Class A battery bank

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capt stu

Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2015
Posts
24
Location
Georgetown , Texas
While prepping our class a gas rig , I noticed both my chassis batteries were Very low on water. I refilled with distilled water , but am worried that they may be damaged. Monitor in motorhome shows them as fully charged , but not sure about trusting it . Plan on going by interstate batteries before leaving , but wondering why they would be so low . Last checked them about 6-9 months ago (I know shouldn't have waited so long ) . Wondering how to check charge going to battery maintainer. Unit is plugged in at storage facility so pretty much constantly being maintained. This is a 2008 Tiffin Allegro and while the existing batteries are deep cycle wondering if possibly they are the wrong type . All options appreciated
 
If the batteries are original, they're likely in need of replacement anyway. True Deep Cycle batteries are what you should have for house batteries, but be careful of the marine-type batteries that claim to be "deep cycle."

I'm assuming you meant that you wanted to check the output of the charger that's maintaining your batteries while the RV is in storage. You can do that easily enough with a VOM by simply measuring the voltage of the charger's output. Don't rely on your RV's battery display panel to give you an accurate indication of your battery's condition - especially if they're hooked up to a charger or trickle-charger. It'll be displaying charge voltage, not battery voltage.

It sounds like this is likely just a case of the water being boiled off by over-charging and/or neglect. Batteries can be left on a charger (ours are always on a charger when the RV isn't in use) but the charger has to be a newer, three stage "smart" charger, so it won't over-charge them. Unless you're using AGM batteries, you really do have to check your battery's water levels once a month or so.

Kev
 
Batteries were replaced in 2015 so not original. But I appreciate your help and of course you are right, should not go that long between checking batteries level.
 
  OH you can let it go that long,,,it just gets expensive.  Thats why a three stage "smart" charger is worth the price.>>>D
 
The battery monitor measures voltage.  When you run the batteries low on water you decrease the amount of current they can store.

In other words, the battery voltage may say they're fully charged, but your battery may not have all of it's cell plates still active.  If half of the plate surface in the cells dried out, you only have half of the battery's capacity left.

The way to tell the condition of the batteries is to use them, if they don't last as long as before they are damaged.  Or take them to a battery shop and let them load test them.
 
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