charging battery

[genre]

hey folks;
   would like to know how often you charge your battery during camping season.
  i have a converter so when camping with an electrical site i assume this charges my battery. end of last season my battery was completely dead.

[wavery]

hey folks;
   would like to know how often you charge your battery during camping season.
  i have a converter so when camping with an electrical site i assume this charges my battery. end of last season my battery was completely dead.

Most converters only put out about 12.8V. Some of the newer models have a built-in battery charger. My 2002 Coleman doesn't. 12.8V is enough to run all of your lights & water pump but doesn't put much of a charge on the battery.

You may want to buy a 3-stage "Smart Charger" and charge the battery before and after every campout. If you go 3 or 4 months without camping, charge it again. Always check the water level before charging and add only distilled water.

Never let the battery go all the way dead. It may fail to take a charge at all if the electrolyte sits dormant for too long.

[AustinBoston]

hey folks;
   would like to know how often you charge your battery during camping season.
  i have a converter so when camping with an electrical site i assume this charges my battery. end of last season my battery was completely dead.

If you park your pop-up on your property (as opposed to a remote storage site), at the least, you have to plug the pop-up in from time to time.

My pop-up is equipped with a fairly good converter with a multi-stage charger, so I just leave it plugged in all the time during the season.  In the off-season I remove the battery because it gets really cold here in the winter (as low as -25

[tlhdoc]

I charge my battery with a 3 stage "smart charger" after every trip.  Before the next trip I top the charge off, by charging at the 2 amp setting.  Disconnect the battery when you are not using it, so the propane detector does not drain it.

[EvanDoss]

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for helping me with my battery questions from a few weeks ago.  Especially wavery, austinboston, tlhdoc, and the others. Thanks to your answers I was able to get my battery system all sorted out.

I knew my old battery was shot, but when I went to replace it I was suprised to find the previous owner had thrown a standard car starting battery in the battery box.  I have since replaced it with a good Deep Cycle RV battery I picked up from Advanced Auto Parts for around $60.  I also had my car electrical hookup switch from the 4 flat connection to a 7 round connection.  So I now know for sure I have a 12v hot wire running to my camper to recharge the battery and run my Refrigerator while driving.

So thanks again everyone for the help.

[tlhdoc]

I am glad you have the electrical system worked out.  One less thing to worry about.  Have fun camping.

[jawilson]

What 3-stage charger is everyone using? I have the BatteryMINDER, but have found that it stops at 13.5 volts. That has proven to be insufficient (don't ask me how I know  ), so I'm looking to get a real charger too.

[wavery]

What 3-stage charger is everyone using? I have the BatteryMINDER, but have found that it stops at 13.5 volts. That has proven to be insufficient (don't ask me how I know  ), so I'm looking to get a real charger too.

Here's a couple of popular ones:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Vector-Smart-2-6-10-Amp-Fully-Auto-12V-Battery-Charger_W0QQitemZ280119800224QQihZ018QQcategoryZ63687QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD6VQQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Schumacher-Speed-Charge-Smart-Battery-Charger-NR_W0QQitemZ190118050444QQihZ009QQcategoryZ63687QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD6VQQcmdZViewItem

I have the 12A Schumacher one and the 25A one. It charges to 14.8V then goes to a float charge. The one in this auction is only a 6A but should be adequate if you're going to charge up at home. I like the 25A because I charge from my generator, if the batteries get low.

[Shredder]

What 3-stage charger is everyone using? I have the BatteryMINDER, but have found that it stops at 13.5 volts. That has proven to be insufficient (don't ask me how I know  ), so I'm looking to get a real charger too.

I bought the 3 stage automatic 12/8/2 amp Schumacher fast charger at wally world for $30 something.
Used it last week charging a group 29 die hard, took about 1 hour, when the battery was down to 75%. Powered by my yamaha 1000 watt generator. The generator had enough left over with the charger set to 12 amps, to charge cell phones, walky talkys, and flashlight, all at once. Nice thing about these newer chargers is they show the % of charge and rate of charge, work automatic, work fast, they do a very good job. I would recomend that or simular chargers.........Shredder

[AustinBoston]

I bought the 3 stage automatic 12/8/2 amp Schumacher fast charger at wally world for $30 something.
Used it last week charging a group 29 die hard, took about 1 hour, when the battery was down to 75%.

Does anyone else see this as adding up to a 48 amp hour battery?  It might be time to do maintenance on that die-hard!

Austin

[SPXTrader]

Like Waverly, I have a Schumacher, too.  It's a 30/10/2 float with a deep cycle/marine setting and a 60 amp fast start for the TV battery, if necessary.

# 1 tip:  don't let your battery run dry.....

[zamboni]

For those of you that have the Iota converters in your campers, you can buy the $30 add-on "IQ4" module (plugs into a telephone-sized socket on your converter) that turns it into a 3-stage charger:

http://www.iotaengineering.com/iq.htm

It will also help long-term life by providing a charge/refresh cycle every 7 days.


******

In my case, I have an AGM battery, so I am trying to find my "dual-voltage" jack (supposed to have come with my unit!).  This will convert the Iota charger into a powerful bulk charger - it will increase from 13.6 to 14.2 V.

http://www.iotaengineering.com/dvjack.htm


AGM batteries only lose about 1% of their charge per month, and can be charged at up to 2x capacity (rather than capacity/4 or capacity/8 like most lead).  This means that with suitable equipment, I can divert mucho power from my generator to a rapid recharge of my battery without hurting it.

However, I am still unsure which option would be better for me - plugging in the Dual-Voltage jack (when needed, unplug when battery is full), or the IQ4.  I want to charge my battery to 100% as quick as possible, since the AGM can handle it.

[chasd60]

I bought one of the Black and Deckers from WalMart. It is made by Vector. It has 3 stage charging and also desulfation and equalization modes.
 
I have solar panels so I never charge my batteries. My charge controller from the panels is temperature compensated. I have it adjusted for a 13.5V float voltage at ~70F. It gets well over 14.5V when the temps are real cold. I rarely have to add distilled water so I know it isn't agressively boiling.
 
I do desulfate at least twice per year and equalize charge the batteries once in the mid winter, once at the beginning of camping season and again when I winterize.
 
I use a hydrometer before and after equalizing.
 
http://www.batteryfaq.org/

[jawilson]

Wow, several of the responses say that they bought a quality charger from Wallyworld. Something of quality from the bastion of cheap? Will miracles never cease?  

Okay, so it seems that Schumacher and Vector are solid units. Make sure it's a smart charger, can do float and has de-sulfation. That's what I'll be on the lookout for. Gotta keep my brand new Interstate up to snuff...

[chasd60]

Wow, several of the responses say that they bought a quality charger from Wallyworld. Something of quality from the bastion of cheap? Will miracles never cease?
 
Okay, so it seems that Schumacher and Vector are solid units. Make sure it's a smart charger, can do float and has de-sulfation. That's what I'll be on the lookout for. Gotta keep my brand new Interstate up to snuff...

Your battery minder should have been fine with a 13.5 float. If 13.5 was not enough, you may already have a bad battery.