30
Battery Life
Important information about battery charging to keep from killing your
battery. Even if you abuse your batteries they will probably work just
fine—for awhile. By knowing how to care for them you can extend
their life to maximize their return to you.
1.
Charging for sufficient time: After trips, you should charge the
battery for at least 48 hours to bring the battery to 100%.
Charging
with your tow vehicle will charge your battery to only about 80-90%,
even on a 10 hour long drive.
If you do not fully charge the battery,
you will lose some capacity. Charging to only 90% will, with time,
lose the top 10%.
2.
Charge at frequent intervals during storage: Either leave trailer
plugged in, for automatic charging during storage, or plug in for 48
hours every two months.
3.
Don’t often let the battery become totally discharged: Totally
discharged is 10.5V or below. Avoid discharging below 11.75V
whenever possible.
4.
Don’t leave battery discharged for a long time: Leaving a battery
discharged causes damage that reduces the capacity of the battery.
Even short times (less than 24 hours) will cause small amounts of
damage. Leaving a battery deeply discharged for a week may reduce
its capacity by 25% or more.
Battery Circuit Breaker
If the Volt Meter is blank, even though the DC Load Disconnect Switch
is turned ON, the Battery Circuit Breaker may have tripped. The Battery
Circuit Breaker usually will only trip if something major happens, like
the 7-Prong Connector wire is cut with something metal or the 7-Prong
Connector coming unplugged and being dragged until most of it is worn
away.
The Battery Circuit Breaker is located below the countertop in the right
storage compartment. There is a small hole below the Volt
Meter/Charge Amp Meter. To Reset the breaker, insert the eraser end of
a pencil or the blunt end of a ―stick‖ pen into the hole and push. (Note:
pushing a non-tripped breaker will not hurt the breaker) If the breaker
will not reset, or the Volt Meter is still blank, have battery checked. If
the battery is OK, look for a shorted wire.