Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-09-2012, 09:11 AM   #11
Member
 
Fishbrain's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Marin County, CA
Posts: 32
Re: Charging at home question

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350
If you want to leave your van on shore power unattended, invest in a low cost timer. Set it to come on for an hour twice a week. That will keep up with battery self-discharge and greatly reduce the risk of overcharging.

Mike
I like that idea.

THanks.

Fishbrain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2012, 11:21 AM   #12
Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 63
Re: Charging at home question

I thought I read in my manual that, if you are not going to drive the van for an extended period of time, you should plug it into your home 110v for 24 hrs once a month.
ehc0720 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2012, 11:24 AM   #13
Member
 
Fishbrain's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Marin County, CA
Posts: 32
Re: Charging at home question

Quote:
Originally Posted by ehc0720
I thought I read in my manual that, if you are not going to drive the van for an extended period of time, you should plug it into your home 110v for 24 hrs once a month.
If I come across a similar instruction, I'll let you know what I find out.
Fishbrain is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2012, 12:11 PM   #14
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Charging at home question

Quote:
Originally Posted by ehc0720
I thought I read in my manual that, if you are not going to drive the van for an extended period of time, you should plug it into your home 110v for 24 hrs once a month.



Actually that is kind of vague. The AGM house batteries must be kept at a voltage at or above 12.8. A good AGM will hold a charge for a month without any load put to it. If an AGM battery sits at a lower state for a lengthy time, it can loose a percentage of the charge reserve it can hold. Because most SMB's have a slight electrical draw, ignoring the batteries state of charge can shorten their lives. Most starting batteries require a similar maintenance program but are usually fully charged if the voltage is above 12vDC. That is the beauty of solar. Solar supplies a lightweight charge that keeps the batteries in a float mode. But the same charging method can be achieved using a maintenance charger or timer as Mike suggested. The problem with a maintenance charger is if they put out say 1 amp and a load is applied you don't know about (like leaving a light on) that pulls more than the charger puts out, (lets say 1.5 amps), and if you leave it for a few months that way, the battery will slowly discharge.

Chances are an overnight high amp charge will be OK. There probably isn't enough time to create a hazardous situation if all the batteries are in good working order. I do it all the time but I don't leave the charger on for days without looking in to see how things are going. A completely dead battery may take a few days to fully charge with most of the inverter/chargers SMB installs.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2012, 02:08 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
woodbee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Rohnert Park, CA
Posts: 286
Re: Charging at home question

When I picked up my SMB December of 2009 I was told to plug it in once a week for 24 hours. I have done that. Usually when I plug it in the voltage is down to 12.4 volts.
Last month in Death Valley my separator went out and one morning the voltage was down to about 10.4 volts, that was the only time the battery was below 12.2. Sportsmobile said letting it get that low only once won't hurt it. Big relief.
I am getting ready to install a solar panel to help with my power needs. Use the generator less.

Woody
__________________
2009 White E-350 Modified EB-43, 4x4, 6.0 PSD
woodbee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2012, 07:26 AM   #16
Senior Member
 
ridintall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 144
Re: Charging at home question

Am I the only one that leaves the SMB plugged in all the time and the fridge always on? I'm on my second set of house batteries (2004 SMB) and third set of starter batteries. I've begun to suspect that shore power charging is what's been causing my starter batteries to fail prematurely.

Based on this thread I'm wondering if I need to change how I do things. Typically, I like to leave the fridge running all the time so it's well cooled when I need to take a trip which is pretty much every weekend in the summer. MY single panel isn't enough to keep the batteries topped off for more than 3 days before I'm close to 50% discharge. It's even less if there are clouds. I'd like to add another panel, but I really don't want to put any more weight up on the roof. The last two years I've haven't drained the fresh the water tank as I don't like using the RV anti freeze in my fresh water tank. I just leave the van plugged in and either run the Espar or plug in a small electric heater to keep things from freezing.

I like the idea of a smart timer. I have a dedicated 30AMP connection at the house for charging the SMB so I'll have to find one that works with that.
ridintall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2012, 07:46 AM   #17
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Re: Charging at home question

Does your fridge seem to run all the time, 50% of the time, something more, somethig less? If the fridge is the only thing running and you have a solar panel, you shouldn't be discharging your battery to down to 50%. Maybe your fridge is the culprit.

As for the shore power connection, can't help you there, but it doesn't seem like that should shorten your battery life, but rather lengthen it given that the batteries would stay topped off.


Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2012, 07:52 AM   #18
Senior Member
 
ridintall's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 144
Re: Charging at home question

My fridge probably runs 50% of the time, definitely more than I'd like it to. My plan is to add some extra insulation like some folks have done. That should help alot. That Norcold is alot louder than I'd like and wakes me up several times a night.
ridintall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2012, 07:56 AM   #19
Site Team
 
BroncoHauler's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,177
Re: Charging at home question

Quote:
Originally Posted by ridintall
My fridge probably runs 50% of the time, definitely more than I'd like it to. My plan is to add some extra insulation like some folks have done. That should help alot. That Norcold is alot louder than I'd like and wakes me up several times a night.
Is your fridge empty when you are at home? An empty fridge runns a LOT more that a full fridge.


Herb
__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
BroncoHauler is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2012, 08:30 PM   #20
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Charging at home question

Quote:
Originally Posted by ridintall
Am I the only one that leaves the SMB plugged in all the time and the fridge always on? I'm on my second set of house batteries (2004 SMB) and third set of starter batteries. I've begun to suspect that shore power charging is what's been causing my starter batteries to fail prematurely.
Yes I do plug in on a regular basis if the refrigerator is running but I don't turn on the charge and let the refrigerator run off AC. Solar keeps the batteries up.

But even the solar can over charge the wet cell starting batteries. Soon the water level drops from continous charging while the vehicle sits idle in the sun. Have you switched to AGM starting batteries? Full time charging two different style batteries isn't the best thing to do but the AGM's have held up very well for me.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:27 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.