re-charge deep cycle batteries

[Sir Traveller]

hello everyone

I am new to Rvs, a couple of months ago  I bought a 2003  Ford V10 ( 4 wind hurricane ) , I installed 2 deep cycle batteries and just want to know how often should I recharge them, and what are the actual steps of recharge ( I read online 3 steps to recharge the barraties but no details of how to exactly do each step  ) . I am currently in a full RV hookup in San Diego, it is getting warmer here ( 70 to 80s / if that affect how often the batteries are recharged !?!!) I will appreciate any tips

thank you. 

( updated / edited ) I meant to say how often should I maintain the batteries ( refill water if it is below certain level ) not how often to recharge them ( that part I can tell from the test button obviously )

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums! Good to have you with us.

There are two ways that your house batteries get recharged under normal use. The first is that when you drive the RV there is a relay that connects the house batteries to the chassis battery system and it will charge the house batteries as well as the chassis battery while you are driving the RV. That method does a very good job of charging but there is also what is called a converter which when you park and connect to the shore power system of the RV park, it converts the 120V-ac power into 12V-dc power to supply things like your lights, furnace, water heater and refrigerator controls circuits as well as the fresh water pump. Your power cord supplies 120V-ac power like you use in a house to the RV and that then powers the converter, the TV, microwave, and all of the outlets in the RV. Some RVs have an inverter that can take power from the batteries and supply some of the 120V systems but usually only a few selected items. You can tell what you have by seeing if your TV will work when you are not plugged into shore power. 

If your RV has an onboard generator set to supply 120V power, that acts exactly the same is if you were connected to shore power. 

[Sir Traveller]

thank you Kirk... so if I understood your reply correctly, this means whether I am driving, or parked and hooked up to electricity, both ways the batteries will be automatically recharged ? 

[Chad Heiser]

When I had lead acid deep cycle batteries, I would check the water level once a month.  Sometimes they needed water and sometimes they didn’t, but I always did it monthly.  You can make the chore much easier by adding a watering system to your batteries.  Like this one for example:

https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Rite-RV2000-Pro-Fill-Battery-Kit/dp/B001FCAXT0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522119421&sr=8-1&keywords=battery+watering+system

[mscans]

Sir T.

your RV is old enough that it probably does NOT have a 3 or 4 stage charger built in to the converter.  you may want to look into that to see about an upgrade.  the newer systems do a much better job of charging and will allow the batteries to last longer, charge faster and work better.

enjoy the new (to you) RV and get out as often as you can.

[Kirk W]

13 hours ago, Sir Traveller said:

whether I am driving, or parked and hooked up to electricity, both ways the batteries will be automatically recharged ? 

If we assume that everything is working properly, that is correct. Both of the other replies are also valid as well. The RV industry has improved the type of converters in common use and the earlier models had converters that were of pretty poor charge capability and so only supplied a single, constant voltage to the battery system while better quality converters have a voltage regulator that does a much better job of battery maintenance. I think that it would be helpful to you if you read the following article that was written and posted by a member of the Escapees Club staff.   The 12V Side of Life

[richfaa]

Check your water levels on a regular basis.Every month will not hurt.