Remove the battery?

[Irlpguy]

quote:Originally posted by gjetzen

Tripguy, sorry to break the news to you but a wet lead/acid battery will freeze if left unattended. It will slowly discharge as temps drop below 30 degrees F and will take about a month of being idle to lose it's charge. The electrolyte of a fully charged "wet" battery will have a specific gravity (meaning it is denser than water) above 1.1300. Once the specific gravity goes below 1.1000 it is essentially water and will freeze if left unattended even though you may still have a 12 volt no load voltage reading across the terminals. Pure water has a specific gravity of 1.000. Never trust a no load voltage to tell you a batteries condition. It will screw every time.

A fully charged battery will "NOT" freeze at any temperatures we will ever encounter. I do not know at what temperature it might freeze but vehicles operating in Northern Canada, Alaska and the Artic are constantly subjected to temperatures below -40 and as low as -50 without freezing. Over time all batteries will lose charge and can reach a point they will indeed freeze, that we can agree on.

Not many carry a hydrometer with them, I do, it is in my battery compartment in my Monty and that is how I determine the condition of my batteries and do this for many others that do not carry a hydrometer.

Most if not all of the newer converters utilize a battery upkeep system, where the charge rate will be normal at 13.2V, upped to 13.8 in charge mode and 14.2 or so for short periods of time every so often. So if you can leave your RV plugged in you will likely not have much worry about your batteries. Check the water a couple of times a year.

I do recommend a hydrometer to check each cell, it is the "only" way you can determine if the cells are all good. They are inexpensive to buy as well.