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Old 04-17-2018, 12:58 PM   #1
seththel@gmail.com
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Newbie battery question

I have a cover over my batteries and the cables attached are too short to remove the cover and check the water levels.

Is it best to disconnect the battery before checking the levels? If I have to do this every 30 days.. has anyone had problems after leaving the cover off?
 
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Old 04-17-2018, 01:16 PM   #2
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I would leave the cover off myself, but what I actually did was buy gel cell batteries and never checked water again.
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Old 04-17-2018, 01:17 PM   #3
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By the term cover, do you mean the top enclosure of the battery box that contains lead acid battery/ies? If so, that cover is meant to seal the box with the attached tubing to vent hydrogen gas out the front vent of the rig. If you don't keep it in place, then you have an explosion risk due to any electrical arcing that might take place in that front area. Better to rework the whole system so that is stays sealed and yet can be remove to check water levels...or...switch to agm batteries that are sealed, requiring no water additions or venting.
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Old 04-17-2018, 01:27 PM   #4
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I check and add water twice a year and has always proven adequate for water level maintenance. And the trailer is connected to power in year round. My cover fits over my cables and has a vent hose from that cover to the outside to vent off the gasses.
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Old 04-17-2018, 11:58 PM   #5
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I've checked my water several times since getting new last October. Yea, it's a PIA getting the top of the battery box up high enough to do so. I stay on shore power nonstop with the converter maintaining the battery ~13.3vdc. I've never found the water low in any cell so I'll most likely drop back to checking every 4 months. At the PDI, I was told to check it every month. I believe this is in reference to the older converters that were known for boiling the batteries.
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Old 04-19-2018, 06:25 PM   #6
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Thank you all for the advice.
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Old 04-29-2018, 11:58 AM   #7
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About removing the top cover from the battery box.
It should remain in place except for maintenance due to the collection of gasses and the fact it contributes to the venting of these gasses. But it MUST remain in place as there is a tremendous amount of stored energy in the batteries EVEN if they are in a state of discharge. A short circuit across them can be disastrous. If you were to store something metal in the area and during travel or anytime it shifted to contact the batteries there is possibility of fire in a very short amount of time.
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Old 04-29-2018, 03:46 PM   #8
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Fire and total loss of rv in a matter of minutes...
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