Hello expertsMy TT and interstate batteries are there years old. The trailer is plugged into my house when not in use. It gets five or so trips per year so is plugged into the house most of the time. It is now on a dedicated 30 amp circuit but was previously on a 15 amp.We have mild weather, almost always between 35-90 degrees. A few days of subfreezing temps per year, a couple weeks over 90.I have never added distilled water to the batteries or done any other maintenance. I open the batteries to check there is water in there before every trip... But that's it.This website sounds like I should be doing a lot more. It also is quite a bit over my head:Deep cycle battery maintenanceIs the a simpler explanation/resource for the essential tasks and checks I should be doing?

I clean the post IF I see any grud, check water level spring july and oct. a year ,if you,ve never added water? you need too.

Add distilled water until it just reaches the bottom of the fill tube. Do not fill to the top of the case/cap. This allows for a adequate reserve and for the battery to vent. You can buy a battery filler bottle that will fill them to the correct level.

I just had to add water for the first time in over a year, and I also keep my trailer plugged in full time at home. Since I'm strictly a recreational RVer at this point, and have a generator (and 150 watts of solar), I don't worry about the batteries too much. I have a TM-2020 meter that tells me their current state of charge. I exercise them once in a while, but no set schedule. I otherwise pay little attention to them. I've gotten over 8 years of service from each pair of 6 volt batteries with that routine.

What that website is emphasizing is to not overly discharge their batteries80% of capacity means use 20 amp hours of a 100 amp hour battery Without an amp-hour meter installed in your system it's all guessworkFew chargers will not end up undercharging your batteriesThis is why solar panels are so popularTheir charge regulation is much more realistic

Keeping flood lead acid batteries FLOODED at all times is the most important thing you can do. If they are on a charger 24/7, I would recommend checking the liquid level every 1-2 months, especially when the temperature is above 90F.Keeping the outside of the battery clean is #2.For MAXIMUM battery life, I believe that lead acid batteries should NOT be on a charger 24/7 ! 4 - 6 hours per day on a "maintainer" is plenty. Use a cheap mechanical lamp timer for your battery maintainer.

Deep cycle battery maintenance | Good Sam Community

KD4UPL
Explorer
Sep 15, 2020
Just keeping the water above the plates is a dangerous gamble. If those plates ever see air it will ruin a battery in a hurry. As has been stated, the water needs to be at the bottom of the fill tube. This allows a bit a reserve. I suspect your batteries need water to achieve this level.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Sep 15, 2020
CA Traveler wrote:
Add distilled water until it just reaches the bottom of the fill tube. Do not fill to the top of the case/cap. This allows for a adequate reserve and for the battery to vent.

You can buy a battery filler bottle that will fill them to the correct level.

Uh that is overfilling you stop 1/4 to 1/8" BELOW the bottom of the fill tube.. You have to give it "Breathing room".

If you dig enough you will find that on the better battery sites.
I grew up when flooded wet cells were all there were. The first Maintenance free were.. Just Coming out. and that is what they taught back when everybody used them.. Alas they forgot that with the modern maintenance free, which of course are nothing of the sort.
2112
Explorer II
Sep 15, 2020
Fill per information provided on #6
Equalize at least once per year per #10
#12 will tell you the general health of your batteries. Check them with a hydrometer a few times a year and equalize if needed
#14 and 15 is good info. Fully charge as soon as possible

Mine is plugged in 24/7 and my junk converter/charger holds a constant 13.6V, which is too high for float charge. I put a timer on my battery that allows it to charge 2 hours every 5 days just to keep it topped off.
StirCrazy
Moderator
Sep 15, 2020
theoldwizard1 wrote:

For MAXIMUM battery life, I believe that lead acid batteries should NOT be on a charger 24/7 ! 4 - 6 hours per day on a "maintainer" is plenty.

shoot, some one forgot to tell my batteries that. they have been plugged in for the last 14 years and are just starting to show there age this year..

Steve
BFL13
Explorer II
Sep 15, 2020
If you do get to where the water is low but plates still covered and do a really big refill, how long before the SG ever comes out right again? Say you don't do a deep cycle but just a few hours of high voltage--which doesn't do much for the SG, then go on a 13.8v float.

Days, weeks?

Or do you have to do a deep cycle or two?
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
Jeezo

Try constant voltage after max specific gravity that has been reached of about 600ma per 100 amp hours at 20c
wnjj
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2020
Our camper has a single group 29 battery and a PD9245 charger. It has been plugged in every minute since 2006 that it wasn't on camp trips. The cheapo Interstate battery lasts at least 6 years before noticing a little loss of performance. I have never once added a drop of water. I quit checking when it was never low.

For our setup/use, "maintenance" is pretty much nothing.
Veebyes
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2020
There is no need to keep a battery on trickle charge 24/7. If the trailer is 12V 'dead', no parasitic drains, the battery will hold charge for months without attention. Just be sure it is put into hibernation fully charged & watered.

Think about it. Farmers & construction companies leave machinery untouched for months at a time in the harshest of conditions. Doubt if they think about the well being of batteries anywhere near as much as the average RVer.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
LOVE IT
Made a lot of money off that philosophy
RJsfishin
Explorer
Sep 18, 2020
For some reason batteries left on a PD wiz charger 24-365 just do not use any water,....meaning once a year at most, besides that they will last 8 to 10 years, much longer than if not plugged in in between trips.

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