Equalize house batteries

[golfman_1]

Getting new house batteries. How often should I equalize them?

[et2]

I've asked some questions about equalizing over time here. One thing is they gas out. The caps must come off - ventilation is paramount as the fumes will accumulate ( be very careful ) - if you're doing it by using your inverter/ convertor via the generator or shore power they are probably equalizing your chassis batteries too. If yours are like mine those don't have any caps and that concerned me as is could damage those two.

So I'm refraining from doing mine. I just charge them every two weeks in storage with the generator / inverter / converter set to normal settings. I'm not comfortable doing this as it is a 4 hour process or more. I do keep the water levels in the battery topped off and check the voltage over time. When these batteries are shot I will get AGM's.

[2oldman]

The need for equalization is directly proportional to the time your batteries spend not fully charged.

[midnightsadie]

EGH33 your not dumb,, your just old school,, it ain,t broke? don,t fix it.

[egh33]

I guess I am just plain dumb. Been Motor Homing for around 17 years, have never equalized my batteries in the 2 motor homes I have had. Plus in that time period I have only replaced the batteries one time in each motor home. The Motor Home I now have bought it new, 7 years ago. Only have replaced batteries one time and that was my fault. Didn't add water when I should have. Learn some thing new every day.

[2oldman]

Do what the mfr says, even if they're not in a MH.

[Playtime_II]

Like everthing else in RV world-it depends.
How many batteries (2,4,6?), How are they wired together (see next para), How old are they.

First off, I would love to add a graphic but don't have one. Think of a ladder up against a house roof and the batteries are the ladder. If your POS wire is connected at the top left of the ladder and NEG wire is connected at the top right of the ladder THEN the top battery (think rung=battery) will get used more than the battery below it (next rung down). Over time, the batteries will degrade at different rates. Now, if your ladder had the POS wire on the top left of the ladder and NEG was connected at the bottom right of the ladder, each battery will degrade evenly (unless the battery has a defect).

When to Equalize? When the batteries' specific gravity readings (at rest) are not close (how much varies by mfgr). Or you have a specific battery cell that is out of range with the rest on that battery (you MIGHT be able to recover that battery). Equalizing takes time and is best done when your batterys are not being under load or under charge. So I would not equalize my first day at the CG.

Sorry, this doesn't answer your simple question. Can you give us specific gravity readings and maybe we can give you a better answer.

[Dakota98]

AS PER TROJAN:

"FLOODED BATTERIES ONLY" Not AGM

Equalizing is an overcharge performed on flooded lead acid batteries after they have been fully charged.

It reverses the buildup of negative chemical effects like stratification, a condition where acid concentration is greater at the bottom of the battery than at the top. Equalizing also helps to remove sulfate crystals that might have built up on the plates. If left unchecked, this condition, called sulfation, will reduce the overall capacity of the battery.

Many experts recommend that batteries be equalized periodically, ranging anywhere from once a month to once or twice per year. However, Trojan only recommends equalizing when low or wide ranging specific gravity (+/- .015) are detected after fully charging a battery.

[midnightsadie]

before you install fully charge each one. clean all battery couplings, take the ground completely off the rv ,grind to bare metal replace with new bolt , give the area a coat of paint. you,d be surprised at the battery problems there do to a weak ground.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Every 6 months if you are mostly on shore power.

Every 30 days if you do little boondocking with partial generator recharges.

Every 7 days if you boondock lots.