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In The Dog House
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Joined: 03/13/2008
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HOLD THE PHONE. Never tow a trailer with a dead battery. If your trailer (for whatever reason) comes off the TV (activating the brakeaway switch) and there is no battery power then the brakes won't work.
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colorado caravan
deep in the front range
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Joined: 02/25/2008
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Wait, I thought the break away switch was manually activated. As in if the break away brake wire connected to your hitch from the trailer is pulled when the trailer disconnects then the brakes lock on the trailer. I know I do not have batteries on my flat bed trailer and it appears to be the same type of break away brake system and I KNOW that works!!
I know nothing about the original post though, sorry!
2003 GMC Sierra 2500HD ECSB Duramax
1994 Dutchman Classic 24'
DH Steve DW Randi
Best boy in the world, Cody
The Fleabags, Radish and Sedona
The Mousers, Cactus and Canyon
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BlackSilver
East of Heaven, North of Hell
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colorado caravan wrote:Wait, I thought the break away switch was manually activated. As in if the break away brake wire connected to your hitch from the trailer is pulled when the trailer disconnects then the brakes lock on the trailer. I know I do not have batteries on my flat bed trailer and it appears to be the same type of break away brake system and I KNOW that works!!
The electric brakes on an RV can't activate without "electric"!
Hans, KØHB & Colleen, KØCKB
Master Chief Radioman, US Navy
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'04 Prairie Schooner 34FBR Platinum XL Camping Trailer
'08 3500HD Silverado Big Dooley LTZ Go-power by Max & Allie
My rig (Click)
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Drippin
Dripping Springs, TX
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Without considering the impact of damage, or not, to the battery.
- No trailer emergency brakes, via breakaway switch, until battery is re-charged.
- Frig will not work even on propane without 12V.
- You get the benefit of having a nice chirping noise from the gas detector as the battery runs down. This can drive you nuts.
A man, his wife, a son and Cody the Goldendoodle.
2008 Laredo 284BHS, 2001 Chevy Sliverado 2500HD 4X4 4.10, Equal-i-zer, Primus, Subaru RG4300iS
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colorado caravan
deep in the front range
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"The electric brakes on an RV can't activate without "electric"!" Whoohoo thanks!
What I was attempting to state is that not all break away brakes run off of the battery system utilized by the TT. For instance my flatbed has its own separate smaller battery connected and contained with in the system (you will find that many of these breakaway systems utilize the same separate battery system for safety sake)...so this means that the batteries running down in your TT would not matter if you have the same system I am describing. Separate battery for brakes than for TT. One has no bearing on the other. Clear as mud I hope!
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In The Dog House
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All TTs that i have ever been around have only had one batt.
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bryanl
Reno, NV
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Quote:If you have a true deep-discharge battery, there is no harm at all in letting it run down --- they're designed for to be worked hard.
I'd like to know of a battery currently available for an RV that is a 'true deep-discharge' battery and how that particular specification shows in the spec sheets we have available when battery shopping. I have yet to see one although I see a lot of assertions and empty rhetoric (as determined by the lack of objective measure) about them.
I'd also like to find a way to fit that usbattery cycle life (which appears theoretical) to the batteryuniversity.com findings about battery life versus depth of discharge - the main differences being that the practical curve peaks at 50% SoC rather than displays a nice steady decreasing curve.
As for the low voltage problems - the only real hassle here might be with motors but the fact is that once the battery gets below 50% or so SoC the voltage rapidly drops to totally useless rather rapidly, especially with a decent load.
The primary reason not to run your batteries below 12.0v (12v system and measured after a half hour or so of minimal charging or loads) is to enhance your battery life expectancy and keep your batteries healthy. This is true for all lead acid batteries typically used for RV service whether wet cell or AGM.
Bryan
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BlackSilver
East of Heaven, North of Hell
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bryanl wrote:The primary reason not to run your batteries below 12.0v (12v system and measured after a half hour or so of minimal charging or loads) is to enhance your battery life expectancy and keep your batteries healthy.
I run Interstate SC31DM batteries in both Marine and RV service. In RV service they just mostly float along at full charge, against the day we lose shore power.
In marine service I run three of them in series to power a 36V trolling motor on my boat. I've been using this model (and a slightly different predecessor) for many years, routinely drawing them down to 9V (27V in series) during a long breezy day on the water. Overnight charge (with a proper charger, not an RV-service "power converter") and they're ready to go the next morning. Typical life (around 90 days use per year) is 4 years in this type of service.
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sushidog
Abita Springs, LA
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300-350 cycles at 90% discharge is exactly the performance I'd expect from a good deep cycle battery as described in my first post.
However, if you only discharged them to 60% of capacity, these same batteries would cycle 900-1,000 times before needing replacement, assuming of course they are properly charged and maintained. That's about 3 years of daily use - quite a difference!
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rolnrolnroln
WA
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The advice about running the battery all the way dead is contrary to manufacturer recommendations and common experiences. It is the fastest way I know of to kill a battery. Here is what Trojan Battery company says, and it would seem they know a bit about batteries:
"Discharging batteries is entirely a function of your particular application. However, below is list of helpful items:
1. Shallow discharges will result in a longer battery life.
2. 50% (or less) discharges are recommended.
3. 80% discharge is the maximum safe discharge.
4. Do not fully discharge flooded batteries (80% or more). This will damage (or kill) the battery.
5. Many experts recommend operating batteries only between the 50% to 85% of full charge range. A periodic equalization charge is a must when using this practice.
6. Do not leave batteries deeply discharged for any length of time.
7. lead acid batteries do not develop a memory and need not be fully discharged before recharging.
8. Batteries should be charged after each period of use."
From "www.rveducation101.com:
"One important factor to battery life is how deep the battery is cycled each time. If the battery is discharged to 50% everyday it will last twice as long as it would if it’s cycled to 80%."
From a different web page:
"The life expectancy of your RV batteries depends on you. How they're used, how well they're maintained, how they're discharged, how they're re-charged, and how they are stored all contribute to a batteries life span. A battery cycle is one complete discharge from 100% down to about 50% and then re-charged back to 100%. One important factor to battery life is how deep the battery is cycled each time. If the battery is discharged to 50 % everyday it will last twice as long as it would if it's cycled to 80%. The life expectancy also depends on how soon a discharged battery is recharged. The sooner it is recharged the better."
If you get double the life by only discharging 50% as opposed to 80% discharge, it doesn't take a lot of extrapolation to figure on a short battery life if they are routinely discharged 100%. It doesn't matter if someone has been running the batts flat and gotten away with it. There is such a thing as luck. There also has been no data from the "run 'em dead" crowd as to how many years the batts put up with such abuse. Typically, a "cared for" Trojan will last 10+ years.
* This post was
edited 05/29/08 03:11pm by rolnrolnroln *
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