RV Tip of the Day ... RV Batteries - There are two uses for batteries, buses and home batteries. Bus batteries are the ones used to start the RV. These are normal 12V car or truck batteries and are designed to provide high power for a short period of time. The house batteries are deep cycle batteries designed to provide a lower current for a much longer period of time.
Most of us will understand the coach batteries and can tell when it is time to replace them. They will last 3-5 years. You can see when a tourist battery starts to go bad as it has trouble starting the engine, curves slowly or dies pretty quickly when the lights are on. Maintenance and inspection will be covered below.
Home batteries are a little harder to cover simply because of the wide range of uses and types available. Let's start with the purpose. House batteries are designed to run everything in the rig, from the lights to the fans and heaters. Almost everything in the RV uses electricity from the batteries. As such, these need to provide power (amperage) for a long period of time. Typically, the home batteries can be turned on to provide power for days with low power. This type of battery is called a deep cycle battery. All RVs run on 12v DC systems. However, not all RVs use 12 V batteries. Many motorhomes use 6 V batteries. 6 volt batteries are often referred to as golf cart batteries as it is primarily used for them. 6 volt batteries are designed to provide power over a long period of time, making them ideal for RVers who want to camp without electricity for a few days.
There are too many types of batteries to cover here. Basically, the more expensive the battery, the better and longer it will last. Maintenance-free batteries simply mean that you do not need to add water as part of the maintenance.
Speaking of maintenance, what maintenance to do and when. If a battery is used daily or weekly, most of the maintenance required is to keep it clean and charged. If your batteries are used to provide a limited amount of power, a trickle charger can be used to keep them charged. Trickle chargers can be AC (house power) or solar energy. They provide a small amount of power to keep the batteries out.
If the batteries are of the detachable hood type (IE maintenance type batteries), do a little more maintenance now and then. Non-maintenance-free batteries require a hydrometer. A hydrometer is used to check the specific gravity of the battery (acid to water). Its use is to decide whether to add distilled water or battery acid to the battery. You simply remove the cap on each set of cells and draw some of the liquid into the hydrometer. It tells you the state of the liquid. Most of the time you need to add distilled water. Add a little at a time and try again.
If you want to put your RV in storage for a while, remove the batteries, place them in a cool (not cold or hot) area and put a drop charger on them. This keeps the batteries charged and ready to use. Be sure to check the non-maintenance-free batteries for the right levels once a month.
Finally, a fully charged battery should read over 13.2 volts or more when not in use and not connected to any type of charger. If the voltage drops below 13 volts, the battery life is about to end and should be scheduled to be replaced.
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