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Safari-Rick · 06-16-2009, 02:07 PM

Every year it seems there is always some one who has a question about their batteries. This is also the most often forgotten piece of maintenance that needs to be done. So, with that said, as I did last year here is the website URL for maintaining your AS batteries.

Battery Tutorial | BatteryStuff.com

R/
Safari-Rick

AirHeadsRus · 06-16-2009, 02:54 PM

Good stuff, thanks for the post.
I do have a question about batteries. When I bought my AS 2 weeks ago, it only had one battery. I had a 10 year old deep cycle trolling motor battery that I have not used much but have charged a couple of times per year. It was good last time I used it about 2 years ago so I put it in the other battery compartment. I know it needs replacing but I have no plans to be camping where I do not have power in the near future. Is it better to not put that one in and leave just one battery hooked up? Is it hurting anything if it will not hold a full charge? I do not want to mess anything up.
Thanks,
Joe

bryanl · 06-16-2009, 10:23 PM

One battery is just fine if you don't need the capacity of 2 (or more).

As long as a cell doesn't short out, it should make a good ballast for your converter, even if long in the tooth. As batteries age, they sulfate and their capacity decreases until it is so small that they don't keep the user happy.

With the older converters the biggest worry was boiling off battery water if the float voltage was too high or prematurely aging the battery if it was too low. If you keep the converter on the battery a lot just keep an eye on electrolyte level.