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Old 08-02-2016, 12:20 PM   #1
'11 390BH
 
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New Batteries & proper charging?

Prepping my Berk for a month long cross country.

The house batteries that I bought the coach with were older and in need of replacement. The Magnum MM charger, however had been continually boiling water off those batteries for the last few months as the coach was in storage. I spoke with Magnum a month ago and they insisted the unit should not be boiling off the batts, but that I needed to routinely de-sulfate my batteries. Frankly it wasn't worth doing with older batteries. Perhaps I'll be more diligent with the new ones.

So I removed the old batteries and the tray and realized how badly the compartment was messed up from the acid and gas. some good steel and brash brush work and some Naval Jelly later it was ready for an application of undercoating. Looks a lot better now

So now I have 4 new batteries as of this morning and I'm wondering how many users here leave their charger on and in float mode all the time? AS a note, I have kids in our BH model and its damn hot right now, so the genset is ON if were in the coach.
When your on a trip do you run them down and then recharge? and is there a constant 12V draw on the system or must the inverter function be on to draw those down?
I was surprised that when I cut the house batt switch that the Air Cons cut out. Seems there is DC control to units I thought werre entirely AC.

So to avoid cooking $750 worth of new batteries...should I let the charger do its thing or **** it off when its in float mode?
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Old 08-02-2016, 12:32 PM   #2
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"Read this" is the best advice I know...

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
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Old 08-02-2016, 12:42 PM   #3
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My magnum runs all the time.
Plugged in at home, I run both fridges on ac while on the road.

After the float charge, when the batts are at 100%,the charger shuts down.
Maybe your old batts were never reaching 100%?


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Old 08-02-2016, 12:47 PM   #4
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Thanks!
Provide for some sort of charging to offset the batteries tendency to self-discharge. This can be provided by a small solar panel or trickle charger, or the converter or 3 stage charger in your RV. It is best to let the batteries discharge slightly over a few weeks or a month and then do a full recharge overnight. Trickle chargers and unregulated solar panels can slowly boil off electrolyte, or worse, fail to maintain the charge, allowing your batteries to become deeply discharged.


That is taken directly from the article. I think of my .5A battery tenders on my toys, that never seems to boil the water off. So this article, good as it is to read it again, just confirms what I knew already.

So to my question- what do the owners here do-real world experience? when your on the road and in storage, do you turn off the charger if your batteries are topped off OR let them float?

...and again, we seldom have the temperature/humidity opportunity in S. Florida to turn off 110V power (read HVAC) so the charger is pretty much 365 days a year
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Old 08-02-2016, 12:51 PM   #5
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Kenny,
That is interesting. With my old batteries: the led readout said 4/4, genset or shore power was on for the duration of the drive, get to camp and push out the slides....look at the magnum and its in Bulk just from the slides, though there is not audible strain and the extend/retract speeds seemed typical of what i know from 15 years of RV ownership and rentals. Then wake up the next morning and its still in Float, I never say float go off.

This could very well just be related to previously abused or just tired out batteries.
or is your charger more modern than mine from 2011?
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Old 08-02-2016, 12:52 PM   #6
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Once mine are charged I like to let them run down as possible to 12 volts then recharge. As I understand it this is best for the batteries.
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Old 08-02-2016, 01:14 PM   #7
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I use a small solar panel in the winter as I have no electric where I store the rig. I do not take action during the season to discharge the batteries, although I do run an auto generator start that cycles when the AC is needed in warm weather while dry camping. Typically, this results in the genny cycling off and on during the night, drawing the battery down when it's off. I do agree that the genny runs nearly non stop in the really hot weather during the day. I was at a couple of NASCAR races this year in dry camp mode, and the genny (and the charger) ran all day.

When on shore power, I do not modulate the battery usage. I do check that the charger is in float mode after some time hooked up, however. If not it's not, I usually check the water in the batteries to be sure that's not an issue.
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Old 08-02-2016, 02:36 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kohersh View Post
Prepping my Berk for a month long cross country.



The house batteries that I bought the coach with were older and in need of replacement. The Magnum MM charger, however had been continually boiling water off those batteries for the last few months as the coach was in storage. I spoke with Magnum a month ago and they insisted the unit should not be boiling off the batts, but that I needed to routinely de-sulfate my batteries. Frankly it wasn't worth doing with older batteries. Perhaps I'll be more diligent with the new ones.



So I removed the old batteries and the tray and realized how badly the compartment was messed up from the acid and gas. some good steel and brash brush work and some Naval Jelly later it was ready for an application of undercoating. Looks a lot better now



So now I have 4 new batteries as of this morning and I'm wondering how many users here leave their charger on and in float mode all the time? AS a note, I have kids in our BH model and its damn hot right now, so the genset is ON if were in the coach.

When your on a trip do you run them down and then recharge? and is there a constant 12V draw on the system or must the inverter function be on to draw those down?

I was surprised that when I cut the house batt switch that the Air Cons cut out. Seems there is DC control to units I thought werre entirely AC.



So to avoid cooking $750 worth of new batteries...should I let the charger do its thing or **** it off when its in float mode?

What control are you using to charge the batteries. If it the one that came with the Moho it's time to upgrade. I had a issue with the old controller and it ruined 4 batteries. This is the one you want. It allows you to set the charge rate and much more. It is plug and play so a easy instal.
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Old 08-02-2016, 03:06 PM   #9
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What's that one, the MM ARC 50?


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Old 08-02-2016, 04:15 PM   #10
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Do you run your generator or connect to shore power when you put jacks down/slides out? I do so whenever I put jacks/slides out and that way it doesn't run down the batteries. Believe it or not it takes a good amount of power to put jacks down and the slides out.
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Old 08-02-2016, 04:37 PM   #11
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The first thing I do at at campground site is hook up electric and hoses. I also take the patio crap out of the basement, mostly so I don't have to dodge the slides as I reach into the storage bays, but also because it gives me a chance to ensure I'm not going to hit a tree or power podium with the slides. I then go in and level and slide out.


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Old 08-02-2016, 09:46 PM   #12
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I have an MM1212 charger and the MM-RC (6 LED's only) remote as pictured.
Thanks for the idea on the ME-RC controller. I like to keep things simple, but more than that I like to have more info rather than less. This looks to be a good upgrade
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Old 08-03-2016, 10:49 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by MotoxDad View Post
Do you run your generator or connect to shore power when you put jacks down/slides out? I do so whenever I put jacks/slides out and that way it doesn't run down the batteries. Believe it or not it takes a good amount of power to put jacks down and the slides out.
Yes, I run the genset, have to. 5 minutes with no air and the temp rises like an oven
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Old 08-03-2016, 01:16 PM   #14
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You really should not be boiling off water quickly if the batts are good and the charging system is at least 3 stage and working properly. BEFORE investing in a new battery monitor... I'd install the batts and use them in service for a month. Don't run them down too much. You should never see below 12V on your meter unless you are doing something like slides using just battery power and it should pop back over 12V shortly after that stops. You should not need to add water within the first month if all is well with the charging circuit since once float stage is reached it is generally less than a couple of amps at 13.4V or less and will NOT boil off water...it is essentially a battery tender in float stage.
Once you know the charging system is working fine...then it would pay to add a new monitor. If you need to replace your charger...get one that is around 25% of your total amp hour capacity of the bank....4 large 12V are generally around 400 amp hours...so the charger should be able to put out around 100 amps. It should also have a built in Equalization stage ...making it a 4 staged charger to preserve your batts and bust up sulphation on regular basis. Both Progressive and IOTA have well regarded smart chargers in this range. If you switch charger brands and want a battery monitor...Trimetric and Victron would be the brands of choice.
Good luck!
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Old 08-03-2016, 03:08 PM   #15
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I'm fairly convinced that the issue was entirely the old batteries.
As for my current voltage readout...I have not way to determine it with just 6 lights and the new remote is already in the mail via Amazon Prime LOL.

Suppose I had the more sophisticated remote in place before I could have seen what was happening. 6 LED's isn't enough.
Thanks to all for the help everyone
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Old 08-03-2016, 06:15 PM   #16
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I'm fairly convinced that the issue was entirely the old batteries.
As for my current voltage readout...I have not way to determine it with just 6 lights and the new remote is already in the mail via Amazon Prime LOL.

Suppose I had the more sophisticated remote in place before I could have seen what was happening. 6 LED's isn't enough.
Thanks to all for the help everyone
We agree that 6 leds aren't enough...and you did just order a nice monitor. My only point was to save you the money for the monitor IF you found out that you needed a new charger. Hopefully it was just the batts failing that caused the water boil off...but that is by no means a certainty.
Worst case now that you have an order in...is that you also need to order a new Magnum that works with the same monitor. All best...
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:21 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil57 View Post
What control are you using to charge the batteries. If it the one that came with the Moho it's time to upgrade. I had a issue with the old controller and it ruined 4 batteries. This is the one you want. It allows you to set the charge rate and much more. It is plug and play so a easy instal.
Attachment 116128
Phil you said the Magnum ME RC is plug and play. is the install sequence to turn off batteries in the battery bay, remove old controller, cut larger hole to mount new controller and then plug in the current phone type cable See Picture) , mount new controller and then turn on power and
go thru setup?

Also will the
Magnum ME RC work with a 1,200 watt inverter?
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Old 08-03-2016, 08:27 PM   #18
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Marc that is my understanding. It runs off the same phone type plug as the old one. Warren installed mine as I had other warranty work being done. I was going to install it myself. Anyone with the old 6 light control should upgrade to the new one. It cheap insurance compared to the price of batteries.



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Old 08-04-2016, 12:30 PM   #19
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Mine is scheduled for delivery today and I have to put it in tonight and program it up. SO, I'll let you know soon
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Old 08-04-2016, 02:42 PM   #20
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Mine is scheduled for delivery today and I have to put it in tonight and program it up. SO, I'll let you know soon

Set the charge rate low like 30% and move it up. We have ours at 50% now with no boiling of the batteries.



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