Question for mike4947

[outdoors5]

I have a question for mike4947 from the battery thread but it got long so I'm not sure if you will see a reply there.  Sorry if I'm posting this incorrectly.

Can you tell me what your amp hour (AH) rating for your battery is to base the 12amp setting for one battery being charged.

I'm thinking you have a higher amp hour rating then my battery warranting the 12 amp charge rate for your battery charger.  

Based on what I have read today I may be exchanging my charger for the same exact type & brand except for the one that includes the 8amp charge setting.  My Battery is only 75 amp hours thus dividing C/10 or 1/10 is 7.5 (8 amps is the closest out there).  The Schumacher company claims 12 amps is ok but many other write-ups say otherwise.  If you have a reason for me to stay at the 12 amp charge rate please let me know.

Thank you for all of your input it has been useful.  Remember I knew nothing about batteries when I started the other thread.  Now I feel more informed.

[mike4947]

Well we've (the extended camping family, consisting of at least 30 multigenerational families) use 10/12 amps for any single battery. The C/10 is the conservative limit and C/5 or 20% can be used without shortening to any great degree the life of the battery.
 
I've used these rules once I learned how I was killing up to 3 batteries a years...LOL
 
Get a good three stage charger (now added smart to the description, that their prices are down)
 
Get a good true deep cycle battery (bigger is always better) Group 24 is the smallest, then group 27, then group 31, and then the dual 6 volt deep cycle batteries.
 
Disconnect the battery from the trailer when not actively camping, Parasitic draws operate 24/7 if left connected and can drain a battery in 2-3 weeks.
 
Charge the battery before you leave, no sense arriving at campground with less than a full charge.
 
Charge the battery as soon as you get home. Nothing a battery likes less than sitting partially discharged.
 
Charge the battery once a month in the off season.
 
Try and keep you battery usage down to the point you don't discahrge the battery to lees than 50%. The lower the percentage of charge left the shorter the life of the battery.
 
Check the water BEFORE and AFTER every time you charge. An exposed plate means you've turned a battery into an acid filled door stop.