VegasRider
Henderson, NV, USA
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Joined: 10/18/2003
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I have a 2000 American Tradition and when it is plugged in during storage the batteries have the water boiled out of them. My house batteries are a year old and starting are 6 months. Went to use the coach over halloween after sitting for 6 weeks and most of the batteries were dry. Can someone please tell me how the batteries get charged. It seems that what is charging them is not shutting off when they are fully charged. Where is the charger located? Thank you
 Vegas Rider
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RJsfishin
Winston Or.
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Joined: 10/16/2007
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The converter charges the coach batteries, when the big engine is not running.
And of course the converter/charger must be powered by either the land grid or the generator.
The converter is usually located behind the ac electric panel, and can be accessed thru any other removable panel,....sometimes difficult.
It is very normal for the batteries to use lots of water if your RV does not have a later model 3 stage converter/charger, that not onle has a maintainer float mode in it, but also charges the batteries 20 times faster than the one you have now. Post the make and model # of the converter, and someone here can give you more info on it.
But it really sounds like you are due for a "converter changeout", and your batteries will live a much happier life 
Rich
'98 Flair, 454, Onan Microlite 4k, Intel PD 9155 w/ wizard, Sta-power 1500 watt Inv, 2 6v batts, ammeters, KingDome/sat, Oly Catalytic Heat, hauling 2 Bent Bikes and sometimes towing a Tracker F&S boat.
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Bumpyroad
Virginia
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Joined: 12/01/2005
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as an interim measure, put a timer on the cord to the RV so it only comes on an hour or so a day.
bumpy
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Klueck
Georgia
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Joined: 11/15/2008
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So are you saying that you shouldn't leave the RV plugged in during storage? Ours is plugged in to a 30A.
We have a problem with the batteries dying if we don't keep it in. We haven't been able to figure out why.
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wolfe10
Texas
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Joined: 10/08/2000
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We can not tell you what you have charging your batteries. You COULD have a converter (either "smart" or "dumb"), or you could have an inverter charger.Smart/dumb refers to their ability to change charging voltage as the batteries become fully charged and prevents overcharging vs just charging at the same voltage under all conditions.
Please determine what you have and let us know. We can then give you better advice on what to do.
Options include: Programming your inverter charger, fitting a "smart" module to your "dumb" converter, replacing the converter or simply putting the converter or even whole coach on a HD timer while in storage. A timer set to run an hour a day will not overcharge batteries where leaving them on 24/7 likely will.
Brett Wolfe
1993 Foretravel 36' U-240
Cat 3116, Allison 3060
Caterpillar RV Engine Owner's Club: www.catrvclub.org
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Art D
Louisiana
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Joined: 03/06/2004
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What is the battery voltage when plugged in for a few days?
Also, if you turn off the coach battery switch, the batteries won't have any load at all and should last 2-4 weeks between a charging of 24 hours or so.
Geaux LSU
Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Dem dang Cowboys, dat who!! But 13-1 not too bad. Look out Souper Boul!
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Two Jayhawks
lenexa ks
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So your chassis batteries were dry also? I guess your charger charges your chassis batteries along with the house batteries?
Do you check your batteries very often?
BTW I have a Heart Freedom F-15 and keep the coach plugged in 7/24.
I definately have to add water from time to time or they would be dry.
My two chassis batteries don't charge with shore power so I have a Trik-L-Charger that offers a very small charge to keep them up. I will say the two chassis batteries need more water added than the house batteries.
2002 Safari Zanzibar
CAT C12 455/1550
Allison 4000
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mscamping
any place, USA
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As everyone else has said we need to know what equipement you have.. I make it a practice of checking the batteries at the first of each month and performing what ever maintenace is needed.. Also run the genset at this time too and record it all in my log.. Hopefully this will keep me ahead of any surprises and it has so far..
Mike..
2003 Holiday Rambler Neptune 36 PBD 38' - ISB 300 Cummins w/Allison MH2000 5 speed
2009 HHR w/Blue Ox Aventa II & SMI Stay-n-Play Duo
FMCA - HRRVC - Chapters - 56,57,& 419 - Good Sam Life Member - Coach Net - 3/4 timers
Mike & Sharon
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Snow Snake
Colorado
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I've been doing lots of research on this, along with watching this forum. My converter DOES have float capability once the batteries are charged up. So, I've decided to leave the coach plugged in and then use a battery tender plugged into the coach AC system to take care of the chassis battery. Even so, most sources say you have to check battery water levels at least once a month, so I plan to do so.
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hohenwald48
Hohenwald, TN
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Joined: 07/27/2002
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Battery charging is more complicated than most folks realize. Automatic chargers are only automatic for the types of batteries (GEL, flooded, AGM, etc) for which they were designed. When used on the wrong battery type they can indeed overcharge/boil the battery.
I have seen many inverter/chargers set for the wrong battery type. Most have to have the battery type reset manually and some must be reset every time you energize the inverter/charger (as in plug in shore power) as they power up in some default mode that may or may not be correct for your battery type.
Converters are usually designed for one battery type (most often flooded bats) and will not provide proper charge voltages for any other battery type. Also, charging rates should be adjusted for the size of your battery bank. Obviously, you would not charge a single flooded lead acid battery at the same rate you would a bank of 20 AGM batteries.
Additionally, setting inverter/chargers for the wrong type battery or battery bank size can result in under charging.
So, as you can see, simply having an "automatic charger" does not mean you will have fully charged batteries or that you won't boil them dry. Best advise I can give is to check water levels often and if boiling is a problem then you can be sure that you are overcharging for some reason. And if you overcharge those expensive AGM batteries get ready to break out the old checkbook.
I live in an "off grid" solar/battery powered house and have for the last 10 years. I have some experience with charging batteries and have made my share of charging mistakes.
2001 Monaco Knight
2004 Dutchmen Dorado
1999 Jeep Wrangler
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