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Old 12-13-2002, 08:11 PM   #1
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1986 25' Sovereign
Southern Middle , Tennessee
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BatteryMinder charging time

I disconnected my BatteryMinder charger/maintainer from the 2 Delco Voyager 105 amp hr. batteries in my 31' Excella 500 and left out at 8 a.m. on Dec. 6. The 109 mile trip took around 2 hr. and 15 minutes upon which I backed my trailer in and turned my catalytic heater on while boondocking for the weekend (deer hunting). I ran the customary lighting inside while housing myself and a neighbor who met me at the campsite and spent the next 2 nights in my trailer while hunting. That Friday night I invited the only other hunting partner in our bunch to show up to come in and eat with us. He had a big batch of chili his girlfriend made up and a bottle of Wild Turkey. I provided the Pepsi (usually Coke) or water whichever they preferred to drink with or without Wild Turkey. I also heated up some cornbread in my oven. We finished up the dinner conversation around 9 p.m. and I was telling myself that 4 a.m. was going to come earlier than usual. Lights went out by 9:30 p.m. and came back on Sat. morning at 3:55 a.m. before the alarm went off. I fixed flakey biscuits, strawberry preserves, coffee for breakfast (we eat light) and left the trailer around 5:15 a.m. (20 minutes later than I should have.) We came back for lunch, rested for 2 hrs. and were back into the field until 6:30 p.m. Sat. night. I left the outside floodlight on for an hour as well as a single light over the kitchen counter and one light over the entertainment center. We hit the sack at 8:30 p.m. that night and woke up at 4 a.m. the next morning. I was the only one to leave for the woods early that morning. My friend sleeping on the couch was suffering from a runny nose and ocassional cough so he did not leave camp until 6:30 a.m. My other friend in his own camper was feeling puny that morning so he did not hunt. I enjoyed seeing wildlife as I always do but none of them were deer. Oh well. I came back to camp at 11 a.m., packed up and was on the road by 12:30.

I go back home around 2:50 p.m. and after cleaning out the fridge and trailer, hooked up the BatteryMinder to charge the batteries up at 4:00 p.m. Monday evening at 6 p.m. showed that the batteries were still receiving a charge and had not moved into the flashing desulfation mode. Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. showed that full charge had been reached and desulfation mode was in process or was complete. This charging process was helped with a PulseTech 5 watt Solargizer solar charger/maintainer unit although the skies were overcast.

I realize that there are faster chargers out there to recharge batteries after you have been boondocking but they worry me. I was told that maintenance free batteries were no good for RV's because chargers would boil off irreplacable water. I've also been told that the 5 watt solar panel would not keep up with the amount of electrical draw I would use. HMMMM, some have told me that they have heard of Delco Voyager maintenance free batteries lasting up to 10 years and some up to 7 years. I'm happy with the products I have purchased and they have done what they claim they would do. My batteries are almost 2 years old and I haven't noticed any change in their performance.
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Old 12-13-2002, 09:55 PM   #2
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Battery voltage?

Enjoyed reading your post!

But wondered if you checked your battery voltage with a digital meter to see the state of charge (or used a specific gravity meter).

That would give us a rough guestimation of the % battery charge since you used flood and other lights.

I believe the battery minder has a very Low charging rate.

Thanks for your sharing of information!

Steve in Savannah
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