Battery charging

[davidkerry]

Hi Its been a while since Ive posted here and hoping for some good help as always. I have a 2002 WW FT2200 toy hauler, it's a rock solid rig ,owned since 2006 , many many miles!
So I have a Battery charging question. When I'm at home prepping for a trip, I'll disconnect the big three prong cable(wire) inside the power bay and connect to my 110 v at my house.
This should charge the batteries right? or does this just supply shore power .
The TH batteries (twin deep cell) are 4 years old and I run a solar trickle charge on them when in storage . The gen fires right up , the electric winch works fine, lights come on no sweat, but after 24 hours of bring plugged in , the battery level stays in the yellow "medium / low" zone. Seems like it should be up in the green . Anyway , maybe I'm wrong and plugging in doesn't charge the batteries , it just supplies power?
Is there a way to charge the batteries by plugging into 110 ...or is it best to put them on a proper battery charger.
Thanks in advance for any and all input

Dave

[Dirtclods]

One more item, check all of your battery terimals and water levels .

[time2roll]

nayther wrote:

dedmiston wrote:
Hey Dave - Do you have the stock converter or have you ever upgraded yours?

Those IOTA "Smart" Chargers that WW used aren't that great. They manually support two phases: The default phase is a horrible trickle that pretty much never ever charges the batteries. The second phase is a bulk charge that will boil over your batteries if you leave it on too long. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Two switch between the phases, there's a little resistor looped into an RJ11 phone connector. It's been forever since I used it, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out. If that thing is plugged in, then remove it to switch to the bulk phase. Just remember to replace it after a few hours to move back to the lower charge.

You've been patient to use that converter for so many years. It's worth upgrading to a better multi-phase converter or even a smart inverter/charger.

I concur with Dave. replace that converter, you've probably killed the batteries since they're 4 years old connected to a crappy converter. Contact Randy at Bestconverter.com, he helped me out a couple of times and never steered me wrong.

Unless you spring a few $$ for the IOTA IQ controller that will run the converter automatically through the stages. Excellent converter as long as it has the dual voltage jack and the IQ controller.


For the OP... check and post your battery voltage when charging (plugged in).

Then disconnect your batteries and check the voltage in the morning.

Post the results.

[lincster]

I have a 2006 Warrior.
When you plug into your house, your batteries are charging.

When you go to check them after you unplug from the house, do you have a bunch of lights on or anything?
I can unplug my trailer, walk around to the door, turn on 2 lights and the batteries show yellow, brand new batteries.

I think you are reading too much in to it.
Maybe your batteries are getting old?
4 years is pretty good on batteries.
Do you have 12V or 6V?
How many?
These all play into the equation.

I have used the stock converter for years, have 1300 hours on my genny, no issues.
Sure there are nicer ones out there, but it works.

[nayther]

dedmiston wrote:
Hey Dave - Do you have the stock converter or have you ever upgraded yours?

Those IOTA "Smart" Chargers that WW used aren't that great. They manually support two phases: The default phase is a horrible trickle that pretty much never ever charges the batteries. The second phase is a bulk charge that will boil over your batteries if you leave it on too long. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Two switch between the phases, there's a little resistor looped into an RJ11 phone connector. It's been forever since I used it, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out. If that thing is plugged in, then remove it to switch to the bulk phase. Just remember to replace it after a few hours to move back to the lower charge.

You've been patient to use that converter for so many years. It's worth upgrading to a better multi-phase converter or even a smart inverter/charger.

I concur with Dave. replace that converter, you've probably killed the batteries since they're 4 years old connected to a crappy converter. Contact Randy at Bestconverter.com, he helped me out a couple of times and never steered me wrong.

[dedmiston]

Hey Dave - Do you have the stock converter or have you ever upgraded yours?

Those IOTA "Smart" Chargers that WW used aren't that great. They manually support two phases: The default phase is a horrible trickle that pretty much never ever charges the batteries. The second phase is a bulk charge that will boil over your batteries if you leave it on too long. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

To switch between the phases, there's a little resistor looped into an RJ11 phone connector. It's been forever since I used it, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure it out. If that thing is plugged in, then remove it to switch to the bulk phase. Just remember to replace it after a few hours to move back to the lower charge.

You've been patient to use that converter for so many years. It's worth upgrading to a better multi-phase converter or even a smart inverter/charger.

[Dirtclods]

You can go to Harbor Freight and buy a load tester for about $20 bucks, it'll give you a better read on your batteries.


https://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-612v-battery-load-tester-61747.html

Look for their store coupons either in the mail or as you walk in their store the'll have their littler fliers with %20 off.


https://www.harborfreight.com/online_coupon.html?ccdenc=OTY2MzU3NzE=&sdt=MjAxOS0wMy0yMg==&edt=MjAxOS...

[davidkerry]

thanks guys, I'll try the voltmeter first , makes total sense ...thanks!

[fj12ryder]

naturist wrote:
Shore power should charge the batteries but it’s always possible it’s failing to a number of reasons. Grab your volt meter and slap it across the battery terminals when on shore power. If tlthe voltage isn’t over 13 volts, the converter isn’t working.

That would be my thought. Until you really know your numbers you're just whistling in the wind and guessing at the results.

[ppine]

A quality converter will charge your batteries in 4 stages. Always connect to your power cable and utitlize this feature.

[naturist]

Shore power should charge the batteries but it’s always possible it’s failing to a number of reasons. Grab your volt meter and slap it across the battery terminals when on shore power. If tlthe voltage isn’t over 13 volts, the converter isn’t working.

[davidkerry]

Hi Don I check the converter and reply back tomorrow, how long (typically) do deep cell batteries last? I know there's a lot of factors involved in that answer;)

thanks very much

[pianotuna]

Hi Dave,

The converter charges the "house" batteries. But not all converters do a good job. What kind do you have?

It is also possible the solar trickle charger doesn't have enough wattage to do the job. If that is the case, then the 4 year old batteries may be on their last legs.