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Old 08-27-2016, 10:11 PM   #1
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House batteries dead

I left the disconnect switch on and now my house batteries are dead. I cannot find a topic on how to charge them. Will running the generator for a few hours do the trick?
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Old 08-27-2016, 10:16 PM   #2
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It should but might take more than a few hours, might not.
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Old 08-28-2016, 09:59 AM   #3
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Can you plug it in? The PD Intellipower should charge them back up but it should take a while.
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Old 08-28-2016, 10:19 AM   #4
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Can you plug it in? The PD Intellipower should charge them back up but it should take a while.

The storage unit has a 30 AMP plug so I will try that. Any guess on how long it will take?


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Old 08-28-2016, 10:51 AM   #5
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Depends how low the voltage got. If too low they may never recover


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Old 08-28-2016, 11:00 AM   #6
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Check the fuse after plugging in. If the batteries are very dead the charge current may be high enough to blow a fuse.
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Old 08-28-2016, 05:31 PM   #7
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One other note. If the coach batteries are too low, the Disconnect Relay will not be able to pick up. That will prevent the converter from charging the batteries. The best thing to do is put an automotive battery charger on the batteries to get their voltage back to normal, then the relay will activate allowing the converter to maintain the charge.
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Old 08-29-2016, 06:49 AM   #8
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One other note. If the coach batteries are too low, the Disconnect Relay will not be able to pick up. That will prevent the converter from charging the batteries. The best thing to do is put an automotive battery charger on the batteries to get their voltage back to normal, then the relay will activate allowing the converter to maintain the charge.
Yep, doesn't cost anything to try it. Throw a DVM on the house batteries and see what the charge is. Plug it in and see if comes to life. If so, keep charging. If not, throw a good car battery charger on it (I have a smart charger that is 2/5/10/30amp and I set it to deep cycle and let it manage the charge. The batteries should come back fine, as long as they're not long in the tooth.
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Old 08-29-2016, 07:04 AM   #9
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Can you plug it in? The PD Intellipower should charge them back up but it should take a while.
They are deep cycle batteries. Plug in somewhere. Even with the camper plugged in, it can take a day or so to refill those batteries.

This chart will show you why it takes so long. The initial charge (a few hours) will only recover the batteries ability to produce voltage. It takes a few days to repack the plates to replace capacity (how long they last).
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:05 PM   #10
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House batteries dead

Ran the generator today for about 6 - 7 hours and got a charge on them.


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Old 08-30-2016, 09:33 PM   #11
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Ran the generator today for about 6 - 7 hours and got a charge on them.


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Do this for peace of mind; buy a battery hydrometer, they are about $8-12 bucks and check each batteries cell. That will give you an idea on your batteries current state, after fully charging them up. I say this because when you killed them, they took a decent punch, but if they weren't discharged for too long a period, you have a greater chance of getting them back, to a state of charge where you feel confident in their reserve capacity, a hydrometer will give you that information. Just sayin'
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Old 08-30-2016, 09:37 PM   #12
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Do this for peace of mind; buy a battery hydrometer, they are about $8-12 bucks and check each batteries cell. That will give you an idea on your batteries current state, after fully charging them up. I say this because when you killed them, they took a decent punch, but if they weren't discharged for too long a period, you have a greater chance of getting them back, to a state of charge where you feel confident in their reserve capacity, a hydrometer will give you that information. Just sayin'

Will do. My son has a hydrometer and I will get him to check them.


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