I'm jumping a bit beyond the subject matter here, but after running into the problems described in this video, I recommend that RVers check out the potential of converting to LITHIUM batteries. After a couple years of reciting all my power woes to an electrician friend, he explained the many benefits of Lithium, and it was not without significant research which included some stressful trial and error, my power issues are finally stabilized and I'm very happy about it. Backstory: I was running dual 81a alkaline batts, but the onboard converter/charger in my 2000 RV only recharged at about a rate of 8amps - really slow. The result was that I was regularly depleting the house batts down to the point of causing damage, thus necessitating replacement, which got really old. The inherent problem was that at such a slow recharge rate, given my usage, the generator would have to run for about 16 hours to keep the batts charged anywhere near capacity. Not very feasible, nor sustainable - thus the regular battery replacements. After much research, I made three main changes: A) I installed a 200Ah Lithium Iron LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery, which required a some minor modification in the house-battery holding frame; I also had to confirm that my onboard Parallax Converter/Charger was compatible with Lithium, which it was. B) Then I bought a 40amp 14.6V Dedicated LiFePO4 Battery Charger - which enabled me to recharge my Lithium batt from 25% capacity back up to 100% in about 4 hours instead of 16 hours. Happy Day! C) I also connected a Victron Smartshunt to monitor the house batt - which I wish I had done a LONG time ago, to eliminate the constant - and often wrong - assumptions of the current state of the batt. Now I know it's exact status at any time, and although you can run a Lithium batt down much more than an Alkaline without a problem, I now KNOW when it's necessary to initiate recharging instead of guessing. I can also monitor the small, constant trickle of power usage from the running refrigerator or recharging electronic devices, which does add up over time. In the end, I invested about $1k into my battery system, but in the long run it was well worth it. I have peace of mind knowing how much power I have at any given moment, and the ability to quickly recharge without having to run my generator for the better part of an entire day.
I wouldn’t ever use a lithium ion battery in an rv, when those catch on fire you can kiss the whole entire coach goodbye because there’s no putting that fire out.
I'm a long time self taught DIYer, relative newbie to electrical/ battery systems, but I can't believe that I've never learned these properties about batteries & charging principles! Thank you so much for this info! That analogy is such a great tool for describing this concept to those who know very little, like me. Cheers!
Cattle story totally makes sense to me if you would explain that another way as of today I'm 50 and I never learned the concept of charging batteries until you shared this wonderful beautiful story well said I am going camping this 4th of July and I would have probably only did the normal 90-minute charge and thought driving would have charged it but I am going to remove them and I am going to charge them for 3 days prior to my vacation on a trickle charger so thanks for the knowledge and story well said I understand the battery theory now I never did and I'm still learning but I understand a lot more and it all makes sense I'm going to have a great vacation and I know now I have a little more chance of my battery's lasting for the four days that I'll be camping instead of dying in one day when I was only servicing charging thank you great job
Just like in those RV sales TV shows, I think most first-time buyers let themselves be led through to look at the floorplan, amenities and colors/materials and have no idea that they should be looking at things like electrical demand vs capacity. So when their first trip turns into RV ownership Lesson Number One, they're not happy with the ownership experience.
This makes sense, we're in a bind right now. One of our 4 slide-outs wasn't working, barely. We didn't have shore power for 4 days so I think that' the problem. We have it now, 50 amp but I think it will take 24-48 hours to charge.
Amazing thing is how fast they discharge even after full charge, just using your RV fan for a while, and charging up your phone a couple times, boom time to recharge it again it's almost worthless, just use them sparingly for lights charge your phone on front battery start the car up and charge your battery backup. I guess there's a lot to be said for solar, portable solar generators.
Awesome awesome video. I recently just bought a small camper with a dual battery and 160w solar setup. I am new to solar, and maintaining marine batteries. But when I asked the owner where the shore power cable was he said he had to look for because he "never plugged in the camper" because it has solar. Well, he also never shut off the fridge either..Luckily the batteries do seem ok but I know he has probably not done any good by avoiding a good steady charge to these batteries once in a while
I HAD the same problem. I finally realized that the chassis powertrain computer was sucking the start battery dry in 10-14 days. THEN, something in the coach was whittling away the power too! The on board charger? The house batteries switch? Who knows-ANYWAY I mounted a noco trickle charger to the start battery so whenever I am plugged it it charges. THEN I pulled some wire to my Rv shed & keep the coach plugged it-My shed has an outdoor lamp plugged into the Rv so I can see that the Rv has power from inside my house. PROBLEMS SOLVED!!! !
Hello, , My Thor motor Coach, Freedom elite RV, with a chassis of 2017 Ford E-350 super duty, 6.8 liter V-10, gas engine. I am having electrical problem. Something cuts the power from the battery. Many times every thing on the dash dies. No crunk or no dash light. Only way I can start it is by pressing the emergency start button which uses the house battery since it’s an RV, then it immediately starts. Many times the battery light and some times the check engine light comes on and off. I replaced the alternator to a brand new motor craft 225 amp hour and brand new Duracell battery but same thing happens next day. Vehicle has 70000 miles. What shall I do? What do you guys think is the real issue? Any one has the same experience? Thanks.
When my motorhome is in storage should I keep it plugged into shore power to maintain my house batteries or should I put it on the Battery Tender 1.25 amp charger - maintainer? Or does it matter which I do.
This is one of the better 'battery' education video's. Thank you. For the first 1-2 years, I was doing it according to the dealer, but it was all wrong i.e. short 'surface charges.' Now my problem is when it is in dark, cold storage, my batteries were loosing power in storage after only ~ 3 weeks (starting ~13 moving to ~12.2), despite turning the battery switch off and inverter off. Any thoughts? No dealer, service center nor Winnebago customer service can give me an answer.
Golf cart batteries can be run down to 11.5v repeatedly with no damage. Go to a golf course and look at the rental carts. Those batteries last about 4 years in extreme usage.
We just bought a camper, there are 2 batteries in series. Dealer didn't tell me about switch to turn off battery while parked. Long story short battery at 12.1 VDC can I plug my camper using my house power and charge these batteries and when. Done should I hit the battery switch to off or just leave plugged into house. Any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks in advance!
We need plutonium batteries . The ones on Voyager 1 and 2 have been going 44 years. Get them for flashlights, tablets, phones, watches and on and on. BUT CONTAIN THE RADIATION!
Whats the best battery for a 3000QB Grand Design? And what the best way to boondock charge? What's the solar power charger system you recommend while boondocking for a week every other week.
Thanks for the details on your posts. You rock! I own a 2020 Forest River Class C. with 2 lead acid batteries. I have a very basic question - How do the house (same thing as coach?) batteries get recharged?
Usually the house batteries are recharged by either a generator, or the charger when you’re plugged in the shore power, or the alternator of the vehicle when it is running. At least in a diesel pusher that’s how it works. I think it’s the same for a class C.
We have ours on actual power at our property and the battery is fine until a power outtage then suddenly its down hill from there even if its only a little outtage. It says full battery then outtage happens and its fair. Then it stays there for a couple weeks and then weak. We are living in ours. Is there a way to bypass the need for the battery since we are living here and its always plugged into our power meter?
@@mwalker8269 Lithium batteries are hugely superior to lead acid batteries. Lithium can be charged at a higher rate so they charge much faster to a full charge. Lithium batteries weigh far less (like 1/3) than Lead acid. If you compare the cycle life of both lead acid batteries to Lithium batteries you'll see the Lithium actually cost far less than Lead acid. Yup... the upfront cost is a killer for most... but if you're going full-time, Lithium is the only way to go!
Lithium batteries cost six to ten times more. And you need a new charging system that works with them as it’s a different battery. Sure they have benefits but the market cost for a system to work properly is a lot more than many have you believe.
Absolutely agreed, I learned from experience during the past year. One must have an interest in the long-term savings to justify the short-term investment. I’m a full-time RVer for the past few years, and in the past six months I put $1k into converting to Lithium. I’m very pleased having said goodbye to years of frequent alkaline headaches, and now reaping the benefits of lithium (um, the batteries, not the meds… ). It takes some research, and for sure if I figured it out, anyone can. But yes you must be willing to wrench open the wallet.
If I intermittently plug my trailer into shore power just to keep the batteries charged how often should I be checking the water level in the batteries?
A lot of people tell you that once a month is plenty to check for water level. Of course heat or other considerations might change that. But you should be pretty safe at once a month.
problem is they wired in a propane leak detector on the main engine battery and it drains the battery down...The only thing that is supposed to be connected to the main engine battery is the engine starter . no if ands or buts.
I have a Jayco Precept and it has a switch to disconnect the house battery's from the coach so not to run them down. We have 2 hour shore power cycles where the RV is stored that runs once a day. Question: Do I leave the batteries connected to the coach or keep them disconnected from the coach to charge? To clarify there is a switch that takes the batteries off line so not to get rundown while the RV is not being used or that's in storage.
Your voltage might be reading right however the storage capacity of it is bad. They have powers just aren't there. The battery either needs to be restored or replaced if it's not charging completely.
I'm not aware of any damage done as long as you have a 3 stage or "intelligent" charging system. Those systems know to shut down/off the trickle charge when it's full. If it's not an intelligent system, and it just keeps putting power on the battery, then that wouldn't be so good. Also, some say it's good to actually cycle the battery - let it run down to 12.2 volts and then charge it back up (vs. always being charged and never being "used"). There is a lot of information out there, and there are a lot of factors to consider with a question like this, so keep watching!
The problem with it being plugged in all the time is you can dry your battery up. Unplug the charger, carefully remove the battery cap preferably with safety glasses on as the water is acidic. And make sure your cells, the holes, are full. If not add some distilled water. Only distilled water. Replace the cap and recharged.
Angel Garcia - once you use the batteries you need a full 24 to 48 hours full charge on that battery first. Then you need to put a trickle charger on it to maintain that battery for the time it is sitting idle
If your plugged up to electrical power to the RV does the inverter in the RV charge the batteries back up or do you need to put a battery charger on it?
Great question! I can only speak in generalities, but here's some info: Trailers have "chargers" (usually behind the fuse panel) that will charge the battery(ies) while it's plugged into shore power (they don't usually have inverters, though 5th wheels often do). Motorized RV's on the other hand have "inverter/chargers". Often the inverter is part of an all-in-one or dual-component system. When your motorhome is plugged in to power, an internal switch will "kick over" to charging the batteries, rather than draining them. You actually can often hear and feel this happen. In my Palazzo, the switch is under the bed, and I can feel the power kick over - literally feel it. The caveat to this is that it depends on how your RV is wired up. Some are wired up incorrectly, and the charging system doesn't work exactly like it was designed to. Also, the alternator should be charging the batteries while you're driving. In my RV, it wasn't wired up right and that wasn't working (hence why I always had dead batteries!!!). Oh, one more thing: There are different kinds of "chargers" in RV's. You want at least a 3 stage which you'll often get in a Class A. Trailers and other RV's often just have a simple trickle charger. The difference is how "smart" they are about how they fully charge a battery. Funny thing: Good luck finding out what your charger is - this industry isn't like what many think!
I’m on the 4th battery. Even brought batteries to be tested, & charged up. I believe they scammed me or just didn’t understand, like me lol. I’ve unhooked my battery when I travel, like when it’s stored at the store. Hopefully this will work, when I’ve left them hooked up while traveling- they have died quickly.
48 thumbs down. Would be great if you had to give a reason for thumbs down, and we could see them all if we wanted. I always wonder why people thumbs down some videos.
Lol, great one! I actually found that people - especially new people - first prefer to get the high-level understanding of how things work. Most people are not technical and they "check out" once things get down and dirty. There are plenty of other videos out there if you want to geek out on the details - but that's not my approach. Thanks for watching!
Is that why the sheriff vehicles followed me and her just to nag knowing what was going on broke In my rv setting at the church when we left for Walmart I can't go to Walmart the law said I stole a pair of boots no the Lufkin sheriff department is a government thief to me. So no luck I won't be back to your family law enforcement self owned Walmart are your motels
