keep batteries good?

smkettner wrote:
Wet-cell lead-acid likes to be fully charged and topped off with water.
By all means plug it in and check the water. After a week check the voltage on the battery terminals. s/b 13.2 to 13.5 volts.

OP stated the batteries are "sealed"

How do I find out what kinda charger? There is a whole house alternator, and a control in the house that shows the charge level

I appreciate the help. I'm very new to this so wasn't sure what information to provide. It's a 2003 national tropi-cal m350. Diesel Spartan chassis

Wet-cell lead-acid likes to be fully charged and topped off with water.
By all means plug it in and check the water. After a week check the voltage on the battery terminals. s/b 13.2 to 13.5 volts.

roadtriptoforever wrote:
I just bought my first motorhome. It's a class a. The guy I bought it from said he kept "killing the house batteries". He gave me a brand new set. But I want to avoid doing the same. I'll near power most of the time, so should I just have it plugged in all the time? Do I just charge it when they are dead or before going ona trip? Charge them whenever they are halfway dead? Nightly? Something else? These are sealed deep cells.

Thanks

Tell us what kind of motorhome it is and the type of battery charger, etc. Is it a diesel or gas?

MM.

You indicate that the previous owner gave you a brand new set of batteries & they are sealed deep cycle & assuming they are what he was actually using in the coach himself, I'm guessing they are AGM batteries. What is the age of the Coach ?

2oldman wrote:
Without any more information than you've provided, it's difficult to give any sort of answer. See if you can find out more about what he meant.

He didn't seem to know how he was killing them either... I guess I'm trying to figure out what the right way to do it is so I don't do what he did

When you park it for any length of time and it's not plugged in, disconnect the battery cables, don't rely on the factory disconnect switches as they don't disconnect everything. There are parasitic loads from the propane and carbon monoxide detectors that aren't shut off by the factory switch. They will eventually drain the batteries.

And no, don't just let the batteries go dead and then recharge them. If you do this, you'll buy a lot of new batteries. If you don't want to take the time to take the battery leads off, then install a read disconnect switch yourself.

Bill

They should charge when you are on shore power and some when parked via solar. Check you battery charger form the coach batts.

roadtriptoforever wrote:
I just bought my first motorhome. It's a class a. The guy I bought it from said he kept "killing the house batteries". He gave me a brand new set. But I want to avoid doing the same. I'll near power most of the time, so should I just have it plugged in all the time? Do I just charge it when they are dead or before going ona trip? Charge them whenever they are halfway dead? Nightly? Something else? These are sealed deep cells.

Thanks

Without any more information than you've provided, it's difficult to give any sort of answer. See if you can find out more about what he meant.