Rv Battery Drain Test

My top 10 battery tips to extend the life of your rv batteries.

Rv battery drain test.

When a battery is in a low state of charge small crystals start forming on the plates sulfation and if it. So you parked your rv for a while or put it in storage. The leading cause of dead lead acid batteries is sulfation. With newer cars with more control modules usually you need to wait 30 minutes or so for the modules to turn off.

Connect the cables to your battery and then test your lights to check the new deep cycle. If you have a sealed battery and don t trust the battery indicator light on the panel you need to use a digital voltmeter to check the rv battery. If your vehicle is drawing power from the battery and all of the lights and other electrical components are off you might have a parasitic battery drain or draw. Remember that there are many phantom loads these days.

Start by connecting a digital multimeter to the negative battery. You thought you had everything shut off but you come back to find the batteries are dead. The easiest way to check for a battery drain is to use a clamp on dc ammeter. Luckily you can usually find the cause of a parasitic draw yourself.

Take the battery in for replacement or further testing. It was left in a state of discharge too long or. This device clamps around one of the battery cables and reads directly in amps or milliamps depending on the size of the current drain. And remember as soon as the battery state of charge drops below 12 5 volts sulfation starts and if the battery stays in that condition for an extended period of time the battery will die.

Begin by making sure the shoreline cord is unplugged and that all 12 volt components are turned off. An rv deep cycle battery is a sturdy and efficient battery that recreational vehicle owners rely on to power most of their onboard electronics and appliances including water pumps coffee machines blenders microwave ovens and tv among others. Routine maintenance and recharging a discharged battery as soon as possible will extend the life of the battery. In your rv it s possible for these parasitic loads to drain the battery when you don t use or charge the battery for long periods of time.

Check the voltage after that period and it should be 6 37 v for a 6 v battery or 12 73 v for a 12 v battery. It has a bad cell. The first test the amperage battery drain test is best suited for older vehicle models 1990s and older that come equipped with one or two computer modules. Before you do this know what voltage the battery is after all a 6 volt battery that reads 6 volts is fully charged whereas a 12 volt battery that reads at 6 volts is dangerously low.