Quote:
Originally Posted by prairieschooner
wanting to put my 2 cents worth in;
...This means that if I watch the Battery Voltage and keep them within the 50%-85% Charge Range
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2 more cents to add to this... a 50% state of charge is NOT 6 volts. Too many times people mistake this and I wanted to clarify it.
When dry camping, fire up your generator when your batteries are between 85% and 50%. Checking the state of charge actually involves using a hydrometer... but in the real word, using the voltage will get you close enough.
Also, technically you should use the voltage rule only after the batteries have been left uncharged or draining with a load for a minimum of an hour or more as a battery will tend to recover some of its lost voltage. I've found that when the voltage reads 50% or 12.2v, by letting it sit, it will recover to around 60-65% or about 12.3v without doing anything.
Yes... that's right... 1/10 of a volt separates 13% more of a state of charge.
Percentage of Charge Chart
