The Best Way on How to Charge RV Battery While Driving
"Is it possible to charge the RV battery while driving?" This is the common question that most RV owners have in mind. The answer is yes. Maybe you've been searching for numerous ways of charging your RV battery while driving. Worry no more as this article aims to help you with the right method of RV battery charging in order to make your road trip more fun and enjoyable.
But, before knowing how to charge RV battery while driving, acquaint yourself with the important things you must know about RV battery.
Key Things about RV Battery Revealed
The whole thing in the RV depends on a twelve-volt system to operate. Without it, the electrical devices in the rig would not function. Your RV house battery is known as a deep cycle battery that is intended to store vast amounts of power. This allows the battery to work for long spans of time.
Storage
Typically, recreation cars are kept away for months throughout the winter. It is essential to take care of your RV batteries to prevent it from getting flat since they naturally absolve over a period. While in storage, check on them at regular intervals.
Once a month is enough or you can purchase new batteries the following season.
Battery Charging
Your battery will charge if the RV is attached to an electric outlet. If your RV does not have a charger or converter that converts power and then channels in the adapter, you will be suggested to buy a three stage charger. If you have a generator in the RV, you can use it.
In storage, do not make use of the integral charger; a 3 stage charger is considered more useful to use. Besides, this type of charger can protect your RV battery for long-lasting use. When fully charged, the 12-volt battery can give a bit more voltage.
It is easy to examine the state of charge; all you have to do is check the voltage being emitted. In case your RV has an inverter or a solar panel, you can monitor the charge through a battery monitor as it shows the charge state. Also, you can purchase a digital voltmeter for identifying the voltage.
Maintenance
RV batteries have different life spans, depending on the manner it is being used. Manufacturers offer 12 volt RV batteries, and room for some batteries in there is provided as well. Presumably, the new RV batteries are considered marine batteries. Make use of them entirely.
New deep batteries should be purchased when replacing them. Several sizes of batteries are available in the market, and your preferred battery size solely depends on your total space.
Life Chart
If maintained appropriately, your RV batteries can last up to five years. It is advised not to be edgy when recharging the battery as it usually takes a smaller amount of time draining it than it does to recharge them. You should remove the ground wire so draining your battery while in storage would be prevented.
So, you have already familiarized yourself with some essential facts about RV battery. You are now ready to learn how to charge RV battery while charging.
What Is The Exact Time For Batteries To Charge?
Well, the time you will need for charging your batteries rely on many things. These include: (1) the battery charger size; (2) how deep the battery is discharged; (3) the capacity of the battery in amp-hours; and (4) the charge current of the charger in amperes.
Things you will need:
Ways of Charging an RV Battery While Driving
There are a few steps you can take to charge your RV battery while driving. Below are two simple steps you can try.
Step 1. Combine the batteries using high amperage and good quality cables for reducing the voltage drop.
In this step, you need to use Anderson plugs as these can carry a massive amount of amperage while giving you a real connection with the minimized loss of voltage. Allow the cable to be attachable easily at the tow bar.
The circuit protection is in the variety of 50-amp automatic reset circuit breaker, which helps remove the fire hazard.
Step 2. The VCR disconnects and parallels the start and auxiliary batteries automatically.
The relay is closed, plus the trailer batteries and the truck get comparable to the pre-set level. The relay will open if the truck is on. But if the truck is off, the two batteries will get disconnected as well as the voltage will be procured to the pre-set level.
Watch this video for more RV tips:
RV Battery Charges
Over time, any battery will gradually discharge. Thus, having a battery charger is a necessity to recharge them. For 3 or 4 stage charges, such terms as boost or bulk, storage, float and absorption phases are what you may often hear.
Boost or Bulk
Boost or bulk is regarded as the initial phase of charging method. It is basically the stage in which the charges produce enough current. The charging frequency of the battery reduces the voltage of battery storage increases.
Float Stage
During float stage, the battery charge is reduced again to approximately 97 percent of charge. Storage phase or maintenance phase, on the other hand, is where there's steady voltage. The goal is to maintain the RV battery at total capacity as well as keep all DC operating loads at the same time.
Absorption Phase
Lastly, absorption phase is where the charge entering is minimized to around half of a constant or boost rate for numerous hours.
These days, you can find many different types of battery charges for various types of use. Manufacturers have professionally designed them for long-lasting use while offering car owners a fun tour while on the road.
There are battery chargers intended for sealed lead cell and lead-acid batteries, among others, for AGM gel cell batteries. The charging output relies on the recommendation of the battery supplier.
Smart battery chargers are also available in the market, which is designed to recharge many battery banks concurrently. They can detect when to stop the charge so damaging the battery cell can be avoided, and good charging performance can be achieved.
Final Thoughts
These simple steps on how to charge RV battery while driving can be done manually, providing you have the in-depth knowledge and complete tools needed. In most cases, the professional help of qualified personnel is highly advised.
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