Battery Disconnect When Connected to 50 Amp Shore Power

[Scott Whitney]

Question: I store my Newell in a shop and always plugged into 50 amp service. Sometimes I keep the thermostat set for the ac just to control the climate inside the mh. Should I enable the battery disconnect between the chassis and motor batteries during the time it's in the shop? Please advise and explain so I may understand...(I'm not an electrician) Thanks in advance!

Scott

[Newell Attack]

We keep ours plugged in all the time. Anyway, keeping your batteries charged is a good thing.

Jeff

[Chester B. Stone, Jr.]

I agree with Jeff, keep the batteries connected.

[77newell]

Batteries have an internal natural discharge rate. If you leave any battery isolated long enough it will discharge to the point of losing the ability to recharge to the rated capacity. It takes a rather long time for a new battery to do this but as batteries age this time tends to shorten. You could choose to connect the batteries once a week or every two weeks for a day, but that is a bother when the energy savings are so small I doubt you could find them on your electric bill.

everything I know just ain't so

[lbrachfe]

leave them on and let the invertor/charger manage them for you

[NewellCrazy]

Batteries have an internal natural discharge rate. If you leave any battery isolated long enough it will discharge to the point of losing the ability to recharge to the rated capacity. It takes a rather long time for a new battery to do this but as batteries age this time tends to shorten. You could choose to connect the batteries once a week or every two weeks for a day, but that is a bother when the energy savings are so small I doubt you could find them on your electric bill.

everything I know just ain't so

77Newell,

I always look forward to reading your posts. Very informative as always and a real asset to our Newell community.

Sean

[77newell]

Sean: thank you for the kind compliment. I try to help where I can and keep my mouth shut the rest of time. If only I knew which is which.

The quality of my life seems far more connect to what I do (helping others learn) and to what I have (at the moment two great Newell coaches)

[prairieschooner]

For those who store without power...I isolate and shut down both Engine and House Banks. Providing that the batteries are in good condition the coach has always started with the longest period about 6 months (yep, sorry got busy with family).
As a side note I am using Trojan T-105, Flooded Lead Acid, 6 Volt "Golf Cart" type for the House and Flooded Lead Acid 8D Starting Batteries for the Engine Bank. House Bank 5 years old and still very good while I change the Engine Batteries out every 2 years and they are becoming due.

[chockwald]

My engine bank batteries....2 8D Interstate flooded cell batteries.....are 4 years old and going strong. Not even a hickup. I have Power Pulses hooked up to each of them. I have 2 8D Interstate flooded cell batteries for my house bank and they are also 4 years old and going strong. Also have a Power Pulse hooked up to them. That combined with using a Progressive Dynamics charge/converter with 3 stage charging plus an anti sulfating mode. Check the water level once and while. Only isolate the batteries when in storage. Haven't had the coach in storage for 30 months now.....been living in it for that length of time.

[prairieschooner]

Clarke, I buy inexpensive Starting Batteries for the House Bank and just change them out not because they are all used up just because they are inexpensive. Best part is that I always have relatively New Starting Batteries.
I keep the Banks separated because I am using different types of Batteries...Starting for the Engine and Deep Cycle for the House. Starting Batteries and Deep Cycle Batteries should not be charged together because the Battery Charger would not know the difference and could damage one of the banks.

Batteries are only designed to last so long, eventually the sulfates will touch the plates.

[smquandt]

I am going to jump in on this because Friday morning I had a surprise, see attached picture. One of my engine batteries had blown up. Several of us including two electrical engineers have decided that the problem was a shorted cell in the battery. Any help with this is appreciated. Now two new batteries in the coach but not merged with the house batteries until I can determine the problem.

4206

[rellick]

That is nasty, were you able to rinse everything well to neutralize the acid? Probably be a good idea to check all the cables and wires to make sure nothing is wearing thru and shorting out. I had a 58 chev truck with a 425hp 396 in it and the main pos. cable melted on the header near the starter, the battery blew up! I thought it was going to take the hood with it! Scary stuff. There should be a way to test the system to check for dead shorts, im sure someone will chime in thats more up to speed on that, I think I have done it at one time but cant remember right now!! theres too much other stuff rolling around in there!! Good luck!!

[prairieschooner]

Had this last year and best I could figure was that it had frozen. Here's the deal, I attended a Seminar that was put on by Interstate Batteries. The guy putting on the seminar stated that a Flooded Lead Acid Battery could Freeze if Discharged, then when a Charge was Applied it Could Explode.

The other thing that I have seen is that if there was a Loose Connection it Could have created a Spark at the Terminal While Charging, Batteries Produce Hydrogen Gas While Charging and a Spark Can Ignite the Gas. I have seen many Exploded Batteries over the years while doing my inspections as a a Marine Surveyor and typically it was a Loose Battery Cable. And yes a Dead Cell could Ignite the Hydrogen Gas as well.

***Get some Baking Soda ASAP and Naturalize the Battery Bay. Then Wash with Soap and Water to ensure that it has been cleaned properly again ASAP!! The Baking Soda should Neutralize the Battery Acid but what the heck might as well clean everything.

Good Luck, this is a great reason to consider AGM Batteries since they are Sealed and Reportedly do Not suffer from Freezing.

[Neweller]

I had that same thing happen a few years ago, but half my batteries top blew off. It blew the door open while bending it. The battery was low or had a dead cell and with snow on the ground, you guessed it, there was extra help freezing it. Sounded like a shotgun going off in the middle of the night.

Everything was just as Steve stated. I poured CLR all over the place and then rinse it off, repeating the process until neutralized and cleaned.

[folivier]

CLR is an acidic cleaner according to their MSDS. You need something basic (with a pH greater than 7) in order to neutralize acid. The safest is like Steve said to use baking soda for an acid spill.