Battery Boilers

[Chuck Wheeler]

I have three cutoff switches. The original by the driver, a second that
disconnects all electronics, and a third that disconnects the charger and
removes the ac from it. I found the the new electronic chargers also have a
"phantom" drain. With all switches off I have NO load on the batteries. I
did this because at times I have had to leave our BB where there was no
shore power.

- Chuck Wheeler -
82 FC 31 SB
Fort Worth, TX


_____

From: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tom Warner
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:11 PM
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Battery Boilers



Chuck most Forward controls have 450AH of batteries ( four 6V deep
cycles). The normal phantom drains on them is 5amps or more that
means you will use up 50% of your batteries in about 45 hours or less
then 2 days. One month and they would be ruined and totally dead.

Have you added extra batteries or do you turn off all of the DC circuits?

tom warner
vernon center,ny
1985 PT 40

At 09:19 PM 1/23/2007, you wrote:
>For what it's worth, I turn off the dc and the charger, and let the
>batteries "rest". With no load you don't need to charge them more that once
>a month. I leave the coach plugged in do the frost heaters will work. Our
>coach rarely sits more than a month without going someplace.
>
>- Chuck Wheeler -
>82 FC 31 SB
>Fort Worth, TX
>
>
> _____
>
>From: WanderlodgeForum@
yahoogroups.com
>[mailto:WanderlodgeForum@
yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of thomas_sorrentino
>Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:43 PM
>To: WanderlodgeForum@
yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Battery Boilers
>
>
>
>Thank you for all the answers. I do plan on putting in an
>inverter/charger like Tom reccommended. I won't be able to get to it
>until spring though. We're going to Fl. in Feb. and then leaving the
>coach in Mrytle Beach and hopefully attending both rally's. So the
>coach won't be home until April.
>Frank I think you gave me pretty much what I was looking for.
>(storage mode; master switch off and no real loads: I used
>one "boiler" unit on a timer for 2 hours a day. Seemed to work fine.
>Thats what I'll start off with! Thanks Again
>
>Tom Sorrentino
>1987PT38
>Bedford Hills, NY
>
>--- In WanderlodgeForum@
>yahoogroups.com, "fwernlein"
>wrote:
> >
> > I would echo the advice of Tom, in that at least you should protect
> > your battery investment - perhaps by what I did, keep one of the
> > boilers as a spare/reserve (unplugged, but set up) and replace the
> > other with an fully automatic multi-stage charger. I used a 45amp
> > IOTA and it is plug in and forgetaboutit. You still of course need
> > to check the water level about once a month. This simple "fix"
>will
> > save you a lot of worry and effort at a very reasonable cost.
> >
> > But, to answer your specific "how long to charge" question: It
> > depends on what you are taking out of the batteries. There can be
> > no set answer, the variables are basically what you take out you
> > want to put back in...to get a full charge. If using a fully
>manual
> > system as you now have, you will have to experiment to find out
> > your "charge time" per day, based on your individual battery drain
> > factors and set the timer accordingly.
> >
> > 1: In my OEM system, if just in storage mode; master switch off and
> > no real loads: I used one "boiler" unit on a timer for 2 hours a
> > day. Seemed to work fine.
> > 2: when "living/camping" with lights, fan, pump...I found that one
> > charger on all the time worked fine; if you see your voltage
> > dropping and not recovering, plug the second one in to top off.
> >
> > Frank
> > 85FC33
> > Woodbridge, VA.
> >
> >
> > --- In WanderlodgeForum@
>yahoogroups.com, "thomas_sorrentino"
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > I just installed all new batteries and cables. I still have the
> > old
> > > battery boilers and probably will have them at least until the
> > spring.
> > > In the mean time I keep the coach plugged in to 30 amps. My
> > thought is
> > > to keep the battery chargers plugged into a timer. Does any body
> > have
> > > any experience as to how long to keep them on per day? One or two
> > > chargers? The goal is to keep the batteries topped off without
> > boiling
> > > them out!
> > >
> > > Tom Sorrentino
> > > 1987 PT38
> > > Bedford Hills, NY
> > >
> >
>
>
>
>
>
>
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