Hi all. Boondocking for the first time in our 1700BH. Only things turned on is the water pump and fridge. Propane alarm is connected. Fuse for the radio is pulled. I ran the generator and used a smart charger to charge the battery. Voltmeter showed 13.01. Within 6 hours voltmeter is showing 12.55.
This just seems to be draining pretty quickly. TT is new with Interstate battery. Not sure how long the trailer was sitting at the dealer.
I'm pretty sure about 12.6 is the most you're likely to get about an hour or two after disconnecting a charger, with what I'm assuming is a normal lead acid battery (including deep cycle and hybrid starting/deep cycle).
Kevin77: How many house batteries do you have? Do you know the total Amp-Hour (AH) rating?
Does your rig have a way to charge your trailer battery when you are driving down the road? If not yo need to look into this. Otherwise, you cannot charge your house battery unless you have a power pole to connect your Converter/Charger to.
Solar?
Did you charge your house batteries for 48+ hours before you head-out on your 1st trip? ...If not, then you might be right. You just started at 80-90 State Of Charge.
Here's a chart you will become familiar with over time.
In order to tell how much "parasitic" load is on your battery you should use a multimeter with current measurement capability to determine the amperage draw.
You also mentioned "battery", which I assume to mean one battery. Do yourself a favor and install a second battery (in parallel) of the same brand and size while your existing battery is still fairly new (there should be a date sticker). One battery isn't enough unless you're always going to have shore power.
Although combining batteries of different ages can be problematical, it's not disastrous, so I wouldn't be too concerned if it's relatively new (there should be a date sticker).
If you add one now for a relatively small investment, by the time they need replacement you'll be much better educated as to your needs and the various options, as long as you keep reading Winnieowners.
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Bob C
2002 Itasca Suncruiser 35U
Workhorse Chassis
It's always easy to get the wrong idea about the state of charge of a battery when we only look at the voltage. Voltage is a reading taken at the posts of a battery and shows the difference in potential between those two points, so we need to be aware that when we charge a battery, it is a chemical reaction in each of the cells of that battery. Normal 12 volt batteries have six cells and the total charge of all the cells is important. What we can easily fall into is looking at the state of charge of the first cell and assuming it is the same for all the cells when it actually takes hours for that charge to move through and settle in all the cells. A look at charts showing how long it takes to fully charge a battery will help to understand what may be happening.
It takes much longer than most of us expect to fully charge a battery and good charger start at a pretty high voltage like 14 and then drop in stages as the battery get closer to full charge, so it is easy to get the wrong idea when we see a charge at 14 and then a few hours later, it shows 13. 5, we can think that is the battery level when it is actually just the charger putting out a reduced level and if we come back later still it may be reduced down to 13 as a way to avoid overheating or over charging the battery. And all the time the actual state of the battery charge may be the first cell being much better than the last one. That means that if we take the charger off and do a simple voltage check we may see 13 volts right there on the first cell where the post is but come back and find it only has something way less after the battery chemicals all settle.
Batteries are very simple but they are also very simply confusing!
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Richard
Why no RV year, make and floorplan on MY signature as we suggest for others?
I currently DO NOT have one!
That means that if we take the charger off and do a simple voltage check we may see 13 volts right there on the first cell where the post is but come back and find it only has something way less after the battery chemicals all settle.
This is the effect I've been referencing, and I think that's what the OP saw happen.
Agree with all - you probably didn't start with fully charged batteries. Probably close to fully charged but not quite. The last 15% of battery charge can take all day.
When you put a charge on a battery it shows the charging current, not the battery's voltage.
When you disconnect a battery from a charging current it shows a surface charge, a residual of the high current being applied by the charger.
As you been shown a fully charged battery is 12.7 or 12.8. So, how did you see a 13v charge on your battery? You didn't you saw a SURFACE CHARGE.
The same happens when you put a load on a battery - use it to power things - it can drop the voltage depending on the load. After you remove the load and let it rest it "may" come back up to it's normal resting voltage.
Because a battery charge can only be determined when it's fully rested - not charged and not used - for up to an hour or more it's very difficult to measure the condition of your battery via the voltage meter in your travel trailer.
As you gain experience you'll learn LOTs about all of this power stuff. You'll learn you probably need to add a 2nd battery. You'll learn to disconnect the batteries when you store the RV (between camping trips). You will probably learn that you need to buy a small portable generator to have a easy, quite way to recharge on longer stays off-grid.
Future lessons will be surely coming, too. That's the fun of starting out in this RV life.
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2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
Location: on a constant, around the country, trip!
Posts: 404
Considering meters may be close, not exact, a reading of 12.55 volts is pretty good after a few hours.
I have a bank of 4 6v GC2 batteries, they charge at around 14v that tapers down, but after surface charge is gone, I always see 12.5 - 12.6 later, as we settle in for the night. Usually, by morning, I may be down to 12.2 or 12.3. And that is with the refrigerator and my wife's CPAP machine running all night, and perhaps a few hours of TV and satellite receiver time too.
If you only have one battery, and have the room, getting a second battery to boost those Amp Hours is a great idea.
__________________ 2010 Journey 39n - 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk - this our 13th year living aboard, travelling and visiting the Pacific NW, summer 2023
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