Charging batteries

Yes, as long as A, the converter is turned on, and B, the salesman switch is not turned off.

donn0128 wrote:
Yes, as long as A, the converter is turned on, and B, the salesman switch is not turned off.

And C: If everything is working properly.

EVERYBODY who owns an RV NEEDS a multi-meter.

Best $10 (or less) investment you will ever make.

Actually, having a digital voltmeter connected to the batteries ALL THE TIME that they are in use is a good idea too.

Yes. Best to verify with a voltmeter direct on the battery terminals. 13.2+ volts is charging.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

You'll have to tell us the brand and model of converter you have.

They could do a lot more than trickle charge. Most likely when you first plug into power, you'll have from 30A to 50A going into them. Then the charge should taper off.

Bill

I suspect that you will have a cheap & nasty converter/charger that is either charging to the max or not at all. Not likely that you have a factory installed multi stage charger.

To get a good answer you would have to let us know what make and model converter charger or inverter charger you have.

There are basically three stages of charging: Bulk; Acceptance; and Float.
Bulk:
When a low battery bank is connected to a three stage charger it will begin charging rapidly. As it starts to "fill" with amp hours the charger will increase its voltage output to maintain a constant charge rate.... likely in the neighborhood of 25 amps per battery in the bank.
Acceptance:
At a predetermined level of charge, which is designed into the charger, the charge voltage will drop to a constant voltage of around 14.2 volts. During this stage the amps the battery bank charges at will be lower and will taper off as the battery nears a full level of charge.
Float:
Once a full level of charge is reached a multistage charger will again adjust its charge voltage down to around 13.6 volts where it will maintain a healthy voltage for your batteries.

A single stage charger will likely operate only at the Acceptance stage. So, the batteries won't recharge as fast as what is ideal and healthiest and when they reach full charge they will be held at a voltage that is higher than what is ideal for the batteries.

Veeebyes ~~ why so sour???????????????????

maddog348 wrote:
Veeebyes ~~ why so sour???????????????????

Maddog......why so judgmental ???????
I mean REALLY.

maddog348 wrote:
Veeebyes ~~ why so sour???????????????????

Not being sour. Been down that road already with a factory installed converter/charger. Even had to change out the transfer switch. I will give the switch some credit. It had switched hundreds of times before failing.

There are decent multi stage converter/chargers available. In my quest to 'marinise' my 5er I now have a multi stage inverter/charger.