By Cheri Sicard
No matter if you are a new or experienced RVer, you probably have encountered times when it just seemed like your RV battery did not last that long. Josh the RV Nerd at Bish’s RV [formerly Haylett RV] regularly sees RVers who are changing their batteries every year or two!
If you have had that experience, Josh wants to share why that’s happening and what you can do to avoid it and thereby get a better return on investment from your RV batteries.
Why might your RV batteries not be lasting?
Josh begins by looking into reasons your RV batteries might be draining faster than they should.
Today’s RVs have more electronic gizmos and gadgets and technology than ever before and it is not always properly managed as to power. Watch the video for details, but the bottom line is, most RVers have things that are trickle-drawing the power, even when the RV is not being used.
If you have lead acid batteries, you know they shouldn’t go below 50%, and doing so repeatedly will shorten their life.
Even if you have a battery disconnect switch on your RV, Josh says chances are high that there are still things slowly pulling at that battery—systems hard-wired into the RV.
So what can you do about it?
The solution is quick, easy, and costs nothing. If you are going to be storing the RV for any extended period of time, physically disconnect the wires that connect the batteries to the RV.
Taking the time to do this will stop any and all “parasitic load” from trickle-drawing off your RV batteries.
What constitutes an “extended period”? Josh says for anything over two weeks you can benefit from disconnecting your RV’s batteries at the source.
Josh will sometimes disconnect his batteries for just a week or even a couple of days’ storage. He says that the fact is, the sooner you disconnect your batteries, the more you are saving them. But two weeks is a good rule of thumb.
What if you will be storing the RV batteries for a long time?
If you will be storing the RV for six months or so, Josh says to remove the battery, store it in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place (not in your RV’s living area), and keep a low-cost trickle charger on it. Watch the video for more details and more tips to help stay safe and guide you in putting it all back together.
IMPORTANT TIP
Before you disconnect the battery, take a quick photo of what the battery setup looks like so you can quickly put it all back together.
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RVDT2900
My solar array keeps the batteries fully topped up. Nice feature.
1st, I put a port on my battery case. 2nd, I installed my own battery switch.
Using the port I can keep my AGM (no water needed) battery charged via either AC power (battery maintainer), if I have it, or a 10 watt solar panel.
I disagree with the thought of using a low cost trickle charger. I’ve been using maintenance chargers, because they condition the battery.