No one likes to hear the dreaded click, click, click of a battery gone dead. Maintenance-free, you say? Just because it's sealed doesn't mean you shouldn't regularly inspect it.
When we see battery failure it is typically due to irregular maintenance, complete discharging after long-term storage, or improper recharging methods that boil off the electrolyte inside. Yes, even those maintenance-free batteries can be trouble. A maintenance-free battery with a built-in hydrometer eye isn't foolproof because it doesn't always tell you the whole story in regards to water levels in each cell.
Battery Bug
We recommend that you monitor your battery before trouble happens. One product that appears to help is the Battery Bug from Argus Analyzers. Although we haven't given it a longer-term test, upon inspection we discovered that the Battery Bug does offer a constant window at the state of charge of your battery once every minute and displays the charge level between 0 and 100 percent. When it detects a voltage problem, an audible alarm goes off.
| The Battery Bug monitors your battery's performance.
The Battery Bug seems to be useful for knowing the life of your battery or when the battery will need to be replaced. It's a simple device that installs directly to the positive and negative terminals. It compensates for the size and temperatures of the battery and monitors charger and alternator performance for damaging conditions. The Battery Bug can be installed on all types of lead acid batteries or banks of batteries connected in series or parallel.
Beating The Sulfation Blues
If you've never heard of sulfation, that's OK. Most of us haven't. It happens inside the battery, specifically to the plates that conduct electricity. So the only way you would know about it is when you're battery doesn't hold a charge.
The typical 12V lead acid batteries used in most trucks and RVs are supposed to provide adequate cranking power for two to four years on average, and many do. But no matter what it says on the label, few batteries can live up to a process known as sulfation, which is caused by extended discharging and improper overcharging.
Sulfation is basically the crystallization of lead sulfate. Lead sulfate is the byproduct of a reaction from lead, lead dioxide, and the sulfuric acid in the electrolyte of your battery. It is what generates electricity. Some sulfation is normal. However, once your battery's plates get coated with crystallized lead sulfate, they can no longer conduct electricity-and poof! There goes the battery.
BatteryMinder
RVers know how important battery life is and how easy it is to overcharge a battery by leaving it on a charger too long. Also, many of us have multiple batteries for different vehicles, so finding ways to cut costs of replacements is always beneficial. Now there's a nearly foolproof way of keeping your batteries up to peak-performing power and virtually eliminating the problem known as sulfation.
| The BatteryMinder from VDC Electronics offers a proper charge of your RV batteries and reverse the primary cause of early battery failure, known as sulfation.
The BatteryMinder from VDC Electronics offers a proper charge of your RV batteries and reverses the primary cause of early battery failure: sulfation. Sulfated batteries once considered beyond recovery can now be brought back to long-term useful condition.
While we are testing the BatteryMinder for our website, RVMagOnline.com, we think that it's worth noting that everything we've seen thus far indicates that this is one product that could save you hundreds of dollars in unneeded battery replacements.
The model we selected (PN 12248; 12-volt; 2, 4, or 8 amps) was recommended by contributing writer Mark Polk, and so we know it's useful. It is a three-stage constant current/voltage, float mode charger, maintainer-desulfator (conditioner) that extends both the performance and life of all types, sizes, and brands of 12V batteries. This includes all maintenance-free, marine/RV deep-cycle, Gel, and AGM "dry" types as well as "spiral wound" constructed sealed types such as Optima, Odyssey, Exide, and Interstate brands. There's a push-button selector for AGM, Gel, and Flooded (filler caps) types, ensuring 100 percent compliance with all leading battery manufacturer's specifications.
We will continue our testing of the Battery Bug and BatteryMinder online at RVMagOnline.com. Stay tuned, and stay charged!
