winter vs battery

[Rich_Mar]

I want to keep my fiver hooked up to shore power this winter because I run one of those round electric dehumidifiers 24/7. Can I just take a battery cable off and try to remember to hook it up every 2-3 weeks for a few days to charge the battery? Or do you even need to do this? It doesn't seem right to keep the battery hooked up to the power all the time. What's the best way or what do you do?

[blofgren]

Veebyes wrote:
Unless you have a very heavy 4D or 8D case size battery taking the batteries out & keeping them in a somewhat warmer garage is no big deal. Give them a maintenance charge every month or so.

Since you have power to the unit unplug the converter for good measure & plug your dehumidifier in somewhere inside.

I just put mine into hibernation. It is stored indoors & gets nothing till April. No dehumidifier. No battery tender. Nothing. The trailer is dead.

Our fiver goes indoors as well and the batteries are in my garage so the fiver is dead. I charge them once a month or so with a battery charger.

If I were running a dehumidifier in the trailer, I would unplug the converter and disconnect/remove the batteries.

[Veebyes]

Unless you have a very heavy 4D or 8D case size battery taking the batteries out & keeping them in a somewhat warmer garage is no big deal. Give them a maintenance charge every month or so.

Since you have power to the unit unplug the converter for good measure & plug your dehumidifier in somewhere inside.

I just put mine into hibernation. It is stored indoors & gets nothing till April. No dehumidifier. No battery tender. Nothing. The trailer is dead.

[StirCrazy]

cummins2014 wrote:



I have no idea what converter was in my previous fifth wheel, but the batteries were going on 11 years old, and other then when on the road it was plugged in. I was under the impression most converters if not all do not overcharge batteries these days. Never had a problem, this present fifth wheel has been plugged in for 7 months ,and the batteries are fine . As you said , I check the water a couple time a year.

IMO its just the opposite of some of the thinking here , keeping my fifth wheel plugged in 24/7 has contributed to the health ,and longevity I have had with my RV batteries .

they are getting better, now its more or less the reliability of the brand, I have ownd a few trailers with WFO converters and never will again. they fail and destroy batteries.

rv companies done spend extra money to make sure your batteries last longer or to make sure your converter will function properly longer than the warenty. the less money they spend the better for there bottom line.

there were still single stage chargers being used in the lait 90's and early 2000's then two stage chargers became all the rage and now we are seeing 3 stage chargers regularly, but dont think they are quality units or that they put out the ideal charge voltages for your batteries. I usaly take them out and put in an intellipower with the charge wizzard, for solar I will only use a unit that will let me customize the charge voltages for different stages. playing with a Renogy mppt controler right now, im pretty impressed so far and it is much more afordable than the standards,

Steve

[StirCrazy]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

I am of the opnion, that for long term (over a month) storage, a lead acid battery should not be left on ANY charger, 24/7.

Mine have been plugged in constantly for 15 years now, except when I am camping. I do have to replace them next season, you think thats because I always leave them plugged in? 😉

Friend of a friend of a friend handles simple maintenance on sewage pumping stations in their small town, maybe a dozen or so. Each has a generator that automatically starts when the power goes out longer than 1 minute. He was replacing the starting batteries (maybe this was the issue - starting batteries) every year or two until he hooked the trickle charger (Battery Tender ?) to a mechanical lamp timer set for 4 hour per day. Life expectancy jumped to 4 or 5 years.

how were they charged before he put the tenders on them. yes starting batteries are not as robust and cant handle any significant discharge with out some sort of dammage.

Steve

[jkwilson]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

StirCrazy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

I am of the opnion, that for long term (over a month) storage, a lead acid battery should not be left on ANY charger, 24/7.

Mine have been plugged in constantly for 15 years now, except when I am camping. I do have to replace them next season, you think thats because I always leave them plugged in? 😉

Friend of a friend of a friend handles simple maintenance on sewage pumping stations in their small town, maybe a dozen or so. Each has a generator that automatically starts when the power goes out longer than 1 minute. He was replacing the starting batteries (maybe this was the issue - starting batteries) every year or two until he hooked the trickle charger (Battery Tender ?) to a mechanical lamp timer set for 4 hour per day. Life expectancy jumped to 4 or 5 years.

Likely the issue was temperature. At around 80F, a battery can self-discharge 15% in a month, quickly reaching a state of charge where permanent battery damage occurs. For winter storage, the discharge is greatly reduced by cold temperatures.

[Lynnmor]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

Friend of a friend of a friend handles simple maintenance on sewage pumping stations in their small town, maybe a dozen or so. Each has a generator that automatically starts when the power goes out longer than 1 minute. He was replacing the starting batteries (maybe this was the issue - starting batteries) every year or two until he hooked the trickle charger (Battery Tender ?) to a mechanical lamp timer set for 4 hour per day. Life expectancy jumped to 4 or 5 years.

The Battery tender will reset every time the lamp timer switches back on. The best way to use a Battery Tender is to either leave it connected to power or cycle it on for several days per month. Just going by the green lamp will not tell the full story, the battery will take more charge for some time after the green lamp comes on.

[theoldwizard1]

StirCrazy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

I am of the opnion, that for long term (over a month) storage, a lead acid battery should not be left on ANY charger, 24/7.

Mine have been plugged in constantly for 15 years now, except when I am camping. I do have to replace them next season, you think thats because I always leave them plugged in? 😉

Friend of a friend of a friend handles simple maintenance on sewage pumping stations in their small town, maybe a dozen or so. Each has a generator that automatically starts when the power goes out longer than 1 minute. He was replacing the starting batteries (maybe this was the issue - starting batteries) every year or two until he hooked the trickle charger (Battery Tender ?) to a mechanical lamp timer set for 4 hour per day. Life expectancy jumped to 4 or 5 years.

[jkwilson]

valhalla360 wrote:
If it's a decent quality multistage charger, just plug it in and ignore it. When the battery is full, it will stop charging.

Very, very few, if any work that way. The overwhelming majority of good chargers don’t stop charging when the battery is fully charged, but reduce the voltage to float level when current flowing indicates a full charger. This is not a problem on a battery with no loads. But if you have things like detectors hooked to the battery as RVs are wired or you forget to turn off a storage compartment light, the chargers see the load as an indication the battery is not at full charge and increase the charging voltage. This results in the battery spending 24/7 at nearly a full charge with a charging voltage above the gassing voltage. Not good for a battery.

With cold temperatures, self-discharge is minimal, so if you are going to disconnect a cable to remove the load there is little reason to bother with a charger.

I have a boat, RV, mower and several pieces of farm equipment that sit most of the winter. I use a 2A battery tender charger that I swap to another vehicle every Sunday evening after supper. Easy habit, and I generally look at the battery Monday morning to see that the charger thinks it is full. That way nothing gets cooked by a failed or fooled charger and I don’t have to keep checking all the batteries regularly through the winter.

[joelc]

When we go away for 6mo up North we have a dehumidifier running and the smaller bedroom A/C set at 90+. The battery is left connected, but we have it shut down with the battery disconnect switch.

[time2roll]

Just leave it on. No issues in the cold.

[RockyMt]

I have always left my batteries plug in all the time - never had a problem.

[cummins2014]

StirCrazy wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

I am of the opnion, that for long term (over a month) storage, a lead acid battery should not be left on ANY charger, 24/7. Buy a cheap mechanical lamp timer and hook the charger to that. 4-8 hours/day is plenty.

Mine have been plugged in constantly for 15 years now, except when I am camping. I do have to replace them next season, you think thats because I always leave them plugged in? 😉

seriously though when I get a new RV part of the deal is an intellipower converter with charge controler. I have learned over the years that most factory converteres trash your batteries. With a good converter replacment you just need to check your water levels a couple times a year and your good to go.

Steve

I have no idea what converter was in my previous fifth wheel, but the batteries were going on 11 years old, and other then when on the road it was plugged in. I was under the impression most converters if not all do not overcharge batteries these days. Never had a problem, this present fifth wheel has been plugged in for 7 months ,and the batteries are fine . As you said , I check the water a couple time a year.

IMO its just the opposite of some of the thinking here , keeping my fifth wheel plugged in 24/7 has contributed to the health ,and longevity I have had with my RV batteries .

[StirCrazy]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

I am of the opnion, that for long term (over a month) storage, a lead acid battery should not be left on ANY charger, 24/7. Buy a cheap mechanical lamp timer and hook the charger to that. 4-8 hours/day is plenty.

Mine have been plugged in constantly for 15 years now, except when I am camping. I do have to replace them next season, you think thats because I always leave them plugged in? 😉

seriously though when I get a new RV part of the deal is an intellipower converter with charge controler. I have learned over the years that most factory converteres trash your batteries. With a good converter replacment you just need to check your water levels a couple times a year and your good to go.

Steve

[valhalla360]

If it's a decent quality multistage charger, just plug it in and ignore it. When the battery is full, it will stop charging.