"Store" Mode

[billrector]

I thought the same thing. I had to upgrade in the same battery class and that bought me almost nothing....just a few AHs

[Mattirs]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

The Costco batteries may or may not have any more than 10% more capacity than your Interstates. There is no reason at all to believe they are any more durable or reliable.

Bob

I thought the Costco batteries are rebranded Interstates?

[billrector]

I believe they are Interstates manufactured in Mexico by Johnson Controls. Get you from 160 amp-hours to more like 210-220

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Mattirs

I thought the Costco batteries are rebranded Interstates?

Hi

The Costco golf cart batteries come from who knows where. The only golf cart batteries that are likely to be much of an upgrade are the ones that say Trojan on them. AFIK Trojan does not make the 6V batteries for Costco. Even those are in the +10% capacity / slightly better category.

Bob

[OTRA15]

Do the golf cart batteries require mods of the battery box?

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Do the golf cart batteries require mods of the battery box?

Depends on the size of the batteries, and size of your battery box; right?

[gypsydad]

I talked with my friend in CA who is camping out right now, after charging his "new" 3 month old "replacement" 12V batteries in his 2017 23' FC. They are not charging above 11.6V after overnight charging for past 2 days before his trip started. He said he his 23' has been in "store" mode for past 1.5 months, but it was plugged in. He said he checked several times while in his driveway, to make sure it was in "store" mode, so now what does he do? Same old story...too many of us having issues with "new Interstates"! What a hassle to go through this a second time with Interstates on a new AS in 6 months...sucks and should not happen!

Couple other points from earlier posts in this thread:
1) Costco- here in TX, I have seen the "6V Golf Cart" batteries for around $100each, and they are branded "Interstate"; not Costco. Do not have any data on them, other than AS "service manager" said they are junk and recommended Trojan brand 6V AGM's. No data on those either.
2) Costco warranty is great on batteries (and other items); I recently returned a dead battery I purchased from Costco in 2016, and received a "pro-rated" refund of $68 toward a new battery for my car. I know Interstate would only warranty for 1 year...not sure they prorate them?

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

. . .
. . . He said his 23' has been in "store" mode for past 1.5 months, but it was plugged in. He said he checked several times while in his driveway, to make sure it was in "store" mode, . . .
. . .

Pretty simple, really . . .

The batteries do not charge when the Use/Store switch is in the Store mode.



"Store mode" search results: https://www.google.com/search?q=stor...=airforums.com
"Use/store bad batteries": https://www.google.com/search?q=use%...=airforums.com

If the new batteries were not receiving any charge for 1.5 months, then a couple of days of charging, before the trip, would not have brought them back to life. They may have been dead already.

Sounds like operator error, in my personal opinion.

Cheers,

Peter

PS -- You can confirm that the Store mode does not charge the batteries by checking the battery voltage panel inside the AS. It will be blank IMO [as in "no power" registering] Put the switch in Use and the panel will show something like 13.7 volts.

PS2 -- Click on orange arrow in quote of your earlier comment, to refer to the other thread's Post #15, etc.]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Not sure if you saw this on " Batteries ka-put" thread? It may be worth checking out this procedure posted by Otra15, to check status with your system and battery circuit also:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...-175152-2.html

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The standard "golf cart batteries" we all talk about (and that get a lot of press over in the big boat world as well..) are T-105 sized batteries. Trojan is a good manufacturer of them. They are flooded cells and *not* AGM's.

The T-105 is a bit taller than our typical batteries. It's 11.07" tall. A group 27 is 8.9" tall. The difference is enough that they will not fit in most of the modern trailers without some sort of modification. There are reasons batteries can "bulge". You *do* need clearance ....

The reason T-105's get noticed is that they are a common item for golf carts. Golf carts are a big user of batteries. Some of those guys are really happy to make it past two years on a set of batteries (two full charges a day / 300 days a year ....). Each cart uses several batteries .... order them by the truck load.

If you are regularly running a battery totally flat in a day or two, there is no magic. A 10% capacity increase will have zero impact on your situation. You will still destroy batteries in very short order. There is no magic charger that will solve the problem. The answers lie in load and power management. You have to watch what's going on and match your power sources to your power usage.

Not much fun ... sorry about that

Bob

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

. . .
The T-105 is a bit taller than our typical batteries. It's 11.07" tall. A group 27 is 8.9" tall. The difference is enough that they will not fit in most of the modern trailers without some sort of modification.
. . .

Thanks Bob, that is what I was thinking from earlier threads. Thus, the cost of modifying the battery box is another factor here.

Well said in general.

Peter

[Mollysdad]

The fact that we're 90 posts into a "use/store" thread tells me that there's a lot of misunderstanding or problematic battery draw.
I think my solution is a battery disconnect switch and a trickle charger.
My battery box has plenty of room inside for cables, but I'll mount the switch outside, hopefully shielded from the debris thrown back from the road.

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Pretty simple, really . . .

The batteries do not charge when the Use/Store switch is in the Store mode.



"Store mode" search results: https://www.google.com/search?q=stor...=airforums.com
"Use/store bad batteries": https://www.google.com/search?q=use%...=airforums.com

If the new batteries were not receiving any charge for 1.5 months, then a couple of days of charging, before the trip, would not have brought them back to life. They may have been dead already.

Sounds like operator error, in my personal opinion.

Cheers,

Peter

PS -- You can confirm that the Store mode does not charge the batteries by checking the battery voltage panel inside the AS. It will be blank IMO [as in "no power" registering] Put the switch in Use and the panel will show something like 13.7 volts.

PS2 -- Click on orange arrow in quote of your earlier comment, to refer to the other thread's Post #15, etc.]

Hi Peter- you may have missed the sentence before the one you reference; he did charge for couple days before the trip; not in store position. "They are not charging above 11.6V after overnight charging for past 2 days before his trip started." He plugged in first night on his trip and they stayed at 11.6v while in use position. He totally unplugged last night and said they were down to 8.6 this morning. He is in touch with Interstate now and looking at getting a multi-stage Converter...any suggestions out there for a Converter for a 23' FC? I installed the Boondocker on my 28', but mine is a 50A. Not sure which one he should get and how much trouble to install...got to be a good one with not much trouble to replace/install the stock unit? Any suggestions are appreciated.

[billrector]

Call Randy at bestconverter.com

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

The fact that we're 90 posts into a "use/store" thread tells me that there's a lot of misunderstanding or problematic battery draw.
I think my solution is a battery disconnect switch and a trickle charger.
My battery box has plenty of room inside for cables, but I'll mount the switch outside, hopefully shielded from the debris thrown back from the road.

Posted this one on the other thread a few min ago...any comments on the Knife switch?


"Any comments on the Knife top mount disconnect switch? I used on my 25' for 3 years and never had any issues. I just got this one and am about to install in my 28'. Thoughts?"

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Hi Peter- you may have missed the sentence before the one you reference; he did charge for couple days before the trip; . . .
. . .

Don't think anything was missed:

Originally Posted by OTRA15

. . .
. . . a couple of days of charging, before the trip, would not have brought them back to life. They may have been dead already.
. . .

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Don't think anything was missed:

Yea; at 8.6v today...their toast! He is going to Interstate tomorrow...just sad they were newly replaced 3 months ago by Interstate....he keeps in stor mode till day or 2 before leaving on trip. Worked fine in July/Aug trips we went on back then. Just frustrating hassle...

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by gypsydad

Hi Peter- you may have missed the sentence before the one you reference; he did charge for couple days before the trip; not in store position. "They are not charging above 11.6V after overnight charging for past 2 days before his trip started." He plugged in first night on his trip and they stayed at 11.6v while in use position. He totally unplugged last night and said they were down to 8.6 this morning. He is in touch with Interstate now and looking at getting a multi-stage Converter...any suggestions out there for a Converter for a 23' FC? I installed the Boondocker on my 28', but mine is a 50A. Not sure which one he should get and how much trouble to install...got to be a good one with not much trouble to replace/install the stock unit? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hi

What is very unclear is:

Does the trailer have the converter on the load side of the relay? It appears it does.

Was the use / store switch in the "store" position? It appears it was.

In the case both of these guesses are correct, the batteries didn't get charged, regardless of how long the trailer was plugged in. No charger in the world will help you in this case. The answer is either to re-wire the converter (simple "move the wire" process) or to put the switch in "use" when you want to charge.

Bob

[gypsydad]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

What is very unclear is:

Does the trailer have the converter on the load side of the relay? It appears it does.

Was the use / store switch in the "store" position? It appears it was.

In the case both of these guesses are correct, the batteries didn't get charged, regardless of how long the trailer was plugged in. No charger in the world will help you in this case. The answer is either to re-wire the converter (simple "move the wire" process) or to put the switch in "use" when you want to charge.

Bob

No UB; he did have it on store, but moved it to use position, 2 days before going on this trip; plus, was plugged in for couple hours getting there, and had shore power first night. Next day, went to boondocking mood, no shore power, and measure by night fall was back down to 11.6V, then 8.6 next morning... think the original Converter could have either fried the batteries at some point, even though were fairly new, the AS techs said it can happen in couple days if the batteries are charged already? Anyway, also could have been "week" or bad cells with this replacement batteries he got in July... He is going to Interstate tomorrow...thanks for all the help you guys!

[mythbuster88]

We had all kinds of charging issues like you described with chronic low voltage.
While crawling around the trailer noticed that one lug was loose on the latching relay thats part of the "store/use" circuit. Its good to check all the connections everywhere.

RC

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Loose connections are not at all uncommon. Clamps and bolts on batteries come loose a lot. The crimps on cables may or may not be tight. Give them a good tug from time to time. If the wire pulls out of the crimp connector .... time to do something.

On a 12V circuit (don't do this on 120V !!!) another way to spot issues is to feel around when the circuit is in heavy charge or heavy discharge. Any connection that feels hot (as opposed to just warm) probably needs attention. Heat means you are loosing power ....

Bob