SWHouston

Gees, that would drive me nuts, not being able to get to those things !

You could install a Voltmeter somewhere off of a hot line to them.
Make sure they were charged up well.
Turn something on, and time a voltage drop to a certain level.
Just do that every now and then, and record the info.

I know that's not much, but it's a start.

PS Everyone...
You need to go to the Optima Website and check out a LOAD of good FAQ info on these issues...
OPTIMAŽ Batteries : Car, Marine, & RV Batteries :: OPTIMAŽ Batteries
Just scroll to the bottom of the page, and select an item !

73shark

My system has an installed voltmeter and a percentage of battery left. Not sure what voltage drop vs time data is going to tell me w/o some guideline as to what is acceptable.

On starting batteries, I've always heard that if you can turn on the headlites on for one minute and then still be able to start the engine, the battery was good. Can't attest to the validity but at least it gives one an idea of battery health.

SWHouston

Start/Stop Voltages with set periodic Voltage Checks would/could give you a drain/usage curve and establish "dependability". And yes, some history would be necessary to establish that.

If any Battery I had wouldn't operate the headlights well beyond one minute and then start, I think I'd need replacement.
I hate to admit this, but I've left the Headlights on, went in and seen a Movie in a Theater, and my ride restarted when I returned.

I guess I had my mind more on the Girl I was taking to the Movie, rather than the Girl I left in the Parking Lot.

OptimaJim

73shark, depending on how inaccessible your batteries are, you may be able to load test them in your RV. Most auto parts stores have hand-held units that can load test batteries while they are in vehicles. I use a BVA-260 myself and have been very pleased with it.

A google image search of "battery voltage chart" will yield quite a few charts that will offer general guidelines for battery voltage levels and how to equate that to state of charge. Keep in mind, batteries designed for deep-cycle use may have higher voltage levels when fully-charged (our YellowTops are fully-charged at ~13.0-13.2V), so those numbers may need to be adjusted slightly, depending on the battery.

The bottom line for good battery health and service is making sure if batteries do get discharged below 12.4 volts, that they get fully-recharged as soon as possible.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
OPTIMAŽ Batteries (optimabatteries) on Pinterest

SWHouston

Jim,

Thanks for some very good info, but...

I'm a little confused about the Minimum Voltage you listed (12.4).
Are you referring that to a Start Battery, or Deep Cycle, or both ?

I can see a Start Battery being at/just below 12.4 briefly, but, aren't Deep Cycles made to be used some/well below that, and still be able to recover and repeat ?

73shark

I wasn't saying that the battery had to just run the headlites for one minute. What I meant was that after one minute, the battery still had to start the engine. Granted this should not be a tough test for a good battery but should be an indicator of imminent death of a battery on it's last legs.

Jim: Thanks for the info on load tester. Will check it out.

OptimaJim

SWHouston, that's a great question and I appreciate the opportunity to offer more clarity on battery voltage. When any lead-acid battery, whether it is a starting or deep-cycle battery, is discharged below 12.4 volts and is left sitting in that state, sulfation will begin to form. The issue really isn't whether someone discharges a deep-cycle battery down to 12.0 or even 11.0 or 10.0 volts multiple times, it's whether they fully-recharge the battery as soon as possible or leave it sitting in a state of discharge below 12.4 volts.

Keeping a battery fully-charged (~12.6-12.8V for our RedTops & ~13.0-13.2V for YellowTops) is always ideal and some batteries are designed to be deep-cycled and discharged well below 12.4 volts. Since batteries are consumable items, the shallower the discharge, the more cycles a battery will offer. The issue many folks run into is that their vehicle either when it is put into storage or while it is in storage has a deeply-discharged battery that is sulfating as it sits.

In a truck application, it could be a guy who discharged his battery doing heavy winching with his trail rig, before loading it up on a trailer and taking it home. In an automotive application it could be (and often is) a Corvette owner, who takes his car out every other weekend, in between letting the high key-off load in his car discharge his battery. It may be most-common in marine applications, where boaters run their trolling motors or stereos all day long, deeply-discharging their house batteries, followed by a quick run back to the dock or trailer. In each instance, there is no effort made to either recover the batteries or maintain voltage in them and that's where folks run into trouble.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
OPTIMAŽ Batteries (optimabatteries) on Pinterest

SWHouston

Jim,

Thank you for your prompt and informative reply. I, and I'm sure that all here are greatly appreciative of comments from Manufacturers Representatives such as you. And if I may, take this a step farther...

Ok on the minimum 12.4v for a "storage/non use" situation, but...

I noted your reference to as little as 10v but just how low can one go (discharge) on a Deep Cycle before he is harming the Battery on a single event ? (and assuming he doesn't leave it that way)

And, is there a best operating "range" ?

OptimaJim

It is not uncommon for our sponsored tournament anglers to discharge their batteries well into the single-digits on a windy day. Deeply-discharging an Optima like that won't usually mark the end of it's useful life, but as I mentioned earlier, the shallower the discharge, the more cycles a battery is able to deliver. That would make an operating range as close to fully-charged whenever possible an ideal scenario.

I shot a test video with Brady Basner from Powermaster Alternators last summer and we used my 1992 Silverado as a guinea pig. We thought we'd only have to discharge the battery down to 10.5 volts, before it wouldn't start my truck, but it was still turning it over at that voltage level. We didn't get clicking on start-up until we discharged it below 8 volts. Once we fully-recharged the battery, it worked fine and still continues to work fine, but we probably took some life out of it by discharging it so deeply.

More importantly, when we discharged my battery down to 8 volts, the alternator operating temperature shot up dramatically (from 158 degrees up to nearly 300 degrees), which Brady indicated is definitely causing premature wear on the alternator.

Jim McIlvaine
eCare Manager, OPTIMA Batteries, Inc.
OPTIMAŽ Batteries (optimabatteries) on Pinterest

SWHouston

Jim,

Thanks again for such great information !

I'd like to give a bit of input here on other complications of lower voltages.

It's great that these Battery's are so forgiving, and able to bounce back, but one needs to remember that the Equipment which is being operated, may not be so capable, for instance...

If you're operating Incandescent Lighting (only), it's not a problem if they don't put out as much light when the Voltage drops. I admit that it's not good for the Lamps, but, they're relatively sturdy, and can be replaced easily.

That may not be the case, with other Equipment.
There are any number of installed and after market appliances which may be sensitive to or damaged by lower Voltages. One would be wise to take an equipment inventory, and verify Voltage Operating Range for each via it's Manufacturer, or possibly tagged information on the Equipment. Going through the inconvenience of just discontinuing the use of something at a given Voltage, would be much more preferable than using it to a point of failure.

Having an accurate Volt and Use Percentage Meters as 73Shark has available, are extremely valuable.