How do I know what kind/size battery I have?

brooksdm

First things first.  I am a complete NEWBIE and know little to nothing about travel trailers.  I just purchased a used 2016 Clamshell on Monday and just titled and received my plates yesterday.  That's how new I am.  LOL!  I've read and read and read some more, on a lot of things but the more I read, the more confused I become.   I'm concerned about the maintenance of my battery and what type I have.  My battery has an on/off switch but other than that, I don't know how I'm supposed to maintain the battery besides turning it off when not in use.  Is there a manual on the battery itself?  I know it's an Interstate but that's about all I know.  Thank you in advance for you help.  

ericnliz

@brooksdm, Welcome! Sounds like you're going through what a very large majority of us have already experienced. Hang in there, we're here to help & it does, in fact get easier, although I know a lot of it is confusing right now.  Your battery is probably the original group 24 deep cycle battery. Lots of folks have up-graded in several ways, but lets stick to maintaining right now. When not in use, yes, turn the switch to the "off" position. That will eliminate a LOT of "phantom" drains. Use a good battery maintainer/charger to keep it charged up. While plugged in to your tow vehicle, if your seven pin wiring is done correctly, your tow vehicle will help charge the battery. I leave my switch in the "on" position while towing, unless I stop for over an hour or so, then I turn it off to alleviate any drains. Make sure you pop the caps off on the top of the battery, and make sure there is enough water in the battery. When you look inside the battery, you'll see a round "sleeve" for each battery cell. Fill with DISTILLED water to the level of that sleeve. When plugged in to shore power, your converter will maintain the charge for you, but, again leave the switch to the battery on.
I hope that helps for a start.. any more questions...ask away!

brooksdm

@ericnliz Wow!  Thank you so much for the information.  It is truly appreciated!  You mentioned battery maintainer/charger.  Would that be solar or generator or am I thinking of something totally different?  If so or even if not, what would you recommend as a good maintainer/charger? 

pthomas745

Read up on batteries here: 

https://www.solar-electric.com/learning-center/batteries-and-charging/deep-cycle-battery-faq.html#Battery Size Codes

rcuomo

Ditto what Eric mentioned. If it is an Interstate HD-24DP it is rated at 100 reserve capacity minutes or 42 amp hours.

ericnliz

@brooksdm, The post that @pthomas745 has listed above is a very good read for a LOT of battery questions. Solar & generator are for boondocking (when you do not have shore power available when camping for a prolonged period of time...ie: more than 3 days.) A maintainer/charger is for when the camper is NOT in use to maintain/charge the battery. Look on Amazon for battery maintainer/chargers. Read up & look at the recommendations. Hope this helps you.

brooksdm

@rcuomo & @ericnliz Awsome!  Thank you!!!

brooksdm

@pthomas745 Thank you for the link!  Will start reading asap!  

pthomas745

@brooksdm, you will see assertions about batteries that have the ring of truth, but, like any human communication, sometimes things get a little twisted in their eagerness to help.  That link helps me all the time.

It's what  you learn after  you know it all that counts!

trainwrecked

That is a great read, there is a wealth of information on the net about charging and batteries and it can be a bit overwhelming.  It took me a while to sort it out in my head and I'm sure I still don't have it all right...

As Eric mentioned, the T@b converter will maintain the battery, but in my experience, it didn't do a very good job of charging if the battery has been drained down.  I lost my first battery by allowing the voltage to get too low and freezing it on a very cold night.

Now I use a Duracell Ultra 7.5amp charger that works great, a lot of folks recommend the Noco Genius.  The duracell was about $15 less than the 7.2amp Noco and seems to follow the same charging steps, just doesn't maintain after the fact.  I have an AGM battery so I can charge when I come home from a trip and the battery keeps its charge very well (I pull the fuse at the battery so there's no power to the T@b and no parasitic drain).  Then I just give it a little bump with the charger before I leave on my next trip.

I also have a 200 watt Zamp solar suitcase for boondocking which does a wonderful job charging as well, usually gets me back to full charge before sundown.

pthomas745

I treat my Tab battery pretty much how I treat my older car that I don't drive as often as I should.

If I know the trailer will be parked for a month or so, I turn off the switch.  I've also completely disconnected it, like I would do if the car was to be parked for a couple of months. 

Both of these strategies work fine, and the batteries maintain their charge.

I have one of the Noco Genius chargers if I want to top them off in the garage, and use a 100 watt solar panel on trips. 

deuce

@trainwrecked, @pthomas745, @Denny16, @Sharon_is_SAM

under what circumstances would you use the “recover” option for a 12-volt that is available on a Duracell ULTRA 7.5 Amp ?

Sharon_is_SAM

If your battery is deeply discharged I would use it.  Does it have a manual?  It should identify the parameters for that setting.  What is your current battery voltage?

pthomas745

These types of options would be for a seriously depleted battery, or one that has "sulfated."  Here is a whole description of "sulfation."  I think the "recover" is completely different for a "starter" battery like a car compared to a deep cycle battery in the trailer.  But, I've never been in this situation!

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/sulfation_and_how_to_prevent_it

mrdeepfryguy

@pthomas745   thanks for the solar-electric educational link (again). Bought our T@b in June and read that link then, but also had to learn about all the other systems, as well as towing something for the first time. Just read this link again and now I am starting to “get it”.  For me at least, “repetition is the key to comprehension”. Bought a voltimeter and the Noco Genius10 charger/maintainer and plan on doing a good job managing the batteries going forward.

CharlieRN

I can also recommend the series of videos that this young man has put together. The videos are centered around solar power, but he does a great job of explaining electrical concepts. Here's the link to his basics video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX4s-bxn4fs

pthomas745

@mrdeepfryguy I posted that link two years ago, and I had only just discovered it myself.  Every time I read some discussion about batteries I could reference that page to translate what I had just read.  It was a great help.  Cutting through the battery jargon is really hard at first.