Does anyone have a system that works to keep a battery charged this winter. My husband wants to put the trailer on a charger so it charges an hour a day. Would that work?
Posted 2008-10-27 10:47 PM (#93758 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
If you were to use a standard charger that often during storage, you would end up over charging your battery, boiling the electrolyte and probably ruin your battery. Even my small solar charger is too much, when the trailer is not being used.
You can purchase an automatic battery float charger. It is a small amperage unit with a trickle charging circuit. It is hooked up 24 / 7 / 52 and will maintain a non used battery for extended periods of time.
The electrolyte level should be check initially the first week, then a month and if everything is OK, once every following month. That way you will know if the battery is being overcharged.
Posted 2008-10-28 8:28 AM (#93778 - in reply to #93765) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Veteran
Posts: 153
Location: Grant City, Missouri
Oops, I said the wrong thing. I meant he is wanting to put the trailer on a timer so that it would charge an hour a day. Or, are you saying that just by having the trailer plugged in it could overcharge? What about folks that leave their trailer plugged in all the time?
Posted 2008-10-28 8:53 AM (#93780 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
Your initial posting said that you wanted to charge the battery one hour each day. That's way too much.
Plugging the trailer in has a different affect if you have a LQ. Your converter has a charging system, which automatically maintains the charging of your battery. You don't need any additional systems. However, when the trailer's electrical system is operating, many circuits and some equipment is energized, whether it is being used or not.
I pickle my trailers and do not maintain the interiors during the winters. There is no power on at any time. By using the float charger, aprox $25 at auto parts stores, the batteries are maintained, eliminating any freezing and damage. I have also used these chargers on my stored automobiles and diesel garden tractor. I have yet to have a battery fail after a half a year's storage.
Posted 2008-10-28 10:18 AM (#93790 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
Try Harbor Freight 1 800 905 5220, float charger 42292-785a $7.99. www.HarborFreight.com. I have never used that brand charger, but it's a hell of a price if it works.
Posted 2008-11-11 4:23 PM (#94711 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Expert
Posts: 5870
Location: western PA
We have to disconnect ours to keep the battery from over charging. It is not regulated. We then use the float charger to maintain the battery over the winter.
The one thing I learned about my LQ is that the LQ charging system was not intelligent. Meaning most LQ's don’t have a charging system that monitors the batteries, floating vs. charging vs. Boiling the batteries. All three of these stages are very important.
Most systems have power converters that just flat out charge. This can boil your battery dry in no time. Which in turn will destroy your battery in a few days if not caught in time.
I recommend finding out what type of power converter you have. The most common is the Progressive Dynamics Inteli Power 9100 model PD9145A.
This model does not monitor your battery and is fairly bad for your system to remain plugged in. However the really neat thing this company did was they left room for improvement.
I took full advantage of this and ordered an add-on called the Charge wizard a very inexpensive add on for this product line.
And of course even more important is understanding how to water your batteries properly.
I am currently searching for automatic water that will handle three batteries. We have three type 27 deep cycle batteries on our LQ and I hate to have to pull them out to check the water. My buddy has the automatic water on his golf cart batteries and he loves the convenience of it.
For the winter I removed two of the batteries and left one behind for the jack.The two are safe in the cellar and I am currently monitoring them weekly for voltage drop before I recharge them.My outside battery is plugged in safe and sound.
I tend to stray. If you have only a battery and no LQ charging system. Just do as the folks above mention and get a decent float charger. A well charged battery will not freeze. However do watch the water level and only add distilled water from CVS or Walmart never tap water.
Posted 2008-11-13 7:31 AM (#94812 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 406
Location: Minneapolis, MN
You can get a water manifold for your batteries at Camping World. Although it's not automatic, it is very easy to use once installed. I have tow 6 volt golf cart batteries on my trailer, and you can't event see the electrolyte level while they are in the box. And like anything else, if something is difficult to access it usually gets ignored.
Posted 2008-11-13 8:39 PM (#94859 - in reply to #93748) Subject: RE: Keeping battery charged this winter
Veteran
Posts: 115
The cheap float charger from Harbor Freight (mentioned above) works great. We have them on all the tractors that rarely get used during the winter and I plan to use them on my LQ this winter. They kept all the tractor batteries nicely maintained all winter so they actually cranked in the spring!