Battery questions - Montana Owners Club

blamb · 12-08-2008, 05:03 PM

I have some questions about the battery.

Tonight was stormy, and the electricity went out for a good long while. I was pleasantly surprised to find all but the ceiling fan lights still worked, but I turned them off anyway to save battery power.

My question is if I kept one or two of the lights on, how long could I leave them on before the battery died?

How much does running the furnace drain a battery?

Does air conditioning work on the battery too, or just the furnace?

And does the battery recharge itself once the electricity comes back on?

When the electricity IS on, does that mean the lights that work on battery power, run on electricity and only run on the battery when electricity is out? Or even when it's on am I using up battery power with the lights? I assume they run off electricity unless it goes out, but I wanted to know for sure.

Thanks!

daneboy · 12-08-2008, 06:47 PM

If you have only one battery, using two lights will last you two or three evinings.

The fan on your furnace will draw down the battery in one night, depending on how cold it is.

Your Air Conditioning uses 115 volts, it won't run on a 12 volt battery

If you are plugged into shore power, your built in converter will charge up the battery.

When the elctricity is on both the 12 volt and 115 volt lights work. Your 12 volt lights are being powered by the conmverter, it changes the 115 volt AC to 12 volt DC and allows all the 12 volt applications to work.

I'm sure someone else could explain it better, however this should clear up some of your questions.

Jerry

HamRad · 12-08-2008, 10:33 PM

Jerry,

You did a great job explaining the difference between 12v vs 110v. Great job. Thanks.

Dennis

H. John Kohl · 12-09-2008, 12:18 AM

Jerry covered it.
Your Refrigerator will operate on 110 or propane however 12 VDC power is needed all the time to run the control panel.
Your Hot water heater will operate on 110 or propane again 12 VDC power is needed all the time to run the control panel. The 110 and/or propane is activated by a switch on your panel that has the water pump and tank levels.
Your heater operates on propane but needs 12 VDC to operate the control circuits.

The above emphasizes how important your question is with regards to having 12 VDC available in your trailer when living in it full time.

There have been reports of the 110 circuit breaker for the converter tripping when we first plug into shore power. So a check list item should be to check that circuit breaker if you have a power failure.
The things that are 110 only is the Air Conditioner, Televisions, ceiling fan/light and a couple lights (dinning room and Vanity over bathroom sink).
I think that covers it, hope someone corrects me if I forgot something.
Your usage will dictate how long a battery lasts as well as age of the battery.
Good question.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 12-09-2008, 02:56 AM

Blamb

Now, you need to learn how to check the battery for levels of water, distilled water. When you are plugged into the pole 24/7/365, as you are, that battery water can boil off, and if it goes down and stays down for a long time, you now have a dead battery and mucho stuff does not work correctly.

I believe Al checks ours 1 time a month?? Lets put it this way, it needs to be checked more frequently than 1 time a year!

ols1932 · 12-09-2008, 03:50 AM

blamb,
The ceiling fans operate on 110 volts. That's why they wouldn't work when you lost "electicity." Please understand that the RVs are designed to be used with or without hooking up to "shore" power (campground or some source of 110 volts). That's what makes the RV so handy. Your furnace is the greatest "hog" of the battery power because of running the blower. Sometimes the addition of some type of propane space heater (catalytic or other type) will allow you to save battery power if it's cold out and you don't have access to 110 volts.

Orv

blamb · 12-09-2008, 06:04 AM

Thanks everyone! How do I check the battery once a month besides pushing the button to see where it's at?

Quote:

quote: So a check list item should be to check that circuit breaker if you have a power failure.

And how do I do that?

Mrs. CountryGuy · 12-09-2008, 06:20 AM

Al does it, so, I cannot be specific, but, checking the battery involves getting in the compartment, taking the plastic box cover off, looking in the little cubbies on the battery itself. Believe there are little "lids" to pop off.

Just like you check the battery on your car, if you don't have a fancy dancy sealed battery.

I am sure one of the fellows here can better explain.

hazmic · 12-09-2008, 07:35 AM

When checking battery's or doing anything else with the battery[s] be sure to wear safety glasses as the water[really water and sulfuric acid]will burn you and eyes. Skin burns can be treated but eyes are gone. To put it plainly you VERY WELL COULD BE BLIND. I do not know what converter you have but there could be a smart charger available for it that will NOT boil the water out of the battery[s]. When plugged in for long times the battery's will just trickle charge. I have one on mine.

capn chris · 12-09-2008, 07:58 AM

blamb,
Following up on Carols' suggestion/mandate, I just checked my truck and RV batteries. First, get some Distilled water (usually gallon in bottled water section)at the store (grocery). Have a screwdriver or putty knife, flashlight, water, and a small plastic cup (bathroom?) handy. I use a turkey baster on the RV. The cup or baster are for adding water, if necessary. Next, open the front basement compartment and find the battery cover (usually right front as you face the rig. Remove the battery cover/case lid. Then, using the screwdriver or putty knife, gently remove the cell cover. It's the black rectangles between the terminals. Using the flshlight, see if the water in each cell (3) is up to the bottom of the cell's tube. Add water if necessary. Not to the top! To the bottom of the tube!!! Repeat for the other cover/3 cells. Should be good for another month!!! Hope this helps. Good luck, and I like your attitude!! Go girl!

Mrs. CountryGuy · 12-09-2008, 08:36 AM

Thanks Chris for the details.

My mandate! HAHA thanks for the smile on the choice of words!

Waynem · 12-09-2008, 09:28 AM

Buy one of these: BATTERY FILLER

It is well worth the $15 (On sale for half that). It is non spill. You just push the nozzle into the battery opening and push down on it. It fills the batter to the proper level. You don't have to stick you head (eyes) over the battery. I will never be without one. I keep it topped of with distilled water so it is ready all the time. Easy to store. Harder to store the 1 gallon container of distilled water.

Note: Just boiling water does not distill it. You need to turn the steam into water, and then you have distiled water. An example would be when you cover boiling water with a lid. Once it reaches boiling point, you take the lid off. The water droplets collected on the lid is distilled water. It would take a lot of lids to make a quart of distilled water. Faster to purchase it in a store. (Unless you have a "still." Then I want to know you.)

Edited: Corrected Link

blamb · 12-09-2008, 11:41 AM

Man, all that is intimidating, but I gotta learn somehow. Thanks, everyone!

iowaone · 12-09-2008, 12:20 PM

Posted - Dec 09 2008 : 2:35:52 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When checking battery's or doing anything else with the battery[s] be sure to wear safety glasses as the water[really water and sulfuric acid]will burn you and eyes. Skin burns can be treated but eyes are gone. To put it plainly you VERY WELL COULD BE BLIND. I do not know what converter you have but there could be a smart charger available for it that will NOT boil the water out of the battery[s]. When plugged in for long times the battery's will just trickle charge. I have one on mine.

Your unit has a smart charger built in I believe it is part of the anniversary package. You still need to check the battery but don't need a different charger or converter.

HamRad · 12-09-2008, 12:36 PM

Blamb,

Please don't be too intimidated by some of the posts that have been made. Of course you should be careful. But just take it slow and easy and all should be fine. The first time or two you might want someone who has done this process before to be there with you.

This is something that you do need to know how to do.

Good luck and I know you'll do fine.

HamRad

snfexpress · 12-09-2008, 04:17 PM

Wayne, thanks for the link.

Hamrad - what you said!

blamb - you are strong and assertive. Keep asking...

Driftwoodgal · 12-09-2008, 05:21 PM

blamb,

Just a note from the other posts. We had problems camping 2 years ago. We thought we had electrical problems. The problem ended up being that we had dry cells in our batteries. Thanks to post from the MOC family we were able to find our problem, or battery had gone dry. Checking your battery cell water level is very important. I always took for granted that my car battery doesn't have to be filled.

Keep the post up.... I am learning from your posts.

Colleen

Bill and Lisa · 12-10-2008, 06:00 AM

blamb,
just another suggestion that might make things a little easier, you may already have some distilled water at hand already. If you have a steam iron you should only be using distilled water in that (so when the water turns to steam it doesn't leave lots of mineral deposits behind to stain your clothes or clog the pores of the iron). You may not need buy a seperate jug just for your battery. If you haven't been using distilled water in your iron, well, now you have something to use up the rest of the jug after you top off your battery.

blamb · 12-10-2008, 07:56 AM

What's an iron?

Just kidding.

Distilled water is pretty easy to come by at Walmart so that shouldn't be a problem. I think I'll get the battery filler thing that Waynem linked, since it's so cheap, and it'd make things a lot easier for me. If I get that, do I still need someone to supervise my first foray into battery maintenance? lol

Imp · 12-11-2008, 06:16 AM

You can do it... It would be nice if someone would post a picture to show the cover on and then off, to show the caps on the battery. Someone referred to these caps as black. On our new battery they are green. I do this once a month after learning the hard way what happens when you don't. Ours is an older 3400 and does not have the smart charger on the converter. I believe the new rigs come with this. I keep the gallon of distilled water in the front compartment and take out a small measuring cup and flashlight with me. Also have some paper towel handy.

Remove battery cover and put to one side.

Gently pry one of the caps off of the battery. Set this upside down next to the openings.

Visualize with flashlight to see if you need any additional water.

Add water with measuring cup a little at a time till it comes to the bottom of the openings.

Carefully blot up any water on the top of the battery before putting the cap back on. Remember that this water may be from the cap and has sulferic acid in it. If you don't blot it up, when you put the cap back on and you reseat it with gentle force,(I actually tap it with something to help it reaseat itself) it can spray a little and land on your clothes. The result is small holes in your clothes (don't ask how I know)

Repeat procedure on the other side. Also check visually the contacts to see if there is any corrosion on the terminals. These can be cleaned with a wire brush.

Recover with battery cover.

Dispose paper towel in garbage and wash hands.

It really isn't that hard and if I can do it, you can too. Just have a little respect for what you are working with.

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