Greetings everyone!Forgive the noob post (and I apologize if this is in the wrong place or has been discussed before), but I am new to the RV world and just bought our first travel trailer last summer (a 2013 Gulfstream Amerilite 16BHC) new. I keep it plugged in to shore power when at home, but this winter I accidentally forgot to pull my battery for storage inside the house. As a result, I left my TT plugged into shore power all winter long (a good 7 months) with the porch light on, but I am wondering if my battery has been damaged or if I need to do anything now at this point?My battery is an Interstate HD24-DP that appears to be sealed, but then again... it has the two caps on top that I am assuming I can pull to add distilled water to (not sure). Thanks for any advice!*Note: my TT does not have a battery meter or battery level indicatorHere's a shot of my battery for reference:

Remove caps and see if there is water in cells, if so, a battery charge MAY bring battery back. If not, replace battery.Jim

If I understand correctly, the battery was connected to the converter and shore power all winter? If so it should be good to go. Hopefully you have a 'smart' converter.We leave both of our RVs plugged in all the time in storage. Both have 'smart' converter/chargers and do an excellent job of maintaining the batteries.Your battery is NOT sealed. Take a screwdriver and pop the caps off. Use distilled water if needed to bring the water level to the bottom of the ring you will see inside.

After floating for so long at a lower voltage than is ideal for floating, expect stratification. You need to charge it to 14.8 or so to mix the electrolyte and you can measure progress on that with an hydrometer.The 'two caps' each cover three cells as you will see when you pry them off. You need a $10 multimeter to check voltages.The battery should be ok unless there was a power failure for a time so its voltage ran down and it froze. As long as it stayed up in voltage so it didn't freeze it should be ok.

Wow - thanks so much everyone! Yes - it was plugged in to shore power all winter - no power loss that I know of (microwave clock still reads the time I set it at in October 2013). We had some nasty freezing days here in Michigan - several weeks where the nighttime temps dropped to -13 F and wind chills of -35 F. I'll pop the caps and check the levels this week. Cheers all!

Left battery out all winter in Michigan.... | Good Sam Community

Jim-Linda
Explorer II
Apr 07, 2014
Remove caps and see if there is water in cells, if so, a battery charge MAY bring battery back. If not, replace battery.

Jim
beemerphile1
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
If I understand correctly, the battery was connected to the converter and shore power all winter? If so it should be good to go. Hopefully you have a 'smart' converter.

We leave both of our RVs plugged in all the time in storage. Both have 'smart' converter/chargers and do an excellent job of maintaining the batteries.

Your battery is NOT sealed. Take a screwdriver and pop the caps off. Use distilled water if needed to bring the water level to the bottom of the ring you will see inside.
BFL13
Explorer II
Apr 07, 2014
After floating for so long at a lower voltage than is ideal for floating, expect stratification. You need to charge it to 14.8 or so to mix the electrolyte and you can measure progress on that with an hydrometer.

The 'two caps' each cover three cells as you will see when you pry them off. You need a $10 multimeter to check voltages.

The battery should be ok unless there was a power failure for a time so its voltage ran down and it froze. As long as it stayed up in voltage so it didn't freeze it should be ok.
mena661
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
X2 BFL
EnochLight
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
Wow - thanks so much everyone! Yes - it was plugged in to shore power all winter - no power loss that I know of (microwave clock still reads the time I set it at in October 2013). We had some nasty freezing days here in Michigan - several weeks where the nighttime temps dropped to -13 F and wind chills of -35 F. I'll pop the caps and check the levels this week.

Cheers all!
beemerphile1
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
EnochLight wrote:
...We had some nasty freezing days here in Michigan - several weeks where the nighttime temps dropped to -13 F and wind chills of -35 F....

Wind chill affects humans, not batteries. A charged battery is good to -40F or so.
kaydeejay
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
EnochLight wrote:
Wow - thanks so much everyone! Yes - it was plugged in to shore power all winter - no power loss that I know of (microwave clock still reads the time I set it at in October 2013). We had some nasty freezing days here in Michigan - several weeks where the nighttime temps dropped to -13 F and wind chills of -35 F. I'll pop the caps and check the levels this week.

Cheers all!
I'm also in Michigan and my fiver was out all season plugged into shore power with the battery connected.
Been doing this for many years and have not had a problem.
I expect you will be OK.
gbopp
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
I keep our Southwind plugged into shore power all winter, it's not a problem.
One year I didn't plug it in, the house batteries froze. They got slushy, not solid.
I thawed and charged them, they recovered and worked.
Hopefully you will be okay.
dalenoel
Explorer II
Apr 07, 2014
Plugged in all year and battery still good.
EnochLight
Explorer
Apr 07, 2014
Again, all great information - thanks again everyone! Glad to have found this community forum.

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