Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneilkeys
That may be true if your converter/charger works as it should. Neither original chargers in my Vegas or Axis ever went into maintenance mode. That is something you can easily check with a volt meter.
|
Can you explain how to tell if the battery goes into the maintenance mode by using a voltmeter?
Every time I checked the voltage of my coach batteries after having the coach plugged in for a week or so, switch on "use", and nothing using electricity except the radio memory and CO detector, the battery shows a constant 13.6 volts. I have had to add water to those batteries more often than I think I should, if the battery is only being maintained.
When the coach is in the "use" mode, current is being continuously drawn from the batteries. That leads me to believe that storing a battery in the "use" mode will keep it working (current in and current out). Therefore I feel that using a maintainer while the battery is disconnected from the coach with an add-on battery disconnect switch, insures that the battery is simply being maintained and not used in any way.
Also, I have read that AGM batteries, which is what we have as coach batteries, require a slightly higher initial charge voltage than a normal flooded lead-acid battery charger/maintainer provides. That is the second reason why I use a separate battery maintainer for the coach batteries for long-term storage.
Thor Forums
