Battery Check/Replace

[brojack17]

I think my battery needs replaced.  I left it plugged into the house for a weekend.  When I unplugged it, the lights were very dim and fizzled out within 3 minutes.  Autozone does free testing/replacement on car batteries.  Do they do the same for RV batteries?  I know it's a deep cycle battery I need.

 

[glockholiday]

Yes they can test it.

 

[John From Detroit]

Most all stores that sell automotive batteries including Advance Auto, Discount Auto, Wall-Mart, Sears, K-mart (stores with automotive dept) Firestone, Some hardware stores (not all) Batteries Plus (You may wish to check their prices) and your local mechenic.

All can test batteries..  Some have better testers but all can test them.

Heck, I can test them (load test) following a visit to Harbor Freight for the load tester with the knob and two meters.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

They will load test the battery for free. However, a standard load test is geared towards starting batteries rather than deep cycles. If the test shows the battery is "bad", you can believe it truly is bad, even on a deep cycle. However, if it says "good", it may or may not be adequate for use as a house battery (deep cycle).  That's because it can handle the very short, heavy load the tester uses as a benchmark, but it may still get weak very quickly and recharge slowly (if at all)  and thus be unsuitable for deep cycle (house battery) use.

Remove and clean the connections between the battery cables and batteries - this is a common source of the problem you are having.

 

[camr]

When having the batteries load checked, make sure that they disconnect the batteries and check each one individually. One dead battery can be "carried" by the other batteries in the system. This happened in a highway tractor, and was finally diagnosed when I stood by the mechanic who was in the process of checking each battery in the bank while hooked up to all the other batteries.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Good advice, Camr. YIKES! I cannot imagine that a technician tried to load check batteries while still wired together. Guess he had no training - or even any experience - in battery testing of any kind.

 

[Bob Buchanan]

Most all stores that sell automotive batteries including Advance Auto, Discount Auto, Wall-Mart, Sears, K-mart (stores with automotive dept) Firestone, Some hardware stores (not all) Batteries Plus (You may wish to check their prices) and your local mechenic.

True, John -- but most either don't install at all, or will charge to install the battery or batteries.  E.g., most Costco stores do not install -- just sell, whereas Sam's and Walmart do "free" installations as well. I had my house batteries replaced by Walmart in Avondale, AZ and was surprised there were no questions asked during the free install about all the stuff connected that had to be dealt with. And more recently while in Sacramento I first checked in with Costco to find they neither tested nor installed, whereas the Walmart a few blocks away did a great job on the free install of my new Jeep battery replacement.

BTW, what is a mechenic? 

 

[brojack17]

There is a new Interstate battery store in my town so I took it to them.  It was dead so I bought another one.  I got a bigger one than the one that came out.  Works like a champ.  Thanks for the advice everyone.