[Charlie]

I agree Jon but sometimes I don’t need ACs so at night there is not much load on the gen , I change my gen oil and filter about Twice a month I use it loaded up and lots all year !!!!!

[Russell]

Tom,

All I can see without pulling a batt is a barcode/serial number. One is 01110910. The rest are in the same range. Is this a date code or ?

Thanks,

Doug

[Jerry]

Doug,

No, that number won’t do you any good. Like in my post to Sid, they will have a white round sticker or the side of the case will be branded if they’re older than 08.

[Kirby]

Doing a little cleaning/exploring down in the bays today. I removed the plywood partions that are covering the

house and generator batteries. The good news is my gen battery is a lifeline GPL-1400T, the bad new is the sticker

is FK. Translation F = 6 and K = 11, which means June of 2011. My house batteries are 6 Lifeline GPL-4DL and

their stickers are A = 1 and M = 13, which equals January 2013. While checking the batteris with my temperature

gun, battery # 4 was 111 degrees on the top rear of the case and 90 degrees in the front. All the other batteries

were in the low 80 degree range all over. The rear top of the battery is much warmer to the touch than the rest.

The inverters are two Trace 4000, and are in float with a display voltage of 25.8 actual volts. Checked the torque

of the connections and all are good and tight.

Is this the indication of a bad cell? Is there anything I can or should do because of it?

I am going to ETLC for the seminar in October, if there isn’t a sale on Lifelines for attendees, maybe Buddy can

help me make a swap while Tom is teaching the class.

[Tim]

Tom or Lifeline can probably answer the possible reason for the temperatures you experience, but I am guessing the most accurate answer will need a diagram of how the batteries are arranged and how the cables are attached relative to the inverters.

My guess which is worth nothing is if you are in float that is a good sign, but without knowing how long it took to get there and what the loads were and the charging current settings makes it difficult to be sure of anything.

I have a 5 year schedule and my criteria for supporting my choice of when to replace has always been how long I could go before my batteries were in need of recharging. For example, when new we can shut off the generator for the night at 10:00 and with my refrigerator, aux compressor, TVs and phantom loads I can still be showing 25V at 6:00 AM. We can watch some TV, I can work on the computer, we can make coffee and have lights on and I don’t need to start the generator or the coach because we will be above 24.5 volts for a couple of hours.

But as they approach 5 years after 8 hours I am down to 24.5 volts and if I want to make coffee or watch TV I will start the generator. I do not believe in the deep discharges that occur with autostart, so depending on how you use your coach, your tolerance for deep discharges, etc. you may feel comfortable stretching your battery life, but for me I would be six months away from a new set.

[Archived]

John,

See Buddy, he can arange a huge discount.

I don’t see those temps as a problem, max is 160 degree’s and you’re only talking about roughly 20 degrees compared to the others. The bigger issue is your float voltage being 25.8, should be 26.8, but you didn’t say what the temp compensated voltage was.

[Bob]

Tom,

The temp compensated voltage is 26.8, and the battery that has the high temp has two temperature sensors

on the end that has the high temp. My inverters are set to the Trace reccomended settings. Just wanted to

make sure the battery is not starting to have a problem or is not being damaged by charge rate.

Should I put all the partitions back or has someone come up with a better solution for air flow and access?

Can I make the partitions out of something besides one inch plywood to save a little weight? My partition has

a four inch round connection to a vent in the bay door. Is that enough air flow? My battery bay also has the

bedroom cruise air unit, the gen battery, and backs up to the generator fan and blower in the middle of the coach.

The middle of the bay does have a screened in cut out section in the front that should provide air too.

Thanks,