Disconnect battery while on shore power.

Be aware that after you disconnect the negative connection from the battery, the Positive lead will still be live if you leave the shore power connected. Be sure that the positive does not touch ground.

No sure why the batteries are dry - possible over charging.

http://www.progressivedyn.com/battery_basics.html

Theoretically distilled is more pure. De-ionized, means that the water is run through ion exchange resin columns which will remove all the cations and anions, or in other words any dissolved ionizable "salts".

I only used distilled water - anything else will put impurities in the cells which can impact the live of the battery. Can be purchase in a 1 gallon container at the grocery store or Walmart. Needless to say it last a long while.


Liquid levels should be 1/8 inch below the bottom of the vent well (the plastic tube that extends into the battery). The electrolyte level should not drop below the top of the plates.

A brand new battery may have a low electrolyte level. Charge the battery first and then add water if needed. Adding water to a battery before charging may result in overflow of the electrolyte

I topped off each cell and charged the batteries (2 - 12v batteries) prior to re-installing them in the RV in April.

I just check the batteries and each cell only needed about 1-2 ounces. The batteries are about 1 1/2 years old. I'll check them more often next summer. (I think I have been adding too much water to each cell)

janechucknicodemus wrote:
and filled with cooled , boiled water if needed.

Is that the same as distilled water?

And if he is the type that doesn't keep a close watch on things, get a maintinance free battery.

In a charging state, the battery gives off a flammable gas.

Disconnecting shore power will reduce the risk of a spark while unhooking the battery. They could still spark, but, less chance with no shore power.

I completely agree on the lack of maintenance. He's been working out of state for 3 years in the rig. Its a learning experience for him. Thanks for the help.

Pretty safe to say the converter is a modern switch-mode type so it will work without the battery connected and make 12v for the rig.

Now the question is, if the converter is working right, why are the lights flickering etc?

So putting in a new battery isn't going to do much good for very long. He has other problems to do with the converter itself or its connections and fuses.

w6st wrote:
Well my son just called me from Denver, saying that his 12 volt lights are flickering dim to bright... He checked the battery, and found no water. In reading the forums it looks like the converter is trying to charge the bad battery. Question: Can you disconnect the battery and replace it while still connected to shore power? Thanks in advance. Bill

You can disconnect from the batteries, But the lack of maintenance is the real cause for no water. Hooking and un hooking from shore power has it's limits, but after 3 years my batteries have decided to lay low. Am now on a re-generating charger to rejuvenate them.
The batteries should always be checked each month at least, and filled with cooled , boiled water if needed.
Charge your batteries one at a time they work better.
My 2.875P
C

Thanks for the reply, Its a 2011 Denali 34. Not sure of the make of the converter he has..

Modern converters since about 1998 with PD9100s or 2003 with Parallax 7300s etc don't need a battery to provide 12v to the rig.

Earlier types of converters needed the battery to act as a filter to clean up the dirty 12v those old time converters made.

Sooo--what model and year of converter does he have?