RV’s are a great source of fun, joy and entertainment. It’s not fun when you’ve loaded the family, pets, food and gear into the trailer and truck, driven for 500 miles to be away from everyone, turn on the lights and-nothing. The batteries are dead.
Now you have to trek back to the nearest town, tell the RV repair shop that the batteries are only a year old. They worked last season, after all. The trailer has been sitting in storage. The technician quietly explains that even stored batteries need maintenance.
Deep cycle batteries should last five years or more. Eighty five percent of RV batteries die long before their time- that’s expensive. Deep cycle batteries cost far more than the “quick-start” version for starting the car. A list of the top 5 RV batteries will be uploaded at the site for providing information about the services. A budget can be prepared through the person to spend money on it. The technician will put the best use of the batteries for long duration life in the antenna.
A deep cycle battery is designed to give more power over a longer period of time, not all at once like your car’s battery. It’s made to hold more power, too. It’s definitely heavier, so there’s no surprise that it’s more expensive.
The main cause of a battery’s death is sulfation. Small crystals of sulfuric acid form in the battery’s electrolyte and attach to the charge plates. Over time, these crystals won’t convert back into the electrolyte solution and the battery is dead. Overcharging, undercharging, or is left to sit for long periods of time causes this condition.
If a battery is fully discharged, the thinking is sometimes that a non-charged battery has no power to lose, so sulfation won’t occur. It will.
Maintainence:
Lead acid batteries need distilled water to top off the electrolyte solution. Learn how to safely open the batteries, and how to add the water. A battery tester will let you know if the cells are good or bad.
Monitor your energy use so the batteries aren’t routinely discharged below fifty-percent of their capacity. This will harm a lead acid battery.
When an RV is placed in storage, a device called a battery maintainer should be used. This device maintains the charge in the battery, but also desulfates the plates so the battery lasts longer.
Leaving the batteries hooked up to solar panels isn’t a bad idea, as long as the batteries are routinely checked. A system to shut off the power flow from the panels is essential- this is a charge controller. Without it, the electrolyte can boil off, leaving you with dead batteries.
Clean the battery top and posts with a solution of two tablespoons baking soda in one pint of water. Wear gloves- the hydrochloric acid will eat through skin.
Never overfill ceLls. In warm or hot weather, the water molecules expand, and can cause leakage.
To prevent corrosion on cables, first apply a thin coat of silicone caulk on the clean battery at the post’s base and top off with a felt washer. Coat the washer with high temperature grease or Vaseline, and then attach the cable.
Coat the exposed end of the cable with the grease. Just the gasses from the battery can react with the cable to form corrosion.
Periodically check and tighten all loose cable connectors. The cable connectors are made of lead. If a connector has been tightened so many times that it wraps around the post and is still loose-replace it. Many years ago, an old boyfriend stuck a penny inbetween an old cable connector and my first car’s battery post. I knew no better. When I took the car in for a tune-up, I didn’t know why the mechanics were howling with laughter. They explained what he had done was not only dumb- it was dangerous. I had the cable connector replaced on the spot, and began to learn about cars.
With regular maintenance, your batteries will not only last to the end of the warranty period, it will exceed it.
When you turn the lights on, they’ll work.f website, no date given
