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Batteries Not Fully Charging – only 90%
https://carriage-lifestyle-owners.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3385
Page 1 of 2Posted: 4:21 PM – Jan 21, 2017I have the factory Progressive Dynamics 3 stage charger/converter, a GoPower multi stage solar charger, and 2 6 volt Costco/Interstate batteries with a watering system. I check/add water per procedure.
I have had the batteries about 30 months and the solar panel/controller 1 year. All has worked great. Batteries showed 100% on the solar controller battery percentage display during our last trip.
Its been 3 weeks since and when I went to the storage lot on Thursday to get the RV, it said 90%.
We’ve been at our destination since 5pm Thursday plugged into 50 amp shore power and the batteries are still only reading 90% with no load.
Do you think my batteries are dying? There does not seem to be any other anomalies. Thanks.Posted: 7:36 PM – Jan 21, 2017I guess the batteries could be reaching the end of their useful life, not sure what the life expectancy would be. I do know that batteries in boats and RV’s don’t seem to last as long as those in cars/trucks.Some ideas to check the battery condition independent of the the monitor reading: Disconnect the batteries, take a voltage reading then check the reading again periodically to see if the battery voltage stabilizes and holds a good value. If not, there may be internal ‘shorting’ between plates due to sulfate buildup. Another method would be to take specific gravity readings of each cell of a battery. There are hydrometers that have a scale incorporated to indicate battery condition. Also, could do a load test on the batteries. Last thought is that It could be that one battery is going bad and dragging the other down when connected in a parallel setup. Maybe just leave one connected to the system to see if it reaches 100% charge. If not, check to see if the other does.
Posted: 9:00 PM – Jan 21, 2017Thanks for the input. I may be jumping the gun on the “issue”. The controller panel says it will only say full or 100% after the controller has finished full boost cycle or Equalization cycle. I believe it was in the process of such at the time I went to the storage lot. Maybe the controller didn’t get to finish its job? It was about a 4 hour trip and have been in full shade since.
The Progressive pendant says the charger is “completing the charge of the battery. Voltage is 13.6
The day I loaded the camper for the trips it showed 14.7 which is the equalization mode from the solar.
Maybe all is ok. I will monitor it and see. It could be just the timing in which I have looked at the indicators.
I will update as I know more. hopefully all is ok and its just the timing and being in full shade.
Thanks again.Posted: 11:05 PM – Jan 21, 2017If the trailer is plugged into shore power it is best to disconnect the batteries and use the PD to power the trailer. The PD is a power supply acting as a battery charger.Our 2x6V (240Ah) with a 50amp charger (disconnect switch off) takes around 6 1/2 hours to go from 12.1V to full charge at 12.8V. We use a ProNautic battery charger
Posted: 7:47 AM – Jan 22, 2017BCBackroads wrote:If the trailer is plugged into shore power it is best to disconnect the batteries and use the PD to power the trailer. The PD is a power supply acting as a battery charger.On my trailer (Lifestyle 37 cksl) when the battery switch is off the Progressive converter is de-energized so the batteries wouldn’t re-charge if I did that when on shore power. From my experience so far, my battery switch will de-erergize all 12V loads when off except for the slides and bigfoot
Posted: 9:14 AM – Jan 22, 2017jdpm wrote:The Progressive pendant says the charger is “completing the charge of the battery. Voltage is 13.6
The day I loaded the camper for the trips it showed 14.7 which is the equalization mode from the solar.You may have your voltages set too low. Typical LA batteries like an absorption voltage at between 14.6 and 14.8 V at 77 degrees. Equalization voltages are around 15.2 to 15.4. This is a very good article on batteries and charging. https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the … -puzzle-2/
-Rob-
Posted: 2:15 PM – Jan 22, 2017KamFlyer wrote:jdpm wrote:The Progressive pendant says the charger is “completing the charge of the battery. Voltage is 13.6
The day I loaded the camper for the trips it showed 14.7 which is the equalization mode from the solar.You may have your voltages set too low. Typical LA batteries like an absorption voltage at between 14.6 and 14.8 V at 77 degrees. Equalization voltages are around 15.2 to 15.4. This is a very good article on batteries and charging. https://handybobsolar.wordpress.com/the … -puzzle-2/
-Rob-
Thanks for the input. I will have to keep a check on it. As far as I know, I don’t have any choice or settings on the charger/converter.
We are hope ahead of the severe storms approaching NE FL now with the rv in the storage lot. In another month, it will be on the yard of our new home!!! That way I can figure it out as well as do some other things on my list.Posted: 8:44 PM – Jan 23, 2017shadow wrote:BCBackroads wrote:If the trailer is plugged into shore power it is best to disconnect the batteries and use the PD to power the trailer. The PD is a power supply acting as a battery charger.On my trailer (Lifestyle 37 cksl) when the battery switch is off the Progressive converter is de-energized so the batteries wouldn’t re-charge if I did that when on shore power. From my experience so far, my battery switch will de-erergize all 12V loads when off except for the slides and bigfoot
We set up ours so the disconnect is between the batteries and the PD/house. When we are on shore (generator) power the disconnect is off so the batteries are isolated. The PD keeps the trailer running and the ProNautic charger brings the batteries back up.
Our plan is to upgrade the the wiring 3 or 4 sizes. The slide motors will be much happier and so will we not having having low voltage shutting off the Bigfoot system. Looks like we’ll have to pull the fridge to get at the slide wiring though….one more thing to look at.
Posted: 12:05 PM – Jan 28, 2017Thanks to those who responded, however, I guess I got worried for nothing at this point. Went by the RV today and the battery read 100% and the solar is putting out .02 amps. So I think it was in the midst of doing its thing when I originally posted. So for now, doesn’t look like an issue. Thanks!Posted: 1:16 AM – May 21, 2018Alloy wrote:If the trailer is plugged into shore power it is best to disconnect the batteries and use the PD to power the trailer. The PD is a power supply acting as a battery charger…I know this is an old post, but it directly goes to a question I’ve been trying to find out.
So, the PD9260 should be able to power the RV with the batteries completely disconnected?
I would have thought so, but it means something is very wrong with my PD unit.If I disconnect the batteries, my lights dim and flicker and my volts drop to about 9.8, even though my DC monitor says I’m only drawing 2.1amps.
This being the case, I’m considering either a Xantrex HFS 2000, a Renogy or an Aims Inverter/Charger.
I currently have a Xantrex 1K inverter for the fridge, and I’d keep it as a backup.Any recommendations on a reliable Inverter/Charger?
Posted: 2:25 PM – May 21, 2018TimCar wrote:Alloy wrote:If the trailer is plugged into shore power it is best to disconnect the batteries and use the PD to power the trailer. The PD is a power supply acting as a battery charger…I know this is an old post, but it directly goes to a question I’ve been trying to find out.
So, the PD9260 should be able to power the RV with the batteries completely disconnected?
I would have thought so, but it means something is very wrong with my PD unit.If I disconnect the batteries, my lights dim and flicker and my volts drop to about 9.8, even though my DC monitor says I’m only drawing 2.1amps.
Why is it best to disconnect the batteries while on shore power? I would think it best to leave them connected so they are charged when you disconnect from shore power and are running on the batteries. I also thought the batteries act as some sort of buffer to protect the RV 12 volt system from power supply spikes.
Posted: 3:26 PM – May 21, 2018I’ve been wonder about this too, if I disconnect the battery from the RV side, the charger would require two separate circuits to work as I would think it would.The outputs I would expect are:
DC Supply Circuit #1 goes to the RV to run the RV when on Shore Power and the Batteries are in Disconnect.
DC Charging Circuit #2 always goes to the batteries to maintain them, even when the batteries are in Disconnect mode.The Disconnect switch would only remove the Battery Bank from the Supply side of the RV so the batteries aren’t used to supply current to the RV when on Shore power.
Am I missing something obvious here? (I do that often)
Update:
In the mean time, I went ahead and ordered an Aims 1250watt PSW Inverter/Charger with a LCD Remote PanelPosted: 11:41 PM – May 21, 2018A PD is a power supply. This mean 2 things as long as the PD is plugged into 110V it will continually output power. Continually powering any battery is not a good thing. Secondly a power supply does not have a temperature sensor that will adjust the charge voltage to suit the battery temperature.When we bought our trailer the PD was connected directly to the batteries. If the disconnect was turned off there was no power in the trailer.
One of the first things I did was to move the positive wire of the PD to the trailer side of the disconnect. This way the PD could power the trailer if there was no batteries or I wanted to rapid charge the (disconnect turned off) batteries using a high charge voltage to bulk charge and not worry about burning the electronics in the trailer.
A 4 stage battery charger is different in that it will go into standby. Once in standby there is a long time delay for the battery charger to wake up.
As part of the re&re I pulled the PD out and have installed a Victron 3000w inverter / 120A charge and a 50amp ProNautic charger. Both have battery temp. sensor and both are 4 stage battery chargers. The ProNutic can also be set up to run as a 50amp power supply.
Posted: 12:35 AM – May 22, 2018Thanks for the explanation.We never Boondock, always stay at 30-50Amp sites and only use the Inverter to keep the fridge running while traveling up to 10 hours max between sites.
I’m thinking of wiring the system so the inverter/charger/batteries are on their own circuit. When on shore power, the batteries are completely disconnected from the RV and the Inverter/4-Stage Charger is only tending to the batteries, nothing else.
The RV would be getting power solely from a 100AMP 12vdc Power Supply (not a battery charger), powered by shore A/C.
When travelling, the batteries run the inverter and the RV, but are supplimented by the trucks alternators via the trailer connection.
Maybe I’m over thinking this, but I’m tired of staying at a site 3 weeks, going to raise the Bigfoots just to find out my batteries are too low and I have to get out jumper cables to move.
Posted: 1:59 AM – May 22, 2018If I might add , i have not experienced trickle chargers or such but the deep cell batteries in the RVs I am familiar with being a excavation/concrete Contractor for 40 odd years and have done all my own mech tech if you get more than 2 years on a deep cell battery your doing good go buy a lottery ticket while your luck holds out . 2nd they like to discharge and recharge , to stay fit. And not sit holding full or low charges for a long time. Being that they need to hold full voltage longer they have more charge plates than reg short term high amp car battery’s thus the insulator in-between plates (cardboard like material) being closer together can break down and cause a short between cells and act like a slow drain. Also keep in mind low amps trying to run motors will over heat the motor and damage it quickly. Disheartening to burn out a $ 400-600 motor for a $80 battery or so. PS if you can find a good battery outfit, golf cart design batteries of proper size footprint will give you way better performance 30% or better ( but it’s a secret) gota love the old guys giving out info. , BUT I do admit I did have a reg deep cell in an excavator go over 6 years before giving up the ghost.. it went up on the wall as a trophy lol.Sent from my B3-A20 using Tapatalk
Posted: 10:43 AM – May 22, 2018You bring up a good point about exercising the batteries.I’m an electronic/mechanical engineer (not electrical, different power levels) and the idea of building a simple, reliable timer circuit to draw down the batteries to a predetermined level and do something useful with the energy on a set schedule would be an interesting project.
I guess the idea of using a multi-stage Battery Charger to power an RV for extended periods just doesn’t sit well with me.
I mean in its name it says Charger, not Supply. There must be issues with it both tending to batteries and dealing with ever changing demands from the RV.I would have thought some enterprising company would come up with what RV’s really need, an Auto Switching- Inverter/4-Stage Charger/Power Supply, each separate from the others
P.S.
The batteries we use are 6Volt GC2’s (GolfCart) wired in series.Posted: 1:10 PM – May 22, 2018TimCar wrote:You bring up a good point about exercising the batteries.I’m an electronic/mechanical engineer (not electrical, different power levels) and the idea of building a simple, reliable timer circuit to draw down the batteries to a predetermined level and do something useful with the energy on a set schedule would be an interesting project.
I guess the idea of using a multi-stage Battery Charger to power an RV for extended periods just doesn’t sit well with me.
I mean in its name it says Charger, not Supply. There must be issues with it both tending to batteries and dealing with ever changing demands from the RV.I would have thought some enterprising company would come up with what RV’s really need, an Auto Switching- Inverter/4-Stage Charger/Power Supply, each separate from the others
P.S.
The batteries we use are 6Volt GC2’s (GolfCart) wired in series.My understanding is that it is best to keep lead-acid batteries at full charge if possible. Of course, overcharging can destroy a battery as well. I don’t know that exercising the battery is necessary. I would think that a quality inverter-charger-power supply would be best. I have 2 Deka GC2’s in our 2006 Roadtrek Class B that are 7 years old and still working fine. They are continually charged while on 120v or while driving. It has a TrippLite Charger Inverter. I think there are much better charger-inverters available now.
Posted: 1:22 AM – May 23, 2018About exercising/conditioning new deep wet cells, I would refer to:http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/arti … _batteries
A simple flash memoried Ardunio with a “new batteries” setting would suffice.
It could do something useful and fun like use the energy to aim a laser at the one of the moon’s retroreflectors left by Apollo once a cycle and measure the distance to the moon, then post the GPS longitude/latitude it was at with the distance/time measurement. (With advance FAA notification/approval)
I would hate to just scrub the energy to entropy/heat via a breaking/scrubbing resistor bank…
Posted: 5:31 PM – May 23, 2018TimCar wrote:About exercising/conditioning new deep wet cells, I would refer to:Thanks for the link. I did not know that.
Posted: 1:53 PM – May 25, 2018TimCar wrote:Thanks for the explanation.We never Boondock, always stay at 30-50Amp sites and only use the Inverter to keep the fridge running while traveling up to 10 hours max between sites.
I’m thinking of wiring the system so the inverter/charger/batteries are on their own circuit. When on shore power, the batteries are completely disconnected from the RV and the Inverter/4-Stage Charger is only tending to the batteries, nothing else.
The RV would be getting power solely from a 100AMP 12vdc Power Supply (not a battery charger), powered by shore A/C.
When travelling, the batteries run the inverter and the RV, but are supplimented by the trucks alternators via the trailer connection.
Maybe I’m over thinking this, but I’m tired of staying at a site 3 weeks, going to raise the Bigfoots just to find out my batteries are too low and I have to get out jumper cables to move.
Batteries with no load connected to a power supply to charge for 1-2 days every 2 weeks (less if is more than 90F) isn’t bad but not good either.
B.W.Gentry
Owner/Admin
2007 Carri-Lite XTRM5
Breckenridge, TX
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