7 Things You Need To Know About Your RV Battery?

Most people will install a battery and never pay attention to it until it fails. Most car owners shake their heads, blame the manufacturer and buy a new battery until the same thing happens again. Some RV’ers thinks it’s normal to buy new batteries every spring. It’s not!

RV Battery Maintenance:

1.Depending on how it is used, an RV battery has varying life spans. You should never let your batteries go below 50% charge. If they go below, recharge them immediately.If you let them go any lower than 20%, they will become damaged and never function at 100% again. If you adhere to this rule only, a gel or AGM battery can last up to 7 years.

2.The batteries in your new RV are most likely marine batteries. Use them completely. Buy new deep cycle batteries to replace them. There are many different sized batteries. The size you choose depends on the amount of space you have.

3.12 volt Rv batteries give off slightly more voltage when charged fully. Monitoring the state of charge is easily done by monitoring the amount of voltage they give off. If your RV has an inverter or solar panel, this is easily done using the battery monitor that displays the charge state. A digital voltmeter can also be purchased at any supply store to determine the voltage.

4.Charge the batteries as they naturally discharge. If you can gain access to your rig ensure that you charge your battery fully once a month.Unregulated solar panels may fail to maintain a charge or even worse boil off electrolyte.

5.Converters should also not be left plugged in so as to charge the RV battery. This is a guaranteed way of boiling your Rv batteries dry quick.

6.If you must leave your AC on in the RV, switch the converter off at the breaker or unplug it. Run the converter as needed. You could also put it on a timer to go on every 24 or 48 hours for an hour.

7.Check on your batteries periodically while in storage. Once a month is sufficient or you may need to buy new batteries next season.