Winter Battery Charging ? What are you using ?

scanzel · February 18, 2013, 11:37:07 AM

During the winter months when some of us cannot head south we need to keep start and house batteries from loosing charge. I would like to know what everyone does or uses to keep the batteries up.

goutoe · February 18, 2013, 12:16:24 PM

Steve I bought a 7 day timer I have it to come on about 3 hours once a week, that way Im not cooking my house batteries by overcharging, seems to work fine, I try to start the bus once a month to charge the start batteries.

belfert · February 18, 2013, 12:45:31 PM

I have a Battery Tender Plus for my chassis batteries and a Prosine inverter for my house batteries. I do nothing for my generator battery and it never fails to start the generator.

gus · February 18, 2013, 12:52:31 PM

The Battery Tender or Battery Minder can't be beat if you have no multi-phase converter or inverter charger.

The only difference I can see is that one plugs directly into an outlet and the other has a cord to the outlet. I prefer the direct one because it isn't so easily tangled; however, sometimes it can't be plugged into a wall outlet because it is too big. It is easy to plug into an extension cord though.

Melbo · February 18, 2013, 02:45:03 PM

Although not in the coldest of climates I just disconnect EVERYTHING and check the state of charge monthly on all my batteries.

I have four start group 31's -- a gen start batt --- four 8d agm house batts and a 12 volt agm house batt.

If any battery or group start to show discharge issues I run the gen for 5 or 6 hours to get everything back to normal.

I have been able to leave the bus parked for as much as five months with no issues.

Melbo

Gerry H · February 20, 2013, 08:20:57 AM

Steve: Here in Minnesota we have the same winter problems. I have a pair of Battery minder model 12248 on the start batteries and an Iota DLS27-25m w/IQ-4 on the house batteries. I leave them on year round. It's been 3 years of winters since I installed them and have no problems so far. Starter batteries are 4 Group 31 std auto batteries, house - 2 group 4D AGM's Don't have much house load.
Battery minders model 12248 are great, found a deal on line for them.
Your DDEC and equalizers draw current all the time, so 2 amps or more capability recommended. Mine are 8 amps each. Some 2 amp trickle or less may not keep up batteries.
Good luck Gerry H

PCC · February 21, 2013, 12:03:28 PM

The best unit we have found is the multi-stage chargers from Power Stream in Utah.

Mike (801-764-9060) was great to offer information on the different models, and they are the designers and engineers for their units, so it is an American product.

luvrbus · February 21, 2013, 01:06:26 PM

Best battery charger is the Dewalt 2 to 8 amps with float feature cost 29 bucks at Lowes beats all the so called battery tenders

bobofthenorth · February 21, 2013, 02:52:48 PM

All I've ever done is pull the disconnects and walk away from it. If you truly disconnect all loads and don't leave it sit for more than 6 months then you shouldn't have to worry about it. Generally after 6 months sitting I will put a charger on it before trying to crank but not always.

Oonrahnjay · February 21, 2013, 03:10:53 PM

Quote from: luvrbus on February 21, 2013, 01:06:26 PMBest battery charger is the Dewalt 2 to 8 amps with float feature cost 29 bucks at Lowes beats all the so called battery tenders

^^^^ Whut ee sed!

gus · February 21, 2013, 04:12:38 PM

From what I've read batt plates start to oxidize in only a couple of weeks. This lead oxide slowly accumulates when one sits for months and finally kills it.

I have no idea if this is all true but it makes sense, I know there are all kinds of snake oil products advertised to break up this oxide!

bobofthenorth · February 21, 2013, 04:59:16 PM

I dunno much about batteries Gus but my start batts weren't new when we bought the bus and we used them for 7 years with the kind of treatment I described above. Its a rare year that they haven't sat for at least 3 or 4 months sometime during the year, often longer. In my business there were far more batteries killed by being deep discharged than died from just sitting. I'd hate to think how many batteries I've bought over the years.

Oregonconversion · February 21, 2013, 10:20:57 PM

I got a 24V charger off Ebay for $9 that was for an electric scooter. I have this on a house timer charging my chassis 8D batteries 15 minutes every day. It has worked for 3 years now with no problems.

Oregonconversion · February 21, 2013, 10:22:37 PM

For my house batteries my inverter takes care of them. I just keep the bus plugged into shore power.

belfert · February 22, 2013, 08:23:35 AM

Does Dewalt really make a car battery charger? I can't find one sold anywhere online. I see on Lowe's website a Stanley 3 stage car battery charger for $30. I haven't been to an actual Lowe's store yet was the nearest store is about a 30 mile round trip.