Battery Maintenance while parked?

[mass-hole]

I am fairly new to this whole thing. I bought my TT about 1.25 years ago and have always parked it in my driveway between my garage bays. I have it plugged in to 120V 100% of the time it is parked.

I have never had an issue with my batteries until this last trip. The trailer sat for a couple of months without use and then took it on a 4 hour drive down to southern Utah last weekend. I noticed when I arrived and was extending the slide that the battery indicator was showing low. I only made it through one night before the lights started flickering and I lost my heat(it was below freezing at night ) When I got home I pulled the batteries and it turned out that they had almost totally boiled off. I refilled with distilled water and put them on my 1 Amp BatteryTender to try and revive them, which is looks like they did.

What is the suggested battery "maintenance" for when the trailer will be parked for a while? Should I disconnect the positive terminal and put them on their own batterytender just to keep them floated? Can I get a better internal charger for the trailer that will do a better job of keeping them happy?

[WinnieView]

Disconnect the negative terminal for short term and put a charger on them for long term.

[oldmanAZ]

I keep ours plugged in 100% of the time, check the battery charging voltage every month or two, check the battery water about every 3 months (but never needed to add any) and top off the battery water as part of the pre-trip maintenance.

You should have your trailer battery tested. After what it has been through, it may have been permanently damaged. You probably don't want another cold surprise on a freezing morning!

Also when boondocking, keep your trailer plugged into the tow vehicle and keep the vehicle engine running while you run the tongue jack and run the slides out or in. Your batteries will thank you.

[mass-hole]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

I keep ours plugged in 100% of the time, check the battery charging voltage every month or two, check the battery water about every 3 months (but never needed to add any) and top off the battery water as part of the pre-trip maintenance.

You should have your trailer battery tested. After what it has been through, it may have been permanently damaged. You probably don't want another cold surprise on a freezing morning!

Also when boondocking, keep your trailer plugged into the tow vehicle and keep the vehicle engine running while you run the tongue jack and run the slides out or in. Your batteries will thank you.

Thanks for the help.

I generally do leave the trailer plugged into the truck while setting up, however, the F150's do not have a full size wire running to the 7 pin connector and do not supply a direct connection to the battery. It is for float charging only. I tried hooking my truck up to the trailer when the power was going out and it was zero help. I barely got the slide back in and the tongue jacked up.

[jimp]

I use a BatteryMinder 1.5amp charger to maintain my TT battery in between trips or over winter. I connected a QD cable to the battery, and it takes about 15 seconds to connect or disconnect the charger and put it out of the way when mowing the yard. I check the water about every 2-3 months but have never boiled a battery dry with this brand.

[RogerR]

Since your batteries were dry after a period on the built in system your charge system may be too hot and need to be fixed or replaced.

I use a Battery Tender Junior to keep the battery topped off without overcharging. It uses a lot less power that the built in unit and is intended for long term use.

I also have a battery cut off switch so no power goes into the RV when in storage. For winter storage I bring it inside to avoid freezing temps in case something happens and move the Battery Tender inside with it. I do check water levels a few times a year.

[Johnynorthland]

I am finding out wet batteries are not the best for TT/RV’s. First off if you let their charge go below 50% it starts to destroy the battery and lessens the life of it. Secondly you have to constantly worry about maintaining the water in the battery between its discharging and charging cycles, (as you found out).

I’ve had three coaches, my second coach had 2 AGM batteries and solar on the roof with much more amp hours too . Great product AGM bats, no maintenance no worries no headaches.

Another expensive option is lithium, much more charging and discharging cycles than any other battery, it’s in the thousands! Last far longer than any other battery but not cheap.

My new Redhawk comes with 1 El-cheap-O wet battery, which I plan on changing to 2 AGM’s OR lithium on an inverter with a portable solar charger to charge when my RV is covered in storage.

Hope this helps,

John

[Jagiven]

You have the same charger I have. My first year I boiled the batteries, until the charger was replace, due to noise. After that I have had no boiling issues.

As for long term storage, as long as you have a full charged battery it will keep its charge. Just disconnect the battery. For some reason on its, they disconnect the positive terminal.

For the truck, it's a Ford thing. There is a relay you need to install to give the 7 pin a hot plug. When the truck was new, it came in a bag with the owners manual. Crazy ford makes the owner install it.

[mass-hole]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Since your batteries were dry after a period on the built in system your charge system may be too hot and need to be fixed or replaced.

I use a Battery Tender Junior to keep the battery topped off without overcharging. It uses a lot less power that the built in unit and is intended for long term use.

I also have a battery cut off switch so no power goes into the RV when in storage. For winter storage I bring it inside to avoid freezing temps in case something happens and move the Battery Tender inside with it. I do check water levels a few times a year.

I should probably bring the batteries in and keep them on the charger. I camp year round since I can head down to southern Utah where it’s still fairly warm, so I’m being lazy.

Originally Posted by Jagiven

You have the same charger I have. My first year I boiled the batteries, until the charger was replace, due to noise. After that I have had no boiling issues.

As for long term storage, as long as you have a full charged battery it will keep its charge. Just disconnect the battery. For some reason on its, they disconnect the positive terminal.

For the truck, it's a Ford thing. There is a relay you need to install to give the 7 pin a hot plug. When the truck was new, it came in a bag with the owners manual. Crazy ford makes the owner install it.

No way. There was absolutely a relay sitting in the drivers door of my truck when I bought it. I just stuffed it in the glove box. Everyone on the f150 forum always said it was just too small of a wire.

[Atlee]

Way. Without that relay installed, there will be no charging, nor maintaining while plugged in, and the truck running.

My 2014 came with the relay in the glove box. I just had to figure out the correct place to put the relay in the fuse box under the hood.

Do you still have this relay?

Originally Posted by mass-hole

No way. There was absolutely a relay sitting in the drivers door of my truck when I bought it. I just stuffed it in the glove box. Everyone on the f150 forum always said it was just too small of a wire.

[Johnynorthland]

Thanks jagiven.

So you installed a disconnect on the positive side of the house battery?

Also you installed this 7 pin connector to the ford battery and connected it to a trickle charger?

JohnyNorthland