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21grandma View Drop Down
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Joined: 04 Jun 2013
Location: Dubuque, Iowa
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Posts: 83 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Battery dead:won't charge
    Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 9:10pm
What about keeping it plugged into the garage when not using it?  That should keep it charged. Correct?--but will it overcharge it?
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 9:31pm
I think the power supply is suppose to float when the battery is charged.  So keeping it plugged in *should* be a good thing.
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Posts: 267 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 9:37pm
Originally posted by Anthony Valenzano

I think the power supply is suppose to float when the battery is charged.  So keeping it plugged in *should* be a good thing.
You're spot on, Anthony. I've kept our Pod plugged into the garage for over 3 years, and had no problem with the original battery. The Pod has to have a float feature , as I've never had any problem with the water level in the battery--probably only adding water about twice. I've had other trailers without the float feature that would boil the battery dry when left plugged in.
'10 RP 175-Replaced by 2014 Kodiak 173 QBSL
'12 Toyota Tundra
'05 Sportster (half a Harley)
Retired-We're on Beach Time!
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 9:41pm
Is your garage temperature controlled?  That helps with battery life a lot.  Interestingly, I have an Optima battery in a Subaru since 2002 and it still starts the car everyday.
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Posts: 9062 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Jun 2013 at 9:41pm

If the lights inside the pod aren't coming on when it is plugged in the problem isn't with the battery, as others said you need to check the breakers in the pod, and to the plug the pod is plugged into.

Deep cycle batteries should never be 100% discharged (0% state-of-charge).  Usually they should be taken down to 50% state-of-charge, and only occasionally taken to 30%.  

Yes you can just leave the pod plugged in to keep the battery charged, the converter has a good 3-stage charger built-in which should not harm the battery.  You still should check the water levels every few months if you leave it plugged in.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Posts: 83 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 9:28am
DeadThought we had the problem solved. Not. Charged battery with charger to 75%. Plugged it into garage overnight. Battery dead again. Our son is coming over tonight to look at it. He will look at breakers and fused in r-pod. Do these often go bad?  Very difficult to reach. I have 2 "new"hips and husband has bad knees.  Once down, very difficult to get up.  Electrical panel very difficult to access.  Nothing will turn on in pod.
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Posts: 767 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 3:49pm
Originally posted by Anthony Valenzano

It should be a deep discharge battery, which can handle about 150 100% discharges.

Over the past 25 years, I've owned boats with trolling motors, trailers, portable battery packs and several other deep-cycle battery-based toys.  My experience is that you can get 4.  After that, the battery won't last a night's camping.
Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 4:22pm
Originally posted by Outbound

Originally posted by Anthony Valenzano

It should be a deep discharge battery, which can handle about 150 100% discharges.

Over the past 25 years, I've owned boats with trolling motors, trailers, portable battery packs and several other deep-cycle battery-based toys.  My experience is that you can get 4.  After that, the battery won't last a night's camping.

That does happen a lot, but its more from the lack of a proper recharging rather then the discharging itself.  Problem is that you need a full 24-48 hours of current going in one direction only (into the battery) to prevent sulfation of the plates.   I've also found that slow charging is the only way to recover a really low battery, 2A, and 48 hours.  While actively camping that's a little difficult to do.  You almost need to pull the battery out and charge it elsewhere.  The batteries can't handle lots of charge current when they are low, as a matter of fact you should never charge a lead-acid with more than a couple of amps.   I don't think you have the choice with the on-board charger, and if you did have the choice, you'd be pulling current from the battery under load and making the sulfation worse.   

I deal with lots of battery chemistry - and it really doesn't get less confusing.  But it's handy to reference this place for good info:

Batteries are funny - how about this one - you have a li-ion in your phone/drill/ipad?  If you ever charge those while they are really cold they will die forever.  Fun.
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 5:08pm
Mark Lund from Powerstream is the absolute authority in all things battery.  He'll answer your question directly if it's a good one - I'd recommend reading everything he has documented before asking.  He sells all types of special chargers and batteries.  I buy batteries from him from him for one of my products.  

http://www.powerstream.com/1922/battery_1922_WITTE/batteryfiles/chapter10.htm

As an aside 100% DOD isn't the same as zero volts.  It 150 recharges from 100% DOD, but I'm not sure about discharged to 0V, like when you leave a light on for a week or something like that.  BTW, LEDs are big battery saver in that respect - they stop drawing current when the battery drops to a certain voltage, incandescent just keep killing the battery.
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Anthony Valenzano View Drop Down
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Posts: 44 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jun 2013 at 6:47pm
Okay - so I'm hogging this thread now - but once I get one something I can't stop :-)

I pulled out the manual for the power converter for my Pod and it's not what I would consider a battery charger, and certainly not a 3-stage charger.  Basically it's a power supply that can switch between two voltages, 14.4V and 13.8.  It's nice that it lowers to 13.8 to stop over-charging but it does not float the battery, although 13.8 should be fine to leave attached to the battery.  Much more importantly it does not seem to limit the charge current at all, so it seems that it will provide all 35 amps to the battery if it can.  This is bad for a very low battery.  It can bulge the plates and leave sulphate on the plates.  As a rule, if your battery is lower than 25% on the little indicator, you should consider disconnecting it from the RV and charging it with a true battery charger.  You should be able to use the RV without the battery if you have AC power.

So I don't think it's that the battery is harmed by being discharged to 10.5V (100% DOD), it's when you slam the AC power onto it to charge it back up.  Should be charged up slowly and carefully.   
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