Battery Voltage

[msteeler]

So I have 2 - 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries that are fairly new, bought them last year. I keep the trailer on the side of the house with the battery disconnect out and a battery charger on the batteries that fully charges them then goes to trickle mode. When I but a meter on the batteries (after charging) they read about 13.6v, but wage I connect the battery disconnect it drops to 12.6v.... Does that seem normal? I checked and there's nothing in the trailer except the fridge. Thanks


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[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by msteeler

So I have 2 - 12 volt deep cycle marine batteries that are fairly new, bought them last year. I keep the trailer on the side of the house with the battery disconnect out and a battery charger on the batteries that fully charges them then goes to trickle mode. When I but a meter on the batteries (after charging) they read about 13.6v, but wage I connect the battery disconnect it drops to 12.6v.... Does that seem normal? I checked and there's nothing in the trailer except the fridge. Thanks


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Sounds normal to me, you are reading a surface charge. Then it should drop to 12.7 or 12.6 that's full charge state. To test your charge you need to let it sit for 24 hrs and then see what your reading is. It still should be 12.6.

[msteeler]

Thanks. I came across a chart showing 12.6 as a full charge. I guess this is what happens when the first 2 camping trips I have full hookups... I forget what voltage a battery should be when its time to dry camp


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[wana65stang]

Fully charged is 12.6v , each of the six cell's is 2.1v fully charged.

[1l243]

Normal when mine is plugged in it reads 13.7 when unplugged for a day it drops to 12.7.. I have four deep cycle 12 volt batteries...

Now that I finally added a battery cut off switch I can go for a very long time before having to plug in when in storage..

[OldJohnT]

A good and fully charged flooded lead acid so called 12 volt battery should read around 12.6 volts once stabilized and at rest subject to temperature. If hooked to a working quality Smart 3 Stage Charger, it would rise to around 14.4+ in Bulk Charge Mode, 13.6 or so in Absorption Charge, and finally settle in around 13.2 volts in the Float Charge mode, again subject to temperature and charger design parameters.

John T Retired Electrical Engineer