Battery Rermoval question

ScottG wrote:
I see your in Wa. State too - we're in Bothell on the west side of the state.
Where are you located?

Centralia

The freeze-up is supposed to end tomorrow :) Anyway, the WFCO is a modern type converter and can run the rig with no battery. It can also maintain and charge the battery as required on shore power.

If you cannot trust the shore power in storage, take the batteries home and put them on a simple maintenance charger and keep an eye on them at home. If you can trust the storage power, leave them on the WFCO.

If you ever go off-grid, and the WFCO does not go into 14.4 for fast charging on generator (many won't as installed too far from the battery bank), NOW you have a problem.

That can be solved by getting a different or additional (several choices) battery charger that can be run by the generator's rated continuous VA. The new (portable is a choice) charger will do the required fast charging --two 12s will take say a 70 amp charger no problem--you can use any deck- mount converter as your portable instead of installing it.

If you do not camp off-grid except for a day or two, you just need new batteries and you are good to go using the WFCO as before.

I see your in Wa. State too - we're in Bothell on the west side of the state.
Where are you located?

I removed the batteries (photo taken but I understand how they were connected in parallel).. I had batteries checked today and one is shorted / dead cell..kaputt).. Time to buy two new replacement batteries as these Exide Deep Cycle units came with the trailer when new in 2010.. only guaranteed for 24 months at that time.. got moneys worth!

DD716TED wrote:
I know that the onboard power panel is only a maintainer not a charger.. ..

I doubt that is true at all.

Most likely that the batteries will charge up just fine when the power is restored but it might take several days.

If it will be several MORE days until the power comes back on, you should disconnect the batteries until then. Operating a battery disconnect switch, if there is one, should do that nicely.

And finally, there is a fair chance that this episode will cause the batteries to age a LOT; such that they might need to be replaced now.

wa8yxm wrote:
Before you remove anything you should take one of the following

Red paint, Red Electrical Tape, Red Split Loom or Red Nail polish

Use the RED stuff to treat the wires which are connected to a POSITIVE (+) battery terminal which do not run off to another battery.

Optional.. Black on the Negative (-) Wires

Now. IF more than one wire "Runs off" from any battery tape or tie those wires together, INSULATE the Red taped wires so they touch no metal. This is important.

Photograph before removal so you can see how to restore. Do not trust organic memory, Trust DIGITAL memory, multiple photos.


Next: You said the power panel is "only a maintainer" What is the make and model please.. Some maintain rather well. Some not so good.

panel is.. World Friendship WF-8955 PEC

time2roll wrote:
Yes you may remove the battery to charge. Just keep the positive battery cable isolated to avoid a short to ground.

If power is unreliable consider a battery cut-off switch and a separate maintainer such as Battery Minder or Battery Tender brands. These will keep you topped up in storage and the switch will prevent discharge if the power goes out. Or if you know your way around the 12v system you could pull the right fuses to prevent discharge and continue to use the converter to maintain the battery.

I recommend winterizing the water system more than relying on a small space heater to prevent freeze damage.

We use our trailer all winter.. after each trip I drain the HW Heater and all low point drains with all faucets open.. The heater is only to keep inside dry and not to prevent freezing..

Before you remove anything you should take one of the following

Red paint, Red Electrical Tape, Red Split Loom or Red Nail polish

Use the RED stuff to treat the wires which are connected to a POSITIVE (+) battery terminal which do not run off to another battery.

Optional.. Black on the Negative (-) Wires

Now. IF more than one wire "Runs off" from any battery tape or tie those wires together, INSULATE the Red taped wires so they touch no metal. This is important.

Photograph before removal so you can see how to restore. Do not trust organic memory, Trust DIGITAL memory, multiple photos.


Next: You said the power panel is "only a maintainer" What is the make and model please.. Some maintain rather well. Some not so good.

Yes you may remove the battery to charge. Just keep the positive battery cable isolated to avoid a short to ground.

If power is unreliable consider a battery cut-off switch and a separate maintainer such as Battery Minder or Battery Tender brands. These will keep you topped up in storage and the switch will prevent discharge if the power goes out. Or if you know your way around the 12v system you could pull the right fuses to prevent discharge and continue to use the converter to maintain the battery.

I recommend winterizing the water system more than relying on a small space heater to prevent freeze damage.

Yes, you can recharge the batteries at home and re-install them later.

Unless the trailer is very old, it will have a decent converter in the power centre that will charge the batteries as well as maintain them. What is the model of converter you have?

Older converters did need the battery connected to act as a filter for the DC power to some of the Rig's systems, but newer (since 1998-2003 ish) ones are "switch mode" and make clean DC so they can run all your rig's systems with no battery attached at all. (The trailer still needs a battery when being towed to run the break away brakes.)