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Old 01-19-2022, 06:54 PM   #1
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Join Date: Jun 2020
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Inverter and batteries

My 2 coach batteries show 12.7 each charged. My lights stay on for a short time only after shutting down the generator. When should I turn the inverter on in general and while using what outlets or devices. I have a 25 J btw.
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Old 01-19-2022, 07:44 PM   #2
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Batteries are one of those things that seem so simple but we often find lots of confusion on them.
Let me do some checking to see if that might be a problem?

One very common item is not knowing about what we call "suface charge" and it may be leading you to jump the track!
If we are charging a battery and read the voltage, we are actually seeing the voltage from the charger, not the true battery voltage, but then if we take the voltage too soon after we have removed the charging, we also can get a very bad reading as the charge in the battery is a chemical reaction between the lead and acid. That means that we can get the feeling the battery voltage is higher than it actually is if we do the reading too soon and the chemicals have not had time to "settle" and become stable among all six cells.
In your case, if you are charging and see 12.7 shortly after taking the charge off, it is quite likely the batteries are either not fully charged or not holding that charge due to some defect.

Just guessing and it will need to be checked from your end but this may be what is happening. You have the charging going and the lights and such are fine as they are getting power from the generator but when you remove that, the batteries are actually not good and the charge goes down way too fast!

Try charging for 6-8 hours and take the charge off and wait a couple hours to then test the voltage. It the batteries get to full charge of about 12.8 and stay near that for a couple hours they may be good but I suspect not.

Another test which can be quicker is a load test done by an auto parts store for free in many cases. If the batteries are charged and good, they put a load on them and a meter tests how well they hold under a load.

On the inverter, I suggest only turning it on when you need 110 AC power and are not plugged in nor wanting to run the generator. You may have to do some checking if your RV is post 2010 year as they do not give us the specifics on newer RV.
When plugged or generatorrunning, all outlets should work but only a limited number will work on the inverter alone. Testing with a lamp, etc. may be the quickest way to know for sure.
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