Battery levels??? |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Topic: Battery levels??? Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:34pm |
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Agree that the converter sounds like it is bad, or has blown its main fuse. Get your batts on a car charger to get them up quickly.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 6:21pm | |
Sorry, you are right, the proper info is on that site somewhere.. I get lost sometimes there.. Part of why I like the "12v side of life" site better.. but he didn't go into as much detail as university.. But even then, again, with 55A available.. it's covered. |
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dropkick
Newbie Joined: 17 Jul 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 5:55pm | |
Fully charged, disconncted from the charger after an hour, you should see around
12.65V. Under initial bulk charge you should see over 14V+ and on float
around 13.2~13.6V depending on the charger. Your plugged-in numbers indicate the
converter/charger is not functioning at all. Check breakers/fuses including the pair on the board directly. Do you see ANY activity on the converter/charger? Fan? A voltage change when pod is plugged in?
You batteries are below 50% charge which is ok to be at today, but not ok to leave them that way over time or there will be damage. If you're not taking the thing in to have the charger looked at this week, you need to find "any" 12V charger and charge them sooner than later. A generic 10A automotive one will do. At a minimum, disconnect them now so the various vampire loads (propane detector, anything you've added, possibly even a defective converter) do not draw them down any futher. Also check your water levels now and after its fixed. |
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 3:23pm | |
Furpod, The referenced article is apparently for a very small battery. The usual suggested charge rate is C/10 or 22A for a 220AH battery. This current is for any number of cells in series because the current is equal in all series connected cells. As you add cells the voltage increases, not the current. Thus a 12V 6 cell battery would be charged at ~14V@22A for the bulk phase. |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 1:25pm | |
It absolutely does. The normal charging time for FLA batteries works exactly like that, 1st 80% is bulk, the last 20% slows. The factory WFCO charger is capable of 55A or more then 25% of the rated aH capacity of a pair of gc2's.. actually a near perfect match. The math of it is, you want to max charge at a rate of about 1.9A per cell, you have 6 cells, so you need a little less then 12A.. far less then the 55A capability. Some charging explanation.. |
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 1:14pm | |
Yes it does. Works fine. Just takes a bit longer with a higher capacity battery. Overnight should recharge completely. |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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ToolmanJohn
Senior Member Joined: 23 Apr 2014 Location: Connecticut Online Status: Offline Posts: 451 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 12:27pm | |
I wonder is the R-Pod converter has the "juice" to bring the golf cart 6 Volt batteries to full capacity. 80% bilk charge is fast but that last 20% takes a long time, and it would take a long long time for a high capacity amp hour battery like a true deep cycle GC battery.
I would look into whether or not the R-Pod stock converter has the output needed to top off those batteries. Remember that the Pod was designed with one 12 volt marine/RV battery in mind.
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2017 ATC 7X20 Custom Toy Hauler
2013 R-Pod 177 (SOLD) 2013 VW Touareg TDI |
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john in idaho
Senior Member Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 10:49am | |
Amazon books has a book you need to read --"12volt bible for boats" for around $15. Won't take long and will help you understand batteries.
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 10:39am | |
First, the supplied 4 LED battery indicator in junk. The top light only means the battery is being charged. The third light is not 2/3, but usually means the battery is full but not being charged. Seeing the indicator drop to 3 lights after unplugging is normal. The lowest light usually means you left the battery at home . A digital voltmeter, connected right at the battery after an hour of no drain, is the best truth teller short of a hydrometer. A fully charged battery will read ~ 13.6V and a 50% battery will read ~12.0V. If the battery does not show above 13V while plugged in I'd suspect the converter/charger.
EDIT: The fully charged battery will read ~12.6V when not being charged. |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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JET
Groupie Joined: 13 Jan 2017 Location: Ashland, Oregon Online Status: Offline Posts: 72 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 9:49am | |
I have only owned my 178 a couple of months. When I bought it I had two 6v Interstate GC batteries installed. Since I bought it I have left it plugged into my house electrical full time to keep the batteries charged. I noticed that on a few occasions when I have the electrical unplugged the monitor panel will show the battery level going from full charge to the next light down (2/3 charge) in a matter of minutes. I had to take the pod back to the selling dealer to have a few things checked and mentioned this to the service department. When I picked up the trailer they didn't mention any problem they found (I should have asked specifically but didn't). I wasn't too worried about the reading as I figured the monitor panel wasn't probably all that accurate and getting a digital volt meter was one of the many things on my list to buy. And seeing how I was not dry camping this monitor reading was not very high on my priority.
However I just finished a 10 day trip from my home in southern Oregon to Joshua Tree. I still didn't dry camp but I noticed towards the end of the trip my monitor would show my battery level at 1/3 to 2/3 charge WHILE plugged into the power shore at the camp grounds. So once I got home I noticed my monitor was still reading 2/3 charge WHILE connected to my house electrical. I got a digital meter and checked the readings. While connected to the house electrical my meter reads the battery levels at 11.9 to 12.0. Checking the two 6 volt batteries individually while connected to the house they read 5.8-5.9 individually. I know nothing about this area but researching this online it looks like my batteries are pretty much totally discharged (down to 20%?) while on the electrical supply. They should read closer to 14.0 connected? 1) Any ideas what is wrong? 2) What should the battery volt read at 100% ? At 50%? etc. 3) I am going to call the service department Monday. It sounds like I have a charging problem and that I might have already severely compromised my new batteries by them being discharged to very low levels already if I am interpreting how to read the volt meter and what it should read. Should I demand new batteries if I do have some sort of charging problem? John
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