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Topic: Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure (Read 643 times) previous topic - next topic
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Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure

Yahoo Message Number: 23773
Hi Folks,

I like to take a day off for maintenance mid-way through a trip. One great place is Magdalena NM - RV park on the west edge of town (large open space and not many coaches). My wife does the inside and I "look under the hood". For the batteries, here is a procedure: Be on shore or generator power for at least 4 hours. Check that electrolyte level is about 1/2 inch above the plates using a 1/4 inch diameter vinylplastic hose and thumb to observe the height. Add distilled water as necessary but not over one inch above the plates. Turn on the inverter and 2 TVs, turn off the 30A breaker in the Circuit Breaker panel marked Inverter, Freedom 20 or something like this. This turns off the charger portion of the inverter and removes all 120vac from the electrical outlets. Two TVs on provides about a 12 amp load. Folks with ammeters can adjust accordingly.
Monitor the house bank voltage until it reaches 12.15 vdc, turn off the TVs and then inverter, wait 5 min and read the voltage - it should rise to at least 12.25 vdc. Wait another 1/2 hour. Run the engine for 10 minutes (1000 rpm) observing that both house bank and chassis battery voltage is over 13.3vdc. Turn engine off for 10 minutes and then back on again for 10 minutes. Turn engine off and wait 1/2 hour.
Turn on the circuit breaker for the inverter for 10 minutes and off for 1/2 hour. Repeat 3 more times then leave on.
This may seem long and requires some discipline. This procedure balances the loads between the 2 house batteries in addition to equalizing the voltage between the cells in each battery. It is designed to low stress the batteries in both temperature rise, no electrolyte boiling and not reducing the number of available battery deep discharges. No tools are required other than a voltmeter and a piece of plastic hose.
Fred Kovol

Re: Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 23774
Fred, how often is this done?

David

got new (for me) coach fever...

Re: Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 23775
Hi David,

4 times a year is a good approach.
Fred Kovol

Re: Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 23781
David, how close are you in getting the Allure. I live in Waco, TX and have been following your posts. Hope that is the coach that uyou are looking for and that it will be yours soon.

Egon

'99 Allure #30321
'02 Tahoe Z71

Sent from my new Garmin Ique PDA/GPS. One great piece of gadget.

Quote from: David Cole \[br\
]
Fred, how often is this done?

David

got new (for me) coach fever...

fredkovol wrote: Hi

Folks,

Re: Easy 8D House/Chassis Battery Maintenance Procedure

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 23785
I'm packed and leaving for Oregon in about 15 minutes...will see the coach on Monday and do the deal if it's what they told me it was...

Stay tuned...wi-fi access either way... ;-)

Thanks.
David