Best way to make sure batteriea are fully charged

[stans02]

I have 6 days to make sure my batteries are fully charged. I am leaving for a short 5 day trip to Quartzsite Nv. I can put a 12 v charger on the batteries (2 six volt) or charge each 6 v separate. Or I can use my 110 v shore power for a few days. The batteries have a charge now. I just want to make sure the are maxed out. Thanks. stan

[Jagiven]

1st make sure the batteries have the correct amount of water in each cell. ONLY use distilled water to top them off. Tap water will severely shorten the cells life.

You do not state what you have for a TT nor is year. But I would use the TT’s shore power. The modern charging systems are very good and will ensure the batteries are fully charged. With two batteries they should be fully charged in 12-16 hours, if they are low on charge.

Do you have a volt meter? A 50% charge is when the batteries are at 12VDC (when wired in series). Ideally you do not want to run your battery bank below 50% charge as it weakens the cells and shortens the overall life expectancy. With that said you can run below 50% charge, just do not do it all the time.

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by stans02

I have 6 days to make sure my batteries are fully charged. I am leaving for a short 5 day trip to Quartzsite Nv. I can put a 12 v charger on the batteries (2 six volt) or charge each 6 v separate. Or I can use my 110 v shore power for a few days. The batteries have a charge now. I just want to make sure the are maxed out. Thanks. stan

What year is your TT? If it is about 3 years old or less, you should have modern TT charging system. I would just plug the TT into AC and use the TT charging system. Don't charge the batteries independent of each other but tied to together as a 12Volt setup. 6 days will be plenty of time to fully charge them.

Just my thoughts,

Don

[norty1]

You will be fine if you let the converter charge the filled batteries. I hope you have some way to charge them on the road cause they won't likely last 5 days of boondocking w/o some charging.

Have fun!

[stans02]

I forgot to mention the year, or model. I have a 02 Gray Hawk 26SS. Thanks Stan

[brianca2]

What kind of batteries are there? Some 6 volt batteries brands need to be charged to 14.7 or 14.8 volts when in series, or 7.35 or 7.4 by them self to be fully charged and the charger in most RVs only go to 14.4. I have in Norco 7200 genius charger and I have to use the cold AGM setting to get to the 14.7 volts required by usbatteries. I've talked to the Noco support and they said that this is safe on a flooded battery because it just increases the finishing voltage. if the charger you have in your house has the option to charge higher for your finishing voltage you may need to use that. and of course check your water levels with distilled water. and if you have a hydrometer use that to check your specific gravity of electrolyte levels.

[Seann45]

Go with a battery charger not the RV unit.. just charge the 2 batteries as 1 12 volt system. See you at Q..