Plenty of RV owners store their main batteries between trips and keep one or more extra batteries on hand inside of their vehicles in case of emergencies. Yet, any time you store batteries, you risk reducing their estimated lifespan through mishandling. Follow these storage tips to prevent costly damage that might force you to purchase new replacement batteries more often:
1. Maintain temperature awareness
Store your RV batteries away from high heat, as this can make them more susceptible to internal damage. If you must keep them in a hot location in the RV while traveling or at home, top them off above the plates with distilled water so that the electrolyte levels don’t drop too much. Also, never allow the batteries to be in an area where they can freeze. During self-discharge, an RV battery’s electrolyte fluid chemically changes into water that can freeze much more easily than a non-discharged battery.
2. Recharge the batteries often
Check each battery’s charge at least once a month and then recharge them so that they’re not always in a low power state that can decrease their lifespan. When recharging, never overcharge, as doing this can also cause damage. Another option: store them attached to a smart-style charger that doesn’t overcharge and supplies just enough charge on a timer to keep them from losing too much.
3. Switch to Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) batteries
Deep cycle AGM batteries don’t require the watering maintenance that is often necessary with flooded lead-acid batteries. They maintain electrolyte levels and retain power longer, which means they self-discharge at a slower rate than other types of RV batteries. They also don’t require recharge as often because they run normally even after a high level of discharge and recharge incredibly fast.
At Lifeline Batteries, our team builds high-quality, deep cycle Absorbent Glass Mat batteries built to military specs and designed with our customers in mind. The superior construction of our AGM batteries makes certain that every single one is guaranteed to work for a long time and rapidly recharges when necessary. For more information or to replace sub-optimal, flooded lead-acid RV batteries with one or more of our AGM ones, contact us today.