries?? If so, that would be helpful to know. If they were the original batteries, I'd just replace them. If they are less than 5 years old, I'd charge them and just try them out.


Note: If you are going to be boondocking, and battery use is super important (ie. CPAP) than of course you shouldn't fool around and you should just replace them.


If on your next/first trip you go on has full hookups, I would recommend not hooking up your electrical and see if the batteries last you an "appropriate" amount of time. Start with fully charged batteries (before you even leave your home). If you aren't sure what "an appropriate" amount of time is for batteries, you can reply here with a general breakdown of your power use and people will be able to give you a ballpark.


For example: If you only use your batteries for an LP fridge, lights, water pump, charging your phone, and a little TV watching (no furnace), then you will probably use ~30-50AH worth from your batteries in a 24hr period. (Note: Inverters can use a lot of power in standby, so if you have an inverter and you aren't using it, you should have it turned off). You mention "batteries" so you must have 2 or more. With the above usage, you would expect to be able to run on batteries alone for 3-4 days. If after 1 day you wake up and your batteries are dead, then you have your answer (they are no longer good).


This is assuming you don't have solar.


Good luck!
Chris

[JHinman]

Some of us who dry camp/boondock a lot just get rid of lead/acid batteries and go with lithium ion. It is pricy, and installation is perhaps more involved in a motorhome than in a trailer, but simplifies things quite a bit.

That all depends on how you use the batteries, of course.

[THenne1713]

water= 1/4" over top of plates is recommended; too much and they start boiling water out onto top of battery, =corroding terminals/ wires. 100% recovery? Will not know until you try.. good luck