thank you so much for speaking to REAL novice folk like me. just bought a 2002 Gulf Stream Independence with my GF and neither of us have ever owned a camper. LOTS of things to learn but we are so happy and grateful for videos like yours THANKS SO MUCH!
Well Done. I’m a retired electronics mechanic that used to run a large battery shop and its nice to see a good RV battery video where all the information you are putting out is actually correct.
equalism 42 HI! I have 1000 watts of solar on my RV (mounted flat for simplicity and stealth camping) with a Morningstar Tristar 60 controller. I love the silent sound of 60 amps of current flowing into my batteries in full mid day sun. Over the last 8 years I have lots of data logged and measurement records with multiple setups (12 volt lead acid, AGM batteries, Golf cart lead acid batteries and in early June I went to LiFePo4 batteries which really is a game changer. A 100 Ah Battle born battery is actually slightly higher voltage but provides as much total power available as a pair of Golf cart batteries and recharges astonishingly fast. We rarely run the generator at all anymore unless we want to run air conditioning. Its really not like camping anymore- its more like having a cabin with all the features of home on wheels with the only limiting factor being groceries and water. Our setup- 2012 28’ Allegro Breeze, Morningstar MPPT Tristar controller, Morningstar SureSine Inverter (super efficient, on all the time) Xantrex prosine 1800 watt inverter for the big loads (microwave, induction cooktop, air conditioner, toaster, coffee pot, running the fridge on all electric, central vac), Xantrex Link pro battery monitor and last upgrade was to 4 battle born batteries which gives us (actual measured and tested data) the equivalent of 8+ Golf cart batteries of power and saves 400+ lbs. C23flyboy@msn.com
I’ve got a marine battery from a old boat that scrapped. The battery is dead but can be charged. It’s two and a half years old. Can I charge it and put it in my daily driven truck?? Do you think it will be useful or a waste of time. This battery was used for three months in my boat then I scraped boat
@@bertgarris4417 I have a couple of questions for you Eddie. Is this marine battery a true deep cycle marine battery with only Amp Hours rated on the label as Ah? Or is it a dual purpose rated with Amp Hours and Cold Cranking Amps, CCA on the label. If it is a true deep cycle battery with only Ah rated on the side then, No. Do not use it to start your vehicle or run it in your daily driver. If is is a dual purpose with CCA rating on the label then Yes you can run it in your daily driver and use it to start and run your vehicle. Just be sure of a couple of things so it won't leave you stranded or asking someone for a jump. Be sure the CCA rating is enough that is required to start and run your truck. second put it on a long slow charge say 2 to 6 amps after checking the water level in each cell. Do this and let it sit for a few days and make sure it holds the charge. Or it will leave you stranded. Also, if it does work out and you can use it in your application, be sure to check the voltage on it after running it in your truck every day for a couple of weeks to ensure that you can trust it to work in your daily driver. Hope this little tidbit of info helps from a guy that's been there and done that.
I'm new trailer owner and this stuff is so helpful. So far, I have learned two important maintenance items. Always check tires for wear and their properly inflated (cover tires too) and battery maintenance. This video highlighted that the battery is in use even when you are hooked up to the grid too so regular checks are necessary. :)
I have noticed he spoke about using either 12 volt batteries and/or two 6 volt batteries. In my coach, I am using one 12 volt battery and two 6 volt batteries. The 12 volt battery is used for the main starting of the coach and a few other things, and the 6 volt batteries are mainly used for the AC power being used in the coach, such as the lights, heater, refrigerator, etc. I can bypass the batteries by using either the external power line or the generator. If my 6 volt batteries died for some reason, I can still use the 12 volt battery as well. I also understand that the 6 volt batteries will also increase the amps for the 12 volt battery in helping with the starting of the coach and/or generator.
Jared- great review on RV batteries- I'm 60 years old, and I now know more about batteries in general than I EVER have in my life. You have a unique gift on how to explain things in a very understandable way. Thank you for sharing your "learn-by-doing" knowledge, showing how to be inquisitive, and having a very good work ethic- all rare in today's world. Keep it up! Bob
What impressed me is that you live full-time in your rig. This means you need to really know what is working for you in terms of batteries. Excellent breakdown of types and advantages. Thank you for explaining it all because all of us need to know this!
Great video! Kudos for realizing there isn't "one right answer" on this topic. I mean how many folks argue over which battery is best not realizing that for some folks the basic lead-acid battery will meet their needs while some do need to spend what seems like huge money on lithium...crazy. :) Thanks again!
I went full-time for a few years during the recession 08. 2 kids and my wife in a heartland cyclone often with no dedicated electrical hookup. Spent a fair amount of money on Trojan 6v batteries in series to have enough juice. Your video would have been very helpful back then and saved me some bucks on cheap 12 v batteries. I enjoyed your depth of detail on the more readily available lithium. WELL DONE.
Very good, straight forward explanation. Only emphasis I would add is the percentage of discharge. You mentioned 50% as maximum discharge. To the uninitiated, for a 12v battery, that would seemingly and intuitively be a discharge to 6. However, a 50% discharge of a 12v battery is in the range of about 12.1 on your voltage meter. Regardless, enjoyed the video and your clear explanations!
Well done. AGM user here. Just bought 2nd Lifeline 4D. 1st one gave 10 seasons. A fair amount of dry camping & disconnected with no maintenance for 7 months each year storage.
Great job reviewing batteries. Just a word of caution, AGM or Sealed Lead Acid batteries cannot be charged with too high amp hr battery charger. You say they charger faster, but they also vent slowly when charging at high rates. Be careful- they could swell or explode. Follow manufacturer recommendations. Because these batteries vent very little, if you charge with a battery with say a 12 volt 10 amp hr charger, and 5 amp hr charger is recommended by manufacturer, the battery could swell and possibly explode. We see this all the time in our mobility business. Customer's bring in a AGM battery they put on a car battery charger and it is swollen and sometimes burst open.
For someone just researching RVing, this is the best explanation about the various batteries. Thanks for being so thorough. I’m going to watch more of your videos.
Great video! One other option with the deep cycle flooded is a maintenance free. I have two group 27s but there’re maintenance free so I don’t have to worry about the water levels. With a good solar system and charging cycle it brings to the table it seems to work for me. I sometimes have let the maintenance (water levels) get away from me and the maintenance free ones have helped a lot. Thanks again! Bob
Nice video that explains batteries well. However, Lithium batteries should not be taken down to zero. In fact, most of these have a BMS (Battery Management System) that will cut it off when it hits about 20%. But that's still much better than the 50% of the other battery types. The other main advantage to the Lithium is they will stay at the constant 12 volts to the point to where the BMS shuts them off. Traditional batteries voltage will begin to drop in voltage throughout the discharge.
Thank you for explaining exactly what I needed to do,to leave battery's in my RV and not pulling then and putting in my house. I have left them out (no charger) in RV 3 winters,not any more thanks to you. *Hats* off to you.
Thanks, great video. I was an aviation electrician in the Navy, and forgot so much about DC power and batteries. Great refresher. Wife and I (and out handicapped Sister-in-Law) are working towards full time, so watch your videos (And those of RVwithTito) for the best info and how-to videos. Thanks!!
@1whitefeather We ended up not doing full time. Between Covid and "life"...W wended up buying in NC, moved here October 2021. Doing 2-3 week trips whenever we can. How are you doing?
One very important situation you brought up, frozen batteries!!!!! Bad things happen if you jump start frozen batteries. I’ve seen this happen on RV’s from the north. Remove them and let them thaw before you charge them. Then have them checked. Now that you have us all excited about batteries 👍 let’s about converters..... I see a power max in your future!
Great video..just want to put this out there I have bought used batteries from junk yards ..they are all marked with there build date and I only pay 25 dollars each ..I have had them last for years ..keep up the good work I am working on moving to Alaska and going off grid thank you for great videos!!
you did a nice job of explaining the batteries and their function, the only problem is with the weight of these batteries and how many a person needs. does not matter if you own a small camper 5th wheel or large motor home, Tare weight ,Tare weight, Tare weight. 6 volt are always alot heavier then most 12 volts and so on. Cheers
The Battle Horn battery is $1,440 each. An Interstate wet acid, deep cycle group 27 is $80. I have had good luck with the Interstate battery. Life? You can replace the battery 18 times at those prices. My batteries last about 5 years, which is 90 years replacing it 18 times. Lithium batteries are great, but do not begin to pencil out using my pencil.
All of your videos are super informative. RV users are more and more riding battery operated bicycles and RECUMBENT TRIKES. Two wheeled bikes are OK for some, but many can't ride two wheeled bikes anymore although they wish they could. FOLDING RECUMBENT TRIKES like the Catrike Dumont, the Scorpion Plus, the Greenspeed Magnum XL trike, the AZUB Ti - Fly, and the more affordable Spike 380 keep the option of pedaling about an option for all. All of these recumbent trikes have an electronic pedal assist option, but keeping them charged up dictates using adequate batteries.
Very good info! Sadly, very few people understand the need for a true amp hour monitor to track their charge level. They think the idiot lights on the OEM monitor panel tell them their actual state of charge. I killed the batteries in my truck camper because it was so hard to check the water level, combined with the fact I was using a 3 stage charger - 3 stage charger causes them to off gas more than a "dumb charger/converter" I switched to AGM 3 years ago.
What I was taught in aircraft mechanic's school for flooded lead-acid batteries, is that amp-hour rating is how many hours you'll get at a 1 amp discharge. They do this because of lead-acid behavior (I think it's called Peukert's losses). A lead-acid battery will not put out its rated capacity when discharged at high rates. It gets worse the higher the rate. So a 100Ah lead-acid will give you 100 hours at a 1 amp discharge rate, but will NOT give you 20 hours at 5 amps, and certainly not 1 hour at 100 amps.
Battery capacity decreases as the rate of discharge increases. Batteries (say 100ah battery) have been tested at a given discharge rate of 20 hours. That means a constant use of 5 amps an hour for 20 hours (5 x 20 =100). The specifications should indicate this.
Watts / Volts = Amps per hour Below: An example where we need to calculate the amps. A very small user of power is a 1.2 watt LED light running on a 12 volt power source will use 1.2W / 12V = 0.1 amps. Therefore a 100ah (amp hour) battery will last for 1000 hours.
As usual your timing is impeccable! Went to put in our slides and got only a high pitched squeal! One of the cells on our battery is shot so no juice. Thank you. Heading over to Amazon to look at the tester
It was the batteries. Lar went to the marine dealership down the road and replaced the Interstate marine batteries with two new ones and we are back in business.
I've watched many of your videos and finally found this one that mentioned your refrigerator needs a little bit of 12v power to run on propane. I was boondocking and running my frig on propane set on Auto. I took my batteries home and left trailer in my camping spot to charge batteries and came back to a warm frig. I figured the frig was running on propane......no problem.....wrong. I hooked up batteries again and frig came back on. I switched the frig to Propane and not on auto, it was running fine. You can hear the propane burning and working great but as soon as I disconnected the batteries for a test, the frig shut right off. The pilot light is already on and running, why should it turn off and shut everything down? Weird but I learned a lesson. Thanks for all your videos.
Awesome! my battery IQ is up 100%. I'm supposed to select the battery type on my RV power display but mine is a black box with two lead posts and two bolt connectors with alot of red and black wires, and NO information anywhere on the battery. Even the manufactor/expire sticker isnt punched out. I bought it from RVWholesalers and they couldnt even tell me what kind it was after i brought it home and called them!
Nice overview with lots of good info. Lithium is certainly where we will all be some day. I'd love to see more variety and competition in the market though. For now I'm sticking with my super heavy AGMs 😀 Thanks!
Agree with you tito. Two years ago I replaced my single 12v with 2-6v golf carts $90 each @ Costco; 235amp/hr. The Lithium 100 amp were runiing ~$1400 each. So $180 vs $2800. They’ve dropped to $995. I figure by the time my 6v golf carts needs replacing; they’ll have dropped significantly. I’ll take a good look then. I keep the 12v in the P/U bed as a back up or emergency. Storage space & weight are not an issue at this point.
Herb McDonnell Thats my situation too. My AGMs have many years left. Though heavy and lead acid...they get the job done. I still have my two old 6v flooded batteries too (also from Costco and still in great shape) and will probably use those in pickup as well.
Hi And Thanks So Much!!! It's just so confusing building a camper and trying to decide which way to go. But you've shared the most important we need to know which, will help many folks like me! I really appreciate this very helpful information! I can't thank you enough b/c I'm struggling, as a disabled vet w/a TBI. And for so long, I've been trying to figure out how to set my van up electrically (etc.), and to convert my van, so I can enjoy some weekender camping, as well as, have enough power, to share some upcoming awesome music shows to folks at campgrounds etc. As far as figuring out how to set up my batts... I'd be Truly Grateful To You (Or Anyone?) who can help me figure out a simple lay out that works. I know I need at least 2 Aux Batts to be able to last for weekend camps and, maybe even a 3rd batt to power my powered monitor for the shows. After hearing about a converter charger? (I dont' know if that's anything like an inverter which I'll need for the A/C.), I'm a little bit curious and (again), I'd be Truly Grateful to you (and/or anyone reading this post) if you could help me figure out for example: How to properly hook up 2 (or 3) Aux Batts for weekend camps. (I.E. roof fan, dometic fridge, laptop, led lights and my 1000W amp for shows)... And tying in a Batt Monitor & Converter Charger, using an isolation switch and/or a heavy duty switch (so I don't drain my van's main battery)... But also after camp & shows, be able to cancel isolating and "Charge All 3 Batts" off my Promaster's alternator system W/O burning up the alt? Maybe a heavy duty switch does both - I.E. Isolate 2 Aux Batts from a van batt - But Also; tie the 2 aux batts and van batt together for charging? Can a heavy duty batt switch isolate And tie 3 batts together to charge off the alt? if so, would hooking 2 Aux Batts In Parallel, make them like just one? And be perfectly ok to hook to the heavy duty battery switch and/or isolation switch (if needed?). Also, was that Power Master Converter you showed us, the "Converter Charger" you speak of which you say, should be a Multi Stage one? If so, where is it's place in the circut and finally, where's the best place to hook up the batt monitor in my situation? Please forgive me asking for help and above questions but I'm hoping someone can help me w/o too much trouble. So I too, can help folks enjoy their travels with some awesome music! Happy Thanksgiving (And Merry Christmas & Happy New Years) Everyone! Again, I Thank You So Much for the AWESOME Battery Education! Your video was made Perfectly! And is So Helpful! And Thank You #All About RV's (And Anyone Else who cares to offer a helping hand), for helping me figure out at least the power situation!
Just ran across your channel. You did a great job explaining the different types of batteries. Look forward to watching more videos. Thanks for the info.
Good information. When adding water to a battery you want to use distilled water. I'd also recomend using battery acid if you can instead. LiPo are good, but they also are susceptible to explosion and fire.
LiFePo batteries are not susceptible to explosions and fire. Older lithium batteries had this problems (like Samsung phones), but it was different chemistry.
Thanks great info and details. I needed my battery this past weekend when the state part I was in lost power for about 4hrs. So used the battery sparingly.
Jared, I must admit I am the same as Bob McCaslin and his previous comment. He and I are the same age and I share the exact same comment and compliment to you. Thanks Jared. Well defined and well displayed. Sam
Great breakdown. Really appreciate your time and effort in this. Looking forward to the convertor video. Interested to understand how a two phase works.
Great video, question, if you are dry camping for over a week how do you ensure you don't go below 50% depth usage and how do you check where you are at so you know when to recharge before the battery gets below 50%?
One thing you might what to add is the life of the battery will also depend on your location. You and I both being in Arizona will have a shorter life cycle with lead acid batteries. Those of us in the Phoenix area or anywhere the temps high will more than likely have shorter battery life.
Thank you for the video. A couple of technical points you should be aware of A Converter by itself does not charge a battery. A Converter/charger will charge a battery. All a converter will do is change 120 volt, Alternating Current (A/C) to 12 volt Direct Current (D/C) to allow the operation of your 12 volt system. It is not recommended to discharge a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery below 20%. During so will severely shorten your expensive battery life. As for a discharged 12 volt battery will freeze and a charged one will not is false. ALL batteries will freeze if the temperature is low enough. Ask people that love in places like Alaska and Minnesota where they either use battery heaters or remove the battery from the vehicle overnight. I hope this help clearing up a few issues. Safe travels!
Thank you so much! This is exactly the info I was looking for. One question remains: how do you know when your battery is at 50%, to ensure you don't go below that (for the lead-acid 12 volt example). Thank you!
You would need a multimeter and then there are charts available on line that shows what amps will equal 50% (for example 11amps Is 50% charged.) Apparently this guy doesn't answer questions.
I have 2 of those battle born. Would never go back. They are extremely efficient and the fast recharge is excellent for us becuz we do 90% boondocking. I've paired it with the progressive dynamics 9100 lithium charger. And this year will be slapping 400w of solar on my Cougar. Sweet setup.
I've been waiting on a good video like this before I finally step out of my comfort zone and start boondocking. I've been a shore power newbie long enough but I haven't bought a generator yet. I at least wanted to get 2 good batteries before I tried to boondock. Now I know how to run them parallel or series! Thanks man, you're awesome. Wish you were close by so I could hit you up for small jobs like Marc and Trish lol.
Oh my God this is SOOOOO helpful! I feel like I can't start this life style without understand off grid power. I know almost NOTHING! Learning a lot though. Thank you!
Jared, Thank you again for this detailed video. To be honest I had no idea that should not let your 12v regular batteries lose that much charge... I usually don't even check the battery level, now I understand why you talk about the battery monitor in several videos in the past. Gracias y hasta pronto!
I would suggest if you go golf cart batteries to...go with Crown or Trojan for better construction and a hope for 6-10 year life, depending on ou use and maintenance. AGM is best but flooded is fine IF you take care of them monthly.
Thanks much for the very informative video. I was very encouraged to move to LiFePO4 batteries until I looked up that Battle Born LiFePO4 won't allow charging below 25F (not sure about discharging). We sometimes travel to cold climate and having to leave the vehicle out at 12F for 10-12 hours. I'd like to know what the BMS would limit for cold temperature discharging. AGM can still work at temp range -4F to 120F (developed for military ops). I'll have to think this through.
Thank you 🙏 As a newbie, I have been looking for a good understanding of the batteries in my RV and I am so glad for your comprehensive video on this topic!!! Thank you 🙏 again!!!
Hi Jared. I just ordered the Victron battery monitor from your Amazon store, so looking forward to installing that as my first step in understand my power consumption. We are in a truck camper, Palomino Backpack, for just about a year now. My battery that came with it is already malfunctioning, no doubt from being drained completely too many times. My camper doesn't even have a monitor right now, but I knew nothing about batteries anyway, at least not until now. Thanks for the tutorial!
@ mm 5:00 Thank you! I've been struggling to understand parallel and series wiring methods for a while now. But not anymore! That was the best explanation I've ever heard defining exactly what 'parallel' and 'series' wiring is, the differences between the two, and what each method of wiring is used for.
I am an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) field tech. Be careful with AGM on their side. Read the install manual. There are some that you have to maintain the battery upright. I would also recommend that as part of an routine maintenance process to use a NON CONDUCTIVE vacuum hose and duster to clean the tops of the batteries, even for the AGM. Make sure you don’t have corrosion around the terminals. I’d still want the Lithium Batteries in a vented area and to make sure that they have some air flow like other batteries to get rid of heat.
THANK YOU SO much for this tutorial! (Of course, I'll need to listen it again...and, probably a time or two after that!! But, again, THANK YOU for this! 😃🙃👣
Hi Jared, My wife and I want to start traveling in our camper soon after we retire. We want to boon docking some while traveling. We both use bi- pap machines at night. We want to be able to use our machines by using solar energy. What would you recommend for a starter kit for newbies. Batteries,solar panel kit, inverter/charging system etc. we both really enjoy your RUclips videos. Thanks, Gary & Cece
Lifepo4 are great batteries however they really should be cycled between 20% - 80% for max life and they will be damaged if you try to charge them below 5C temperature
Great video. I'm buying my first travel trailer tomorrow, and I think I'm going to want to add solar eventually. There seems to be tons of info on solar, but almost none on batteries.
Good vid, right on with information. Some are making DIY (do it yourself) lithium batteries from 18650 cells, check out youtube vids on it. DIY still in the experimental stages.
Do your research on making your own lithium battery bank. Between receiving fake batteries, the wrong chemistry of battery, the high cost of good 18650 (samsung,panasonic fullriver etc...) the cost of a good BMS (battery control board) and the labor and tools involved you can find making a battery pack is much to much of a commitment. I stopped making my own packs and just went for AGM T105 golf cart batteries. It can be fun though if you are looking for a new hobby.
Thank you!! As a beginner I've been trying to understand the pros and cons to which kind of battery I would use. Thank you this really helped me out. And way to go on using a USA made battery!
I definitely learned the hard way with an AGM battery I used (not in an RV) on a hunting trip. The charge level was low and during transport home it froze. After that, it would not take a charge.
That’s wonderful information for someone who owns a camper. My husband and I have started renting campers and what we really need to know is when we should turn the battery on and when we should turn it off?
You can build your own LiFePO4 batteries from used pouch cells, add BMS units, and a charge controller and save a ton of money! The best part is you can build them to whatever shape you want. I built a battery pack with some to run a Whynter 45Qt electric cooler/freezer to take to the beach, kids sporting events, camping, etc. I can run that cooler for more than 24 hours with that little lithium battery pack and can even charge it with solar, DC, or AC.
Nice vid! Lithium have the best cost/benefit per amp/hour by far. Also they don't drop off much but once they're done they fall off a cliff. I wouldn't say you can draw 100% but you can take them down to 10% which would kill the other types of batteries just flat dead. The only thing I'd like to see (I'm a ham radio operator) is a Low Voltage Disconnect. You's set the threshold for low voltage so when you draw down to that level the LVD shuts down the load to save the battery. You should do that with any type of battery. Great job!
Excellent presentation. Our rig came with AGM batteries and when we store it for the winter months I am going to use a battery tender on them just to be safe.
VERY good information, Jarrod! (I hope I'm spelling that right!). I will be going full time very soon so this will help me a lot! Thanks! Travel safe, stay happy, love God, and, have a great day! (7/29/2018 Sunday 10:36amCST Houston, Texas)
It is very refreshing to see someone explain the batteries in an easy to explain terminology. Most shops I have been in confuse the customer.
thank you so much for speaking to REAL novice folk like me. just bought a 2002 Gulf Stream Independence with my GF and neither of us have ever owned a camper. LOTS of things to learn but we are so happy and grateful for videos like yours THANKS SO MUCH!
Well Done. I’m a retired electronics mechanic that used to run a large battery shop and its nice to see a good RV battery video where all the information you are putting out is actually correct.
equalism 42 HI! I have 1000 watts of solar on my RV (mounted flat for simplicity and stealth camping) with a Morningstar Tristar 60 controller. I love the silent sound of 60 amps of current flowing into my batteries in full mid day sun. Over the last 8 years I have lots of data logged and measurement records with multiple setups (12 volt lead acid, AGM batteries, Golf cart lead acid batteries and in early June I went to LiFePo4 batteries which really is a game changer. A 100 Ah Battle born battery is actually slightly higher voltage but provides as much total power available as a pair of Golf cart batteries and recharges astonishingly fast. We rarely run the generator at all anymore unless we want to run air conditioning. Its really not like camping anymore- its more like having a cabin with all the features of home on wheels with the only limiting factor being groceries and water. Our setup- 2012 28’ Allegro Breeze, Morningstar MPPT Tristar controller, Morningstar SureSine Inverter (super efficient, on all the time) Xantrex prosine 1800 watt inverter for the big loads (microwave, induction cooktop, air conditioner, toaster, coffee pot, running the fridge on all electric, central vac), Xantrex Link pro battery monitor and last upgrade was to 4 battle born batteries which gives us (actual measured and tested data) the equivalent of 8+ Golf cart batteries of power and saves 400+ lbs. C23flyboy@msn.com
I’ve got a marine battery from a old boat that scrapped. The battery is dead but can be charged. It’s two and a half years old. Can I charge it and put it in my daily driven truck?? Do you think it will be useful or a waste of time. This battery was used for three months in my boat then I scraped boat
@@bertgarris4417 I have a couple of questions for you Eddie. Is this marine battery a true deep cycle marine battery with only Amp Hours rated on the label as Ah? Or is it a dual purpose rated with Amp Hours and Cold Cranking Amps, CCA on the label. If it is a true deep cycle battery with only Ah rated on the side then, No. Do not use it to start your vehicle or run it in your daily driver. If is is a dual purpose with CCA rating on the label then Yes you can run it in your daily driver and use it to start and run your vehicle. Just be sure of a couple of things so it won't leave you stranded or asking someone for a jump. Be sure the CCA rating is enough that is required to start and run your truck. second put it on a long slow charge say 2 to 6 amps after checking the water level in each cell. Do this and let it sit for a few days and make sure it holds the charge. Or it will leave you stranded. Also, if it does work out and you can use it in your application, be sure to check the voltage on it after running it in your truck every day for a couple of weeks to ensure that you can trust it to work in your daily driver. Hope this little tidbit of info helps from a guy that's been there and done that.
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@equalism 42
Thank you for the post.
Question: what is an electronics mechanic?
I'm new trailer owner and this stuff is so helpful. So far, I have learned two important maintenance items. Always check tires for wear and their properly inflated (cover tires too) and battery maintenance. This video highlighted that the battery is in use even when you are hooked up to the grid too so regular checks are necessary. :)
I have noticed he spoke about using either 12 volt batteries and/or two 6 volt batteries. In my coach, I am using one 12 volt battery and two 6 volt batteries. The 12 volt battery is used for the main starting of the coach and a few other things, and the 6 volt batteries are mainly used for the AC power being used in the coach, such as the lights, heater, refrigerator, etc. I can bypass the batteries by using either the external power line or the generator. If my 6 volt batteries died for some reason, I can still use the 12 volt battery as well. I also understand that the 6 volt batteries will also increase the amps for the 12 volt battery in helping with the starting of the coach and/or generator.
Jared- great review on RV batteries- I'm 60 years old, and I now know more about batteries in general than I EVER have in my life. You have a unique gift on how to explain things in a very understandable way. Thank you for sharing your "learn-by-doing" knowledge, showing how to be inquisitive, and having a very good work ethic- all rare in today's world. Keep it up!
Bob
Thank you!
Yessir!
What impressed me is that you live full-time in your rig. This means you need to really know what is working for you in terms of batteries. Excellent breakdown of types and advantages. Thank you for explaining it all because all of us need to know this!
Great video! Kudos for realizing there isn't "one right answer" on this topic. I mean how many folks argue over which battery is best not realizing that for some folks the basic lead-acid battery will meet their needs while some do need to spend what seems like huge money on lithium...crazy. :)
Thanks again!
I went full-time for a few years during the recession 08. 2 kids and my wife in a heartland cyclone often with no dedicated electrical hookup. Spent a fair amount of money on Trojan 6v batteries in series to have enough juice. Your video would have been very helpful back then and saved me some bucks on cheap 12 v batteries. I enjoyed your depth of detail on the more readily available lithium. WELL DONE.
Very good, straight forward explanation. Only emphasis I would add is the percentage of discharge. You mentioned 50% as maximum discharge. To the uninitiated, for a 12v battery, that would seemingly and intuitively be a discharge to 6. However, a 50% discharge of a 12v battery is in the range of about 12.1 on your voltage meter. Regardless, enjoyed the video and your clear explanations!
Thanks
Great point and one that many people don't realize.
Well done. AGM user here. Just bought 2nd Lifeline 4D. 1st one gave 10 seasons. A fair amount of dry camping & disconnected with no maintenance for 7 months each year storage.
Great job reviewing batteries. Just a word of caution, AGM or Sealed Lead Acid batteries cannot be charged with too high amp hr battery charger. You say they charger faster, but they also vent slowly when charging at high rates. Be careful- they could swell or explode. Follow manufacturer recommendations. Because these batteries vent very little, if you charge with a battery with say a 12 volt 10 amp hr charger, and 5 amp hr charger is recommended by manufacturer, the battery could swell and possibly explode. We see this all the time in our mobility business. Customer's bring in a AGM battery they put on a car battery charger and it is swollen and sometimes burst open.
For someone just researching RVing, this is the best explanation about the various batteries. Thanks for being so thorough. I’m going to watch more of your videos.
Thank you!
Great video! One other option with the deep cycle flooded is a maintenance free. I have two group 27s but there’re maintenance free so I don’t have to worry about the water levels. With a good solar system and charging cycle it brings to the table it seems to work for me. I sometimes have let the maintenance (water levels) get away from me and the maintenance free ones have helped a lot. Thanks again! Bob
Nice video that explains batteries well. However, Lithium batteries should not be taken down to zero. In fact, most of these have a BMS (Battery Management System) that will cut it off when it hits about 20%. But that's still much better than the 50% of the other battery types. The other main advantage to the Lithium is they will stay at the constant 12 volts to the point to where the BMS shuts them off. Traditional batteries voltage will begin to drop in voltage throughout the discharge.
FINALLY....I understand this electrical stuff.....THANKS so much.....you rock!!
Thank you for explaining exactly what I needed to do,to leave battery's in my RV and not pulling then and putting in my house. I have left them out (no charger) in RV 3 winters,not any more thanks to you. *Hats* off to you.
Thanks, great video. I was an aviation electrician in the Navy, and forgot so much about DC power and batteries. Great refresher. Wife and I (and out handicapped Sister-in-Law) are working towards full time, so watch your videos (And those of RVwithTito) for the best info and how-to videos. Thanks!!
@1whitefeather We ended up not doing full time. Between Covid and "life"...W wended up buying in NC, moved here October 2021. Doing 2-3 week trips whenever we can. How are you doing?
One very important situation you brought up, frozen batteries!!!!! Bad things happen if you jump start frozen batteries. I’ve seen this happen on RV’s from the north. Remove them and let them thaw before you charge them. Then have them checked.
Now that you have us all excited about batteries 👍 let’s about converters..... I see a power max in your future!
I gots 2 Battleborns. Love them.. hard to explain to people how great they are.
Great video..just want to put this out there I have bought used batteries from junk yards ..they are all marked with there build date and I only pay 25 dollars each ..I have had them last for years ..keep up the good work I am working on moving to Alaska and going off grid thank you for great videos!!
Check out our Updated RV Batteries Buyers Guide Here! ruclips.net/video/2BsSWCc66_w/видео.html
You explain so well that anyone could figure out the directions the way you walk us through it
Sigh of relief..I understood every word and needed this tutorial BAD! About to decided on batteries! Thank you so much.
Hot watar problem in jayco
you did a nice job of explaining the batteries and their function, the only problem is with the weight of these batteries and how many a person needs. does not matter if you own a small camper 5th wheel or large motor home, Tare weight ,Tare weight, Tare weight. 6 volt are always alot heavier then most 12 volts and so on. Cheers
The Battle Horn battery is $1,440 each. An Interstate wet acid, deep cycle group 27 is $80. I have had good luck with the Interstate battery. Life? You can replace the battery 18 times at those prices. My batteries last about 5 years, which is 90 years replacing it 18 times. Lithium batteries are great, but do not begin to pencil out using my pencil.
Wal-Mart sells a lithium for $219.
All of your videos are super informative. RV users are more and more riding battery operated bicycles and RECUMBENT TRIKES.
Two wheeled bikes are OK for some, but many can't ride two wheeled bikes anymore although they wish they could.
FOLDING RECUMBENT TRIKES like the Catrike Dumont, the Scorpion Plus, the Greenspeed Magnum XL trike, the AZUB Ti - Fly, and the more affordable Spike 380 keep the option of pedaling about an option for all. All of these recumbent trikes have an electronic pedal assist option, but keeping them charged up dictates using adequate batteries.
Very good info! Sadly, very few people understand the need for a true amp hour monitor to track their charge level. They think the idiot lights on the OEM monitor panel tell them their actual state of charge. I killed the batteries in my truck camper because it was so hard to check the water level, combined with the fact I was using a 3 stage charger - 3 stage charger causes them to off gas more than a "dumb charger/converter"
I switched to AGM 3 years ago.
What I was taught in aircraft mechanic's school for flooded lead-acid batteries, is that amp-hour rating is how many hours you'll get at a 1 amp discharge. They do this because of lead-acid behavior (I think it's called Peukert's losses). A lead-acid battery will not put out its rated capacity when discharged at high rates. It gets worse the higher the rate. So a 100Ah lead-acid will give you 100 hours at a 1 amp discharge rate, but will NOT give you 20 hours at 5 amps, and certainly not 1 hour at 100 amps.
Battery capacity decreases as the rate of discharge increases. Batteries (say 100ah battery) have been tested at a given discharge rate of 20 hours.
That means a constant use of 5 amps an hour for 20 hours (5 x 20 =100). The specifications should indicate this.
Watts / Volts = Amps per hour
Below: An example where we need to calculate the amps. A very small user of power is a 1.2 watt LED light running on a 12 volt power source will use 1.2W / 12V = 0.1 amps. Therefore a 100ah (amp hour) battery will last for 1000 hours.
As usual your timing is impeccable! Went to put in our slides and got only a high pitched squeal! One of the cells on our battery is shot so no juice. Thank you. Heading over to Amazon to look at the tester
Oh that is perfect timing!
It was the batteries. Lar went to the marine dealership down the road and replaced the Interstate marine batteries with two new ones and we are back in business.
I've watched many of your videos and finally found this one that mentioned your refrigerator needs a little bit of 12v power to run on propane. I was boondocking and running my frig on propane set on Auto. I took my batteries home and left trailer in my camping spot to charge batteries and came back to a warm frig. I figured the frig was running on propane......no problem.....wrong. I hooked up batteries again and frig came back on. I switched the frig to Propane and not on auto, it was running fine. You can hear the propane burning and working great but as soon as I disconnected the batteries for a test, the frig shut right off. The pilot light is already on and running, why should it turn off and shut everything down? Weird but I learned a lesson. Thanks for all your videos.
Great video, thank you for NOT putting time wasting fluff into your content!
Awesome! my battery IQ is up 100%. I'm supposed to select the battery type on my RV power display but mine is a black box with two lead posts and two bolt connectors with alot of red and black wires, and NO information anywhere on the battery. Even the manufactor/expire sticker isnt punched out. I bought it from RVWholesalers and they couldnt even tell me what kind it was after i brought it home and called them!
Nice overview with lots of good info. Lithium is certainly where we will all be some day. I'd love to see more variety and competition in the market though. For now I'm sticking with my super heavy AGMs 😀 Thanks!
Agree with you tito. Two years ago I replaced my single 12v with 2-6v golf carts $90 each @ Costco; 235amp/hr. The Lithium 100 amp were runiing ~$1400 each. So $180 vs $2800. They’ve dropped to $995. I figure by the time my 6v golf carts needs replacing; they’ll have dropped significantly. I’ll take a good look then. I keep the 12v in the P/U bed as a back up or emergency. Storage space & weight are not an issue at this point.
Herb McDonnell Thats my situation too. My AGMs have many years left. Though heavy and lead acid...they get the job done. I still have my two old 6v flooded batteries too (also from Costco and still in great shape) and will probably use those in pickup as well.
RVwithTito lithium is where it's at. Especially if u boondock a lot.
equalism 42 Good to know. Thanks for the info. Time will tell.
@equalism 42 , I gave up on lithium, always defective, they do not hold up. 9 months Max.
Hi And Thanks So Much!!! It's just so confusing building a camper and trying to decide which way to go. But you've shared the most important we need to know which, will help many folks like me! I really appreciate this very helpful information! I can't thank you enough b/c I'm struggling, as a disabled vet w/a TBI. And for so long, I've been trying to figure out how to set my van up electrically (etc.), and to convert my van, so I can enjoy some weekender camping, as well as, have enough power, to share some upcoming awesome music shows to folks at campgrounds etc.
As far as figuring out how to set up my batts... I'd be Truly Grateful To You (Or Anyone?) who can help me figure out a simple lay out that works.
I know I need at least 2 Aux Batts to be able to last for weekend camps and, maybe even a 3rd batt to power my powered monitor for the shows.
After hearing about a converter charger? (I dont' know if that's anything like an inverter which I'll need for the A/C.), I'm a little bit curious and (again), I'd be Truly Grateful to you (and/or anyone reading this post) if you could help me figure out for example:
How to properly hook up 2 (or 3) Aux Batts for weekend camps. (I.E. roof fan, dometic fridge, laptop, led lights and my 1000W amp for shows)... And tying in a Batt Monitor & Converter Charger, using an isolation switch and/or a heavy duty switch (so I don't drain my van's main battery)... But also after camp & shows, be able to cancel isolating and "Charge All 3 Batts" off my Promaster's alternator system W/O burning up the alt?
Maybe a heavy duty switch does both - I.E. Isolate 2 Aux Batts from a van batt - But Also; tie the 2 aux batts and van batt together for charging?
Can a heavy duty batt switch isolate And tie 3 batts together to charge off the alt? if so, would hooking 2 Aux Batts In Parallel, make them like just one? And be perfectly ok to hook to the heavy duty battery switch and/or isolation switch (if needed?).
Also, was that Power Master Converter you showed us, the "Converter Charger" you speak of which you say, should be a Multi Stage one?
If so, where is it's place in the circut and finally, where's the best place to hook up the batt monitor in my situation?
Please forgive me asking for help and above questions but I'm hoping someone can help me w/o too much trouble.
So I too, can help folks enjoy their travels with some awesome music!
Happy Thanksgiving (And Merry Christmas & Happy New Years) Everyone!
Again, I Thank You So Much for the AWESOME Battery Education! Your video was made Perfectly! And is So Helpful!
And Thank You #All About RV's (And Anyone Else who cares to offer a helping hand), for helping me figure out at least the power situation!
Just ran across your channel. You did a great job explaining the different types of batteries. Look forward to watching more videos. Thanks for the info.
Good information. When adding water to a battery you want to use distilled water. I'd also recomend using battery acid if you can instead. LiPo are good, but they also are susceptible to explosion and fire.
LiFePo batteries are not susceptible to explosions and fire. Older lithium batteries had this problems (like Samsung phones), but it was different chemistry.
Thanks great info and details. I needed my battery this past weekend when the state part I was in lost power for about 4hrs. So used the battery sparingly.
Jared, I must admit I am the same as Bob McCaslin and his previous comment. He and I are
the same age and I share the exact same comment and compliment to you. Thanks Jared. Well defined and well displayed. Sam
Thank you!
Great breakdown. Really appreciate your time and effort in this. Looking forward to the convertor video. Interested to understand how a two phase works.
Well done from an electrical engineer. Listen to this man, really good info.
Great video, question, if you are dry camping for over a week how do you ensure you don't go below 50% depth usage and how do you check where you are at so you know when to recharge before the battery gets below 50%?
Thats what the battery monitor is for buddy.
One thing you might what to add is the life of the battery will also depend on your location. You and I both being in Arizona will have a shorter life cycle with lead acid batteries. Those of us in the Phoenix area or anywhere the temps high will more than likely have shorter battery life.
Terrific! I’m restoring a canned ham. Want to boondock and do solar. This was so helpful and you explain things well. Love your diagrams too.
Thank you for the video. A couple of technical points you should be aware of A Converter by itself does not charge a battery. A Converter/charger will charge a battery. All a converter will do is change 120 volt, Alternating Current (A/C) to 12 volt Direct Current (D/C) to allow the operation of your 12 volt system. It is not recommended to discharge a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery below 20%. During so will severely shorten your expensive battery life. As for a discharged 12 volt battery will freeze and a charged one will not is false. ALL batteries will freeze if the temperature is low enough. Ask people that love in places like Alaska and Minnesota where they either use battery heaters or remove the battery from the vehicle overnight. I hope this help clearing up a few issues. Safe travels!
Love the kitty in the background, just chillin' 🐈
Great info on house batteries. We started with 2 12volts then went to 2 6volts trojans, probably go with the Lithium when the Trojans wear out.
Thank you so much! This is exactly the info I was looking for. One question remains: how do you know when your battery is at 50%, to ensure you don't go below that (for the lead-acid 12 volt example). Thank you!
You would need a multimeter and then there are charts available on line that shows what amps will equal 50% (for example 11amps Is 50% charged.) Apparently this guy doesn't answer questions.
I have 2 of those battle born. Would never go back. They are extremely efficient and the fast recharge is excellent for us becuz we do 90% boondocking. I've paired it with the progressive dynamics 9100 lithium charger. And this year will be slapping 400w of solar on my Cougar. Sweet setup.
I have a generac rv generator & 2 reg 12v batteries. I can just replace them & nothing else?
Geocacher NY yes
Great job. GREAT INFO. Decision making right now to set up my future replacement RV for lots of boondocking.
You saved the best for last. Lithium batteries can be run all the way down before having to recharge them. Great video. 👍
This is so awesome! Very timely for me too!! Hope y'all are doing GREAT!! Much love from TX!
I've been waiting on a good video like this before I finally step out of my comfort zone and start boondocking. I've been a shore power newbie long enough but I haven't bought a generator yet. I at least wanted to get 2 good batteries before I tried to boondock. Now I know how to run them parallel or series! Thanks man, you're awesome. Wish you were close by so I could hit you up for small jobs like Marc and Trish lol.
Thanks! Glad this was helpful for you!
Learned soooooo much from you. Thank you for the educational and understandable information. Thanks again.
Oh my God this is SOOOOO helpful! I feel like I can't start this life style without understand off grid power. I know almost NOTHING! Learning a lot though. Thank you!
Jared, Thank you again for this detailed video. To be honest I had no idea that should not let your 12v regular batteries lose that much charge... I usually don't even check the battery level, now I understand why you talk about the battery monitor in several videos in the past.
Gracias y hasta pronto!
I would suggest if you go golf cart batteries to...go with Crown or Trojan for better construction and a hope for 6-10 year life, depending on ou use and maintenance. AGM is best but flooded is fine IF you take care of them monthly.
Thank you, for the information, great job of explaining about the different batteries.
This was excellent and contributed positively to my next steps in power plant management for my RV. Thanks for posting!
I always learn something from each video. Keep it up! Thanks!
Excellent teaching. My primary job is UPS so I'm around batteries all the time and you summed it up very well, excellent job !
Thanks much for the very informative video. I was very encouraged to move to LiFePO4 batteries until I looked up that Battle Born LiFePO4 won't allow charging below 25F (not sure about discharging). We sometimes travel to cold climate and having to leave the vehicle out at 12F for 10-12 hours. I'd like to know what the BMS would limit for cold temperature discharging. AGM can still work at temp range -4F to 120F (developed for military ops). I'll have to think this through.
Probably a couple years late, but you can put the Lithium batteries in a heated area of the rig. They don’t produce any hydrogen off gassing.
Thank you 🙏
As a newbie, I have been looking for a good understanding of the batteries in my RV and I am so glad for your comprehensive video on this topic!!! Thank you 🙏 again!!!
Wow, I learned so much from this video! Thanks for making sure we all keep learning.
😊
Hi Jared. I just ordered the Victron battery monitor from your Amazon store, so looking forward to installing that as my first step in understand my power consumption. We are in a truck camper, Palomino Backpack, for just about a year now. My battery that came with it is already malfunctioning, no doubt from being drained completely too many times. My camper doesn't even have a monitor right now, but I knew nothing about batteries anyway, at least not until now. Thanks for the tutorial!
Real simple explanation. You do a great job explaining. Probably go with AGM. And nice hat 🎩. Great app..
@ mm 5:00 Thank you! I've been struggling to understand parallel and series wiring methods for a while now. But not anymore! That was the best explanation I've ever heard defining exactly what 'parallel' and 'series' wiring is, the differences between the two, and what each method of wiring is used for.
Glad it helped
Super job on explaining....your calling could that of a teacher.
👏👏👏 that example of mpg to hours to battery makes so much sense. We’ll said.
I just came across your channel and subscribed! 👍
Great video and lots of information in detail about batteries thank you for posting.
Thank you for supporting us!
I am an UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) field tech. Be careful with AGM on their side. Read the install manual. There are some that you have to maintain the battery upright.
I would also recommend that as part of an routine maintenance process to use a NON CONDUCTIVE vacuum hose and duster to clean the tops of the batteries, even for the AGM. Make sure you don’t have corrosion around the terminals.
I’d still want the Lithium Batteries in a vented area and to make sure that they have some air flow like other batteries to get rid of heat.
THANK YOU SO much for this tutorial! (Of course, I'll need to listen it again...and, probably a time or two after that!! But, again, THANK YOU for this! 😃🙃👣
Glad this was helpful!
Brilliantly simple instruction explanations of series and parallel. Thanks so much. Exactly what I needed.
Thanks for explaining everything so well. I was not aware of the upkeep needed on our batteries. Definitely thinking Battle Born! -Carolyn
Diary of a Famil
Hi Jared,
My wife and I want to start traveling in our camper soon after we retire. We want to boon docking some while traveling. We both use bi- pap machines at night. We want to be able to use our machines by using solar energy. What would you recommend for a starter kit for newbies. Batteries,solar panel kit, inverter/charging system etc. we both really enjoy your RUclips videos.
Thanks,
Gary & Cece
You might want to compare prices with Renogy.
This is hands down the BEST video I've seen regarding power/batteries. Thank you for the ample and digestible info!!
Lifepo4 are great batteries however they really should be cycled between 20% - 80% for max life and they will be damaged if you try to charge them below 5C temperature
Great video. I'm buying my first travel trailer tomorrow, and I think I'm going to want to add solar eventually. There seems to be tons of info on solar, but almost none on batteries.
Good vid, right on with information. Some are making DIY (do it yourself) lithium batteries from 18650 cells, check out youtube vids on it. DIY still in the experimental stages.
I have looked into making a lithium battery but my wife isn’t on board with me doing that just yet. Maybe someday!
Do your research on making your own lithium battery bank. Between receiving fake batteries, the wrong chemistry of battery, the high cost of good 18650 (samsung,panasonic fullriver etc...) the cost of a good BMS (battery control board) and the labor and tools involved you can find making a battery pack is much to much of a commitment. I stopped making my own packs and just went for AGM T105 golf cart batteries. It can be fun though if you are looking for a new hobby.
Thank you!! you are a life saver, really. On the east coast, having a hard time finding Lithum batteries. Thank you.
Great Vid, just killed my lead acid, and trying to decide where we go from here! We this was helpful
Those lithium batteries are like 1200 bucks each!
Thank you!! As a beginner I've been trying to understand the pros and cons to which kind of battery I would use. Thank you this really helped me out. And way to go on using a USA made battery!
You must kick everyone out of the trailer when you’re filming. Lol
I definitely learned the hard way with an AGM battery I used (not in an RV) on a hunting trip. The charge level was low and during transport home it froze. After that, it would not take a charge.
you are the first guy to make sense to me. Thanks for all the info.
That’s wonderful information for someone who owns a camper. My husband and I have started renting campers and what we really need to know is when we should turn the battery on and when we should turn it off?
Nice explanation of the different types of batteries. Simple and through enough.
Excellent video it really helped a lot I was 90% sure I was going with Lithium but after watching the video definitely going with Lithium.
Thanks, glad it helped
$949!
That should be the final note on that Battleborn.
You can build your own LiFePO4 batteries from used pouch cells, add BMS units, and a charge controller and save a ton of money! The best part is you can build them to whatever shape you want.
I built a battery pack with some to run a Whynter 45Qt electric cooler/freezer to take to the beach, kids sporting events, camping, etc. I can run that cooler for more than 24 hours with that little lithium battery pack and can even charge it with solar, DC, or AC.
You forgot the Edison nickel iron battery, some of those are nearly a hundred years old and are still putting 80% of their original amp hour rating.
John Colvin but how user friendly are they? Do they require maintenance?
I replaced the lead acid battery to lithium (LifePO4) for my truck mounted camper and saved about 40 lbs of weight. I've had great luck with them.
You also need power to vacuum your couch after the cat gets done licking itself! LOL
Cat hair is my glitter. 😍❤😻✌
Nice vid! Lithium have the best cost/benefit per amp/hour by far. Also they don't drop off much but once they're done they fall off a cliff. I wouldn't say you can draw 100% but you can take them down to 10% which would kill the other types of batteries just flat dead. The only thing I'd like to see (I'm a ham radio operator) is a Low Voltage Disconnect. You's set the threshold for low voltage so when you draw down to that level the LVD shuts down the load to save the battery. You should do that with any type of battery. Great job!
Exactly the information I was looking for, and perfect delivery!thank you.
Excellent presentation. Our rig came with AGM batteries and when we store it for the winter months I am going to use a battery tender on them just to be safe.
Timely! Thank you for the tips on batteries :)
I really like your no nonsense approach to the information. Great topics, good common sense. Thank you.
Thank you!
VERY good information, Jarrod! (I hope I'm spelling that right!). I will be going full time very soon so this will help me a lot! Thanks!
Travel safe, stay happy, love God, and, have a great day!
(7/29/2018 Sunday 10:36amCST Houston, Texas)
That's a really nice cat. Very comfortable in that sunny trailer.
Thanks, she really is a great traveling cat and the family loves her.
MANY thanks! I'm new to all of this and I appreciate your shared knowledge.