RoyB wrote:
X2 on using a VOLTMETER. Should be your number item to have aboard any RV...
One of these...Available from LOWES-WALMART-AMAZON $7-$15). Harbor freight or Northern Tools used to give you one for free if you purchased $25 of items.
When you check the battery terminals a fully charged battery will read around 12.6-7VDC... Check both the motorhome batteries and the truck start battery.
When you hook up a shore power cable your battery Dc Voltage should increase to around 13.6VDC showing they are connected to your converter/charger. If you only see this VOLTS DC increase on the motorhome side and not the truck start battery then the two systems is separated. This could just be the battery disconnect switch ...
If it were me leaving my batteries unused for a long period of time the best solution is to totally disconnect them (remove negative battery terminal or have a full disconnect switch). A charged-up battery will sit for several months in good order and will not freeze with a normal winter. I did this to my batteries on the trailer tongue this winter season and they survived sitting on the outside just fine. I was reading 12.5VDC across the terminals last week.
The truck start battery is another story. It should remain connected to keep the truck computers alive and well. Otherwise if you disconnect the batteries for a long period of time your Truck systems setups may not return normally and you may have to take the vehicle to the shop ($90 per hour) to put on their system machine to reset your computer values. In this case if I was sitting outside like in your signature picture I would install one of those solar panels that lays on dashboard and plugs into a "ALWAYS HOT" 12VDC receptacle. Be sure it stays "HOT" even after you turn off your ignition key... My truck disconnects almost everything after a couple of minutes after I turn off my ignition key. Since you apparently have a connection to your garage then a 2AMP trickle charge of some sort would be easy to hookup to your truck start battery and leave on 24/7. I have to dash solar panel in my off-road JEEP setup.
If you are leaving your motorhome batteries on a constant charge over the winter months it is a good idea to check the fluid levels a couple of times. The older converters that constantly put out 13.6VDC might boil out your battery fluids in as little a two-three weeks or so. Your newer 2014 setup most likely has a smart mode converter setup which fixes this problem of boiling out your battery fluids. In my case with a multiple batteries installed I tend to be more cautious and just go ahead and check the levels like I did in the prior years. Just take a couple of minutes to pop the cell lids and look. This season I just left mine totally disconnected and they did just fine but we only had a hand full of days below freezing here and it always warmed up the next day. I checked them every couple of weeks as well and didnt find any low fluid levels haha... I will still continue to check them I reckon... Batteries don't grow on trees around here...
I even do this on my lawnmower during the winter months in my garage... Weather here in Northern Neck VA is no where near as bad in Illinois (was raised in the Mt Vernon area in a little town called Bonnie, ILL) haha..
Batteries don't come cheap - Next winter season you will be prepared I'm sure...
It is usually a required replacement if a battery drops below 0% state of charge (10.5VDC) for a long period of times. The batteries just don't recover good once they get totally discharged - especially start batteries. I have to replace mine at any rate...
Roy Ken
Thanks.. I happen to have four of these voltmeter's. ๐ I ran this test and all though my numbers where a little different. I tested the chassis battery without the shore power plugged in and with it plugged in. The voltage did go up when I plugged in to shore power, so one would assume that the chassis battery is charging. Thanks for the help...
X2 on using a VOLTMETER. Should be your number item to have aboard any RV...
One of these...Available from LOWES-WALMART-AMAZON $7-$15). Harbor freight or Northern Tools used to give you one for free if you purchased $25 of items.
When you check the battery terminals a fully charged battery will read around 12.6-7VDC... Check both the motorhome batteries and the truck start battery.
When you hook up a shore power cable your battery Dc Voltage should increase to around 13.6VDC showing they are connected to your converter/charger. If you only see this VOLTS DC increase on the motorhome side and not the truck start battery then the two systems is separated. This could just be the battery disconnect switch ...
If it were me leaving my batteries unused for a long period of time the best solution is to totally disconnect them (remove negative battery terminal or have a full disconnect switch). A charged-up battery will sit for several months in good order and will not freeze with a normal winter. I did this to my batteries on the trailer tongue this winter season and they survived sitting on the outside just fine. I was reading 12.5VDC across the terminals last week.
The truck start battery is another story. It should remain connected to keep the truck computers alive and well. Otherwise if you disconnect the batteries for a long period of time your Truck systems setups may not return normally and you may have to take the vehicle to the shop ($90 per hour) to put on their system machine to reset your computer values. In this case if I was sitting outside like in your signature picture I would install one of those solar panels that lays on dashboard and plugs into a "ALWAYS HOT" 12VDC receptacle. Be sure it stays "HOT" even after you turn off your ignition key... My truck disconnects almost everything after a couple of minutes after I turn off my ignition key. Since you apparently have a connection to your garage then a 2AMP trickle charge of some sort would be easy to hookup to your truck start battery and leave on 24/7. I have to dash solar panel in my off-road JEEP setup.
If you are leaving your motorhome batteries on a constant charge over the winter months it is a good idea to check the fluid levels a couple of times. The older converters that constantly put out 13.6VDC might boil out your battery fluids in as little a two-three weeks or so. Your newer 2014 setup most likely has a smart mode converter setup which fixes this problem of boiling out your battery fluids. In my case with a multiple batteries installed I tend to be more cautious and just go ahead and check the levels like I did in the prior years. Just take a couple of minutes to pop the cell lids and look. This season I just left mine totally disconnected and they did just fine but we only had a hand full of days below freezing here and it always warmed up the next day. I checked them every couple of weeks as well and didnt find any low fluid levels haha... I will still continue to check them I reckon... Batteries don't grow on trees around here...
I even do this on my lawnmower during the winter months in my garage... Weather here in Northern Neck VA is no where near as bad in Illinois (was raised in the Mt Vernon area in a little town called Bonnie, ILL) haha..
Batteries don't come cheap - Next winter season you will be prepared I'm sure...
It is usually a required replacement if a battery drops below 0% state of charge (10.5VDC) for a long period of times. The batteries just don't recover good once they get totally discharged - especially start batteries. I have to replace mine at any rate...
Roy Ken
One of these...Available from LOWES-WALMART-AMAZON $7-$15). Harbor freight or Northern Tools used to give you one for free if you purchased $25 of items.
When you check the battery terminals a fully charged battery will read around 12.6-7VDC... Check both the motorhome batteries and the truck start battery.
When you hook up a shore power cable your battery Dc Voltage should increase to around 13.6VDC showing they are connected to your converter/charger. If you only see this VOLTS DC increase on the motorhome side and not the truck start battery then the two systems is separated. This could just be the battery disconnect switch ...
If it were me leaving my batteries unused for a long period of time the best solution is to totally disconnect them (remove negative battery terminal or have a full disconnect switch). A charged-up battery will sit for several months in good order and will not freeze with a normal winter. I did this to my batteries on the trailer tongue this winter season and they survived sitting on the outside just fine. I was reading 12.5VDC across the terminals last week.
The truck start battery is another story. It should remain connected to keep the truck computers alive and well. Otherwise if you disconnect the batteries for a long period of time your Truck systems setups may not return normally and you may have to take the vehicle to the shop ($90 per hour) to put on their system machine to reset your computer values. In this case if I was sitting outside like in your signature picture I would install one of those solar panels that lays on dashboard and plugs into a "ALWAYS HOT" 12VDC receptacle. Be sure it stays "HOT" even after you turn off your ignition key... My truck disconnects almost everything after a couple of minutes after I turn off my ignition key. Since you apparently have a connection to your garage then a 2AMP trickle charge of some sort would be easy to hookup to your truck start battery and leave on 24/7. I have to dash solar panel in my off-road JEEP setup.
If you are leaving your motorhome batteries on a constant charge over the winter months it is a good idea to check the fluid levels a couple of times. The older converters that constantly put out 13.6VDC might boil out your battery fluids in as little a two-three weeks or so. Your newer 2014 setup most likely has a smart mode converter setup which fixes this problem of boiling out your battery fluids. In my case with a multiple batteries installed I tend to be more cautious and just go ahead and check the levels like I did in the prior years. Just take a couple of minutes to pop the cell lids and look. This season I just left mine totally disconnected and they did just fine but we only had a hand full of days below freezing here and it always warmed up the next day. I checked them every couple of weeks as well and didnt find any low fluid levels haha... I will still continue to check them I reckon... Batteries don't grow on trees around here...
I even do this on my lawnmower during the winter months in my garage... Weather here in Northern Neck VA is no where near as bad in Illinois (was raised in the Mt Vernon area in a little town called Bonnie, ILL) haha..
Batteries don't come cheap - Next winter season you will be prepared I'm sure...
It is usually a required replacement if a battery drops below 0% state of charge (10.5VDC) for a long period of times. The batteries just don't recover good once they get totally discharged - especially start batteries. I have to replace mine at any rate...
Roy Ken
