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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
 
Location: northeast Texas | First I want to ask if there is a specific brand of battery that is preferred for your LQ trailer ? Mine has 2 Nautilus Deep Cycle Marine starting batteries. Also at what age (and I know this can depend on use) do you usually need to replace them. And last but not least approximately how many hours will your batteries run the furnace blower before needed to be recharged? I recently used the furnace for the first time without being plugged into shore power and it seemed to drain my batteries pretty fast. This was at night with nothing else on. It was in the 30's and I set the heat high enough to keep it just comfortable, not real warm, for sleeping. Our trailer is an 08 that we have had a year, but was new. Batteries have manufacture date of 07. We did discover the batteries were low in water. Will they work better now since we added the water, or are they probably ruined, or are they just too old and needing replaced in the first place, or are these cheap batteries? I think it ran the furnace about 6 or 7 hours before they ran down and I got an error reading on the fridge and had to crank the generator. Lots of questions I know but I will be camping primitive this coming weekend and would like to not rely so much on the generator. Not supposed to be terrribly cold either at least. Thanks |
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Member
Posts: 44
Location: albany, ga | I have found with my batteries after running the frig and heat all night that they are pretty low in the am. I have to run the generator for several hrs during the day to charge them back to 100%. I also use the deep cycle batteries. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
Location: northeast Texas | Can you be more specific as to what you call "all night"? Approximate hours used ? I drove somewhere and arrived around midnight. Leveled trailer, took care of horse, and got to bed around 1 AM. It was around 35*. I turned on the furnace when I went to bed. Set it on around 60*. Woke up around 7:00 cold. Error was on fridge and furnace no longer coming on. Had to charge batteries a good bit with generator. |
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Member
Posts: 44
Location: albany, ga | That does not seem correct if your batteries are good. I can run from around 9pm to 6am with good heat etc. Now I live in Georgia so I may not be as cold at night. Recently I had the same issue and had to replace my batteries. Can you have them checked to see if they are about shot? I let mine get so bad that they finally went out in the night woke up freezing and had to pay to get someone to come bring them to me....not fun! |
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Veteran
Posts: 134
Location: Coarsegold, CA | Average lifespan of regular "deep cycle" batteries seems to be about 2 years. At least for me. My night time thermostat setting is 55. I have camped when morning temps were 12 df. Driving may not charge up the batteries sufficiently that you didn't have a full charge starting the night.
Have batteries checked. Replace both even if one is bad. Don't ask me how I know.... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 368
Location: Georgia | If you were using the battery (12V) setting on your fridge (3way), that may be your culprit. I was told when I had a 3cuft fridge that had the battery setting, that the fridge REALLY sucks the battery. You might try running your fridge on the propane setting if you have it. Also you can always have the batteries tested at your local auto parts store to see if they are in need of replacement.
Edited by lesliemal 2010-11-29 4:07 PM
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 330
Location: northeast Texas | Thanks for the replies. My fridge is not a 3 way. It is either propane or electric. I set it on auto and it switches from propane and elec and back depending on if I have shore power, gen running, or not. Someone already asked me that. The furnace blower just pulled it down. I just needed an idea of how long I could expect the batteries to run it, to get an idea if I maybe needed new batteries. I thought it should run it longer. |
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Veteran
Posts: 109
Location: Bella Vista, AR | Hi Patty,
My batteries are the original with the trailer and it is an 06. Do monitor the water level as that is important. Running the furnace does really seem to take lots of battery to me. I'm expecting my batteries will need to be replaced in the spring. |
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Expert
Posts: 3853
  
Location: Vermont | What kills batteries...Age(batteries are designed to last for approximately four to six years), Parasitic Drain, Bad Connections, Charging Events(Each time the battery is fully drained, its lifespan is shortened.)and finally Weather (can have a drastic and deadly effect on your batteries. Extreme temperatures, both hot and cold, are capable of ruining a battery. First, severe cold slows the chemical reactions that are necessary for your battery to work. Also, cold temperatures thicken motor oil and make it much more difficult for your battery to start the engine. If the battery is allowed to drain completely, it will freeze in temperatures below 0. Extreme heat will also take a severe toll on your car battery. Continuous heat above 100 degrees Fahrenheit causes your battery to discharge its energy at a greater rate, thus draining it more quickly. The key to keeping your battery alive in extreme temperatures is to simply keep it fully charged. Even a slightly discharged battery is more liable to die in hot or frigid conditions.)Also, if you are running batteries in parallel, one bad battery can kill the other battery... |
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batteries
