Battery Charge Life

[tgduffy]

I have a brand new TT only used once with 2 batteries hooked up in parallel. After returning home from our first trip the indicator showed "G" which I am assuming means good. I did not hook up the TT to city electric when I got home and it's only been 9 days since we returned from the trip. No lights were left on and the refrigerator, fans, all electric was turned off.
(1) Why would the indicator now show "L" which I assume means low.
(2) How accurate are these indicators, such as tanks and electric? After one day at the camp the electric was still at C the next day down to G and third day back to C again. We have all LED lights and didn't use much electric. On the second day in camp my fresh water (40 g) still showed full but the grey water (32 g) showed 1/3 full. The math doesn't add up.
(3) Am I correct in assuming the L means low, F means fair, G means good and the C means charged? That seems logical as the red indicator lights light up from left to right, from L to C.

[raspivey]

Originally Posted by tgduffy

I did not hook up the TT to city electric when I got home and it's only been 9 days since we returned from the trip.

Not good for your batteries. The deeper the discharge and the longer between charges, the shorter the battery life. Best practice is to recharge as soon as practical.

No lights were left on and the refrigerator, fans, all electric was turned off.
(1) Why would the indicator now show "L" which I assume means low.

There are, however, some things that will slowly drain the batteries such as the CO detector. If you have a battery disconnect, use it. If not, and you're not going to keep either a smart charger on it or leave it plugged into shore power, manually disconnect the batteries.

(2) How accurate are these indicators, such as tanks and electric? After one day at the camp the electric was still at C the next day down to G and third day back to C again. We have all LED lights and didn't use much electric. On the second day in camp my fresh water (40 g) still showed full but the grey water (32 g) showed 1/3 full. The math doesn't add up.

Not very accurate. Black tanks are worst as "stuff" can get on the sensors and cause the readings to be off. As far as tank levels go...it depends on how the sensors are mounted on the tank. They're just stuck through the side of the tank. When liquid reaches the first, it shows 1/3, second, 1/2, etc. I usually just figure that 1/3 = 20 - 50%, 1/2 = 50 - 80%, and full = 80-100% .

(3) Am I correct in assuming the L means low, F means fair, G means good and the C means charged? That seems logical as the red indicator lights light up from left to right, from L to C.

More or less. More practically, C=plugged in to shore power, G=any where from 50 - 90% charged, F=your level of charge is low enough that you've probably shorted battery life somewhat, and L=you've discharged your battery down to the point where it's probably been hurt. To what extent...who knows? You could get several years out of them, or they could die in the next few months.

[PSU Turf]

We wrecked our new battery within the first 2 months of buying our TT. I did not know you should disconnect the battery when in storage. Parasitic draws will deplete the battery in about 10 days.

[tgduffy]

Does my TT converter use a fan to keep it from over-heating? When I plug into city power I hear a small sound, like a fan, coming from just under where the circuit breaker panel is located. When I unplug from the city power I don't hear it. Only been camping once inour first TT so plenty of dumb questions.

[PSU Turf]

The converter does have a cooling fan.

[Flybob]

The converter fan is temp controller. If you are trying to charge a very depleted battery, it can run on high and be fairly loud. Once the battery is charged and you are using very little 12V current, the fan sill shut off.