12V Meter Curiosity......

[_1nobby]

Curious.....under charge the digital meter reads 100%.... 13.6V.

At rest, fully charged....84%.....12.13V




And the trailer "gauge" shows 100%



What do you think?

[_1nobby]

Duplicate.

[_1nobby]

That percentage meter is something I installed just as a quick reference.

I am going to check the voltages right at the batteries, tomorrow and then plug it in to shore power and see what's up.

They are brand new Crown 6V.

[wrenchbender]

I have never put a lot of faith in charge percentages for me it's either charged or not.

[westend]

I dunno', I don't trust those meters they put in the TT's. There have been a few folks that found them inaccurate.
If you really want to know what condition your battery is in, take it to an auto parts house for a load test. While you're there, have them dip it with their hydrometer. If/when you want to get real technical with battery maintenance, buy a good hydrometer. Francis Freas makes lab grade hydrometers or, maybe in Ontario, look for one off Ebay to avoid cross-border shipping.

[gbopp]

Did you ever read The 12 Volt Side of Life?

[RoyB]

I suspect it is really less than 60% Charge state based on your 12.14VDC reading... I would only use your installed percent charge meter for just a good feeling your battery is connected haha...

I always put my Dc VOLTMETER on the battery terminals to check if it is being charged. Battery should read 12.6-7VDC when fully charged and when you hit with shore power the charge should jump up to 13.6 or whatever mode the smart mode charging is doing.

If you don't see this jump in DC Voltage at the battery terminals then it isn't happening... If it is seeing this increase but drops down to 12.14VDC at the battery terminals when you remove the shore power than your battery is not holding its charge...

A good battery will charge from its 50% charge state (around 12.0VDC) at the battery terminals to its 90% charge state (around 12.6VDC) at the battery terminal in a three hour battery charge time when 14.4VDC is applied with a current capacity of 17-20AMP DC Current. It will take approximately 12 hours charge time to reach its 100% charge state when 14.4VDC has been applied to the battery terminal...

So says Progressive Dynamics

Roy Ken

[_1nobby]

OK....trailer plugged in to 110V for 2 solid weeks.

Meter reads 100%

Unplug 110V....meter reads 100%

1 hour later.....meter reads 84%

1 week later....meter reads 84%

[westend]

A week of parasitic draws like circuit boards, alarms, stereo memory, clocks, etc. could lower the fully charged battery by 16 percent.

[Lspangler]

Plug it in for a week, then unplug for 24 hours and check meter

At 12.14 volts your charger should be at 14.8 v charging. More than likely you have a WFCO charger that won't go into boost so you need at least a week to charge the battery

Linc

[_1nobby]

OK...thanks. Trailer has been unplugged for over a week now and it just sits at 84% unless I use , say, the water pump...then it goes down.
Stop using the water pump and back up it comes to 84%.

[RoyB]

This is a handy chart showing the DC VOLTS verses Percent of Charge readings... I always wait a few minutes to let a battery rest before making readings after being charged with higher DC voltages...



I do not put much faith in any of the Percent reading meters on the trailers... I always use a known good DC VOLTMETER to make readings with

Roy Ken

[cpaharley2008]

You have to wait awhile after unplugging to get the correct "at rest" reading, perhaps 30 minutes. Also make sure there is no parasitic drain occurring.