Deep cycle recharge question

[Mobile_sport]

1996 Chevrolet Express conversion van
2 gc 2 sams club golf batteries
75 amp Powermax boondocker charger
Honda 2000

I run a 12 volt fridge , 12 v car stereo, 12 v tv sometimes
Water pump 3 minutes a day , charge cell phones , occasionally a 12 volt truck driver oven wit no problem ever!
Recently started using my Propex furnace for the first time since I bought it 3 years ago and Propane usage no problem , better then I expected , running non stop a standard 20# tank lasts at least 3 days , I'm averaging 5 days .
The thing is I absolutely love this Propex but it sucks my battery juice .
E.g yesterday morning I fire up my generator at 9:30 am , I walk into work , work 2.5 hours go on break at noon , shut down honda.
Work rest of day and get off work at 4pm , run everything as ussual including propex , every thing works fine all night , I charge again at midnight , quit charging 2 hours late 2am , run propex all night and next day , next day 11am hit my lights and there very dim.
So I fire up Honda and no problem because my lights work , propex works ( I'm never cold ) everything always works but I started thinking , running the batteries down until the lights are dim , Is this damaging my batteries , or is this a good way to tell its time to charge .
Larry

[Mobile_sport]

Smkettner
Thanks , all is good now , I also had one of those 12volt cig plug voltmeters and its voltage was fluxuating all over the place so I threw it in the garbage and now I'm just going by the voltmeter thats built in to the Boondocker charger.
It charges pretty fast now .

[Mobile_sport]

smkettner wrote:
Powermax drops voltage to 13.6 too soon. Especially with 75 amps. You are getting maybe 75% charged then just a trickle.

I recommend a 60+ amp Progressive Dynamics or 45 to 60 amp IOTA converter for charging 2x GC2 with a 2000w generator.
Either of these will hold 14.2+ volts for an extended period for faster charging on generator.

That 'boondocker' is actually far better for just being plugged in.

You know , that makes alot of sense because latley right before I go to shut everything down after charging II've been wondering why Honda 2000 running so quiet , I mean real quiet like it aint doing any work , well anyways after I read your post I looked at my voltmeter and it read 13.6v so since boondocker is adjustable I turned it up to 14.2 ,, its been holding at 14.2v so far , I'll keep my eye on it

[time2roll]

Powermax drops voltage to 13.6 too soon. Especially with 75 amps. You are getting maybe 75% charged then just a trickle.

I recommend a 60+ amp Progressive Dynamics or 45 to 60 amp IOTA converter for charging 2x GC2 with a 2000w generator.
Either of these will hold 14.2+ volts for an extended period for faster charging on generator.

That 'boondocker' is actually far better for just being plugged in.

[Mobile_sport]

rjxj wrote:
A digital voltmeter is a good way to know when to charge. I like to stay above 12 volts. In the morning before the solar starts and I still have my furnace on it may dip to 11.8 but settles out at 12.1 or 12.2

You may want to do a specific gravity test just to find out how your batteries really are. If you are doing a lot of partial charges they may need a long full charge of several hours or an equalize.

I have looked at those heaters before when I had a TT. They look like a perfect solution for a van. You need some solar on top.

I have a voltmeter hooked up but it kinda confuses me because I always have a load on the batteries and so they read low and even when I power down everything my voltage is still low .
Only time my voltage is high around 12.5 is when I just get done charging.
I look in to what a specific gravity test and equilize mean .
Thanks for the info .
I don't think solar will help me because its winter here , If it were summer I think I'd be alright because I don't use much electricity then .
My batteries are only about 4 months old but I only ever charged them with my alternator , I recently bought the boondocker charger and started charging all the time since the Propex came into play .
Thanks again
Happy new year Everybody , Its going to be a good year!

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Since they are flooded batteries get a temperature compensated hydrometer. I suspect the recharge time is quite a bit lower than is actually needed.

Do an energy audit.

[azrving]

A digital voltmeter is a good way to know when to charge. I like to stay above 12 volts. In the morning before the solar starts and I still have my furnace on it may dip to 11.8 but settles out at 12.1 or 12.2

You may want to do a specific gravity test just to find out how your batteries really are. If you are doing a lot of partial charges they may need a long full charge of several hours or an equalize.

I have looked at those heaters before when I had a TT. They look like a perfect solution for a van. You need some solar on top.