Did we do something wrong?

2JayBirds · 06-08-2015, 10:00 AM

This is our first time owning and rv where we have an inside place to park it with 50 amp service. Kept it plugged in most of the winter with no problems. But went into the shop Friday after a fairly warm week, low 80's to near 90*, to smell a rotten egg smell. Traced it down to the batteries. Two of the 4 house batteries were very near dry and a third one was dry and looks like it will need to be replaced. Was the summer time heat a factor in the cause? Should we turn the house batteries off when hooked up to shore service?

Diesel Mike1 · 06-08-2015, 10:09 AM

The factory converter/charger in rv's are junk, most likely it was overcharging your batteries, and it boiled them dry.

Grumpy · 06-08-2015, 10:40 AM

You have a bad converter, get it replaced before the warranty runs out. JAYCO has been using the Charge Wizard converters in the SENECAS and the batteries should not boil dry.

Charge Wizard RV Battery Charging and Battery Monitoring Products from Progressive Dynamics

I went 6 years putting very little water in the house batteries on our 08 35GS and it was plugged in 24/7.

2JayBirds · 06-08-2015, 10:55 AM

Thanks Grumpy for this info and the link. I have it bookmarked and will show it to my husband this evening.

TNCraig · 06-08-2015, 11:12 AM

My charge/converter failed and did the same thing last year but over a much shorter time, a week long campout. The dealer quickly replaced it and had it ready for my next campout. He also replaced both batteries. Also added a progressive industries inline surge protector (EMS-HW50C) since they were going to be in the compartment. They wired downstream of the transfer switch so the system is protected while on the generator also.

2JayBirds · 06-08-2015, 11:33 AM

We just had a whole house surge protector like that added, don't remember the brand though. Will also show him this info. Thanks, love this forum for getting honest real life answers!

oldmanAZ · 06-08-2015, 12:43 PM

For those of you with a failed charge/converter...

Do you know what the charging voltage was?

My TT has been at 13.9 volts for a week or more. That seems high to me. There are only the usual parasitic loads (co detector/radio), fridge off, no lights on.

TNCraig · 06-08-2015, 01:28 PM

13.6 volts is the normal output voltage for the charge wizard with up to 14.4 in boost mode according to their web site. See Grumpy's link above.

RACarvalho · 06-08-2015, 02:29 PM

The charge / "fluctuation" voltage depends on the type of battery.
13.9V is for flooded lead acid batteries.
If you have an deep cycle AGM battery the fluctuation voltage should be 14.4V and if your charger is set to stay at 13.9V your battery will never be charged 100%.
There is a very nice article on westmarine dot com about charging batteries if you want to read more.
That being said, check if your charger can detect a faulty battery and stop charging.
If not, it's better to change it for one that can.

oldmanAZ · 06-08-2015, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RACarvalho

The charge / "fluctuation" voltage depends on the type of battery.
13.9V is for flooded lead acid batteries.
If you have an deep cycle AGM battery the fluctuation voltage should be 14.4V and if your charger is set to stay at 13.9V your battery will never be charged 100%.
There is a very nice article on westmarine dot com about charging batteries if you want to read more.
That being said, check if your charger can detect a faulty battery and stop charging.
If not, it's better to change it for one that can.

Thanks, and welcome to the forum. I haven't looked at Westmarine since my sailing days; decades ago. I'll check them out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TNCraig

13.6 volts is the normal output voltage for the charge wizard with up to 14.4 in boost mode according to their web site. See Grumpy's link above.

Thank you. I did look at the link Grumpy posted, but just wanted to see if those numbers agreed with what JOF members experienced.

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