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Old 10-15-2015, 10:07 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by Joe Romas View Post
Doghaus
I had my Casita plugged in yesterday while I did some cleaning. It's has a simple older Parallax 6325 converter. After finishing my cleaning I unplugged the shore power and this morning the battery voltage was 13.0 volts and the overnight low temperature was 36 so the surface charge should have been gone.

I agree your battery is toast and if you do a lot of boon dock camping I would NOT buy a new fancy converter and instead buy a fancy battery charger that you could also use on your TV or any thing else with a 12volt storage battery.

Joe
The Parallax 6300 series are well known for their capability of overcharging and boiling batteries if not monitored. Parallax and American (brand) are the two converters that I have puled out when installing new power centers.They don't have any charging regulation and, if still at 13 volts, your battery must have gotten hit pretty hard when charging.

A good converter with a 3 stage smart charger is a fairly inexpensive way to up date the electrical system as well as improve battery performance and life.

My PD-4045 is plugged in 24/7 when I am at home, and my cheapo HF battery charger is in the garage for when the neighbors need it.



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Old 10-15-2015, 10:28 AM   #22
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The Parallax 6300 series are well known for their capability of overcharging and boiling batteries if not monitored.

Bob.

I knew you or Byron would say something about that

There are instructions on how to adjust the float voltage to 13.6 on a completely charged battery at 72 degrees on the 6300 series converters. I followed them and have never had to add water

Joe
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Old 10-15-2015, 10:31 AM   #23
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Bob.

I knew you or Byron would say something about that

There are instructions on how to adjust the float voltage to 13.6 on a completely charged battery at 72 degrees on the 6300 series converters. I followed them and have never had to add water

Joe
Good to know, most 6300's I have encountered aren't set that accurately, usually very high or very low. And the owners think that a voltmeter is that "Thingy" on the dash of the TV !!!


And just to clarify, the manual also sez:


"Service information provided solely for use by Licensed Electricians and Certified RV Technicians"


Which will scare away most users.


http://www.hayseed.net/~jpk5lad/RV%2...%20Binder1.pdf




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Old 10-15-2015, 10:34 AM   #24
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You can take that battery to a battery store that specializes in auto batteries. They'll put a full charge on it and then load test it to see if it has a problem. Easy thing to and either confirm or eliminate one failure point.
Most places I've done this with don't charge for the service.
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Old 10-16-2015, 06:39 AM   #25
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update: after plugging into the converter (The original - American brand) for one night and letting it sit unplugged with nothing "on" all day the multimeter test read 11.89. Needing to make a decision and having very little time to battery shop before my last boondocking trip ( just one overnight ) this weekend, I turned on the heat and left it overnight to see what would happen. This morning the heater was still able to run, lights (LED) could work, and the battery read 11.5. I turned off the heat, plugged the converter back in, waited two hours, it now reads 12.32 while charging on the onboard converter.
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Old 10-16-2015, 08:09 AM   #26
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Sounds like a) your battery is suffering from age and under-charging and, b) your converter isn't putting out enough (12.32 volts) to ever fully charge the battery. I'd just pop into Wal-Mart and get a new battery and sort things out after the weekend with a new battery in place. Be sure the new battery is "Fully Charged" when installed, i.e., over 13.0 volts.



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Old 10-16-2015, 03:51 PM   #27
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Buying a new battery is quick and easy at a Walmart or at most auto parts stores.

If you want to get by for one more night, one thing you could try: put an automotive battery charger on the battery for a half-day or more. Not sure if it will help, but it can't hurt.
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Old 10-19-2015, 09:30 AM   #28
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Update: Survived the one New England night with ample heat and normal use of water pump and LED lights. Battery was at 11.9 when I arrived at destination and detached car from Scamp, then 11.5 right before I hitched up to drive home the next day. I guess I don't really use that much electricity with what I normally do.
Last Scampout for the year is this coming weekend, where I will have electric hookup. (and yes, one year I did run out of propane at this event, so I weighed my tank last week lol) Then I put everything away for the winter and will get a new battery in the spring and a smart charger to go with it. Thanks everyone!
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Old 10-19-2015, 09:47 AM   #29
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Hmmmm.... I'm wondering if you may have more of a meter problem than a battery problem.


Here's why; at 11.9 volts, which is less than 50% charge, most furnaces can't spin the fan fast enough to trip the sail safety switch. As it turns out, many can't trip the sail switch without a fairly full charge. The .4 drop is about right for one night out when you are at full charge, but starting at a 50% charge I would have expected a faster drop.


Try connecting or plugging in your voltmeter to the TV by itself and tell us what you are reading. That should be close to 14+ volts at a fast idle.



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Old 10-19-2015, 09:56 AM   #30
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Hmmmm.... I'm starting to wonder if you might have a meter problem more than a battery problem. Here's why:


1. 11.9 volts is about 50% of a full charge
2. Most furnaces can't spin the fan fast enough at 50% charge to trip the sail switch and the furnace does not light off.
3. The .4 volt drop for overnight with using the furnace is about right when starting with a full charge, but I would expect to see a lot more drop when starting at a 50% charge.
4. Try connecting your voltmeter to your TV alone and check that reading. It should be 14 volts or more at a fast idle.



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Old 10-20-2015, 03:41 PM   #31
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Thanks Bob, I'll look into the meter question.
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Old 10-20-2015, 04:35 PM   #32
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The American Converter per my discussion with them several years ago indicated that they stopped charging at 12.2 volts.
I didn't much like that so stopped using the American Converter and purchased a Battery Minder and now when the trailer is at home the Battery Minder keeps the battery charged.
When towing the tow vehicle charges.
When in camp about every 3 to 5 day a few hours of solar seems to do the trick.
Meter accuracy is often the cause of problems. Read and understand the specifications that comes with your meter.
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Old 10-27-2015, 04:23 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman View Post
The American Converter per my discussion with them several years ago indicated that they stopped charging at 12.2 volts.
I didn't much like that so stopped using the American Converter and purchased a Battery Minder and now when the trailer is at home the Battery Minder keeps the battery charged.
When towing the tow vehicle charges.
When in camp about every 3 to 5 day a few hours of solar seems to do the trick.
Meter accuracy is often the cause of problems. Read and understand the specifications that comes with your meter.
I have an 11 year old American converter and it charges to a full charge.
Was that a Typo?
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Old 10-27-2015, 05:07 PM   #34
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I have a 16 year old 6325 Parallax converter that charges to 14.4 volts. Once there it then drops back to 13.6 volts.

Joe
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Old 08-19-2022, 09:05 AM   #35
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how to charge flooded batteries vs AGM batteries.
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Old 08-19-2022, 09:12 AM   #36
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The different voltage setting for different types of batteries, and the charging times for batteries: https://deepcyclebatterystore.com/do...looded-vs-gel/


And I use a isolated 12vdc to 12vdc battery charger to charge my trailer house batteries while driving between campgrounds. I run a voltage line from my truck battery to the battery charger which is mounted in the trailer. Being a "isolated" charger, neither battery will discharge when the truck is turned off.
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Old 08-19-2022, 09:43 AM   #37
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DC to DC charger

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And I use a isolated 12vdc to 12vdc battery charger to charge my trailer house batteries while driving between campgrounds. I run a voltage line from my truck battery to the battery charger which is mounted in the trailer. Being "isolated", the will not discharge when the truck is turned off.
This is an old thread but I'll jump in anyway. My tow vehicle was not fully charging the RV battery so I also added a DC to DC charger. Two notes, most tow vehicles disconnect from the RV when not running, and the charger linked is discounted now that I've paid the full price.
So far it looks like it is doing a better job of battery management. I bought this one and set it to 10 amps due to wire size in the T/V. https://amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5V...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
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Old 08-19-2022, 09:59 AM   #38
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This is an old thread but I'll jump in anyway. My tow vehicle was not fully charging the RV battery so I also added a DC to DC charger. Two notes, most tow vehicles disconnect from the RV when not running, and the charger linked is discounted now that I've paid the full price.
So far it looks like it is doing a better job of battery management. I bought this one and set it to 10 amps due to wire size in the T/V. https://amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q5V...e?ie=UTF8&th=1
I running the https://www.amazon.com/Orion-Tr-12-3.../dp/B07ZKG396Y, charging two 100Ah 12V Heated Battle Born Batteries.
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