Trojan 6V 105 Batteries and storage. How do you keep the batteries charged?

[SimonJester]

Last fall we purchased a cover for our Oliver Elite II.  We purchased it with the Solar panels and Trojan 6V 105 batteries.  

I maintain the water in the batteries every month with distilled water in the Trojan battery watering system.  I also purchased a small solar panel to hopefully keep the batteries charged.  Well, it did not work.  So, I write to ask several questions:

First, what do others do to maintain Trojan 105 Batteries when they get stored for a long period?

Second, how best to charge and then test the batteries?  These are the batteries that came in the Oliver when we purchased it in June of 2017.  I do not want to charge the batteries take off on a trip and a few days or miles down the road realize the batteries are not good.

Third, is there a specific procedure on how to disconnect and hook up four 6V batteries in a series and parallel configuration?

Thank you for any thoughts and comments!

Joe Cox

Hull Number 232

Tow vehicle 2019 Ford F-150 with 3.0 liter diesel

[topgun2]

Joe - congrates on the Oliver.

I too have the 4 six volt Trojan T-105's and they were original equipment on my 2016 Elite II

My watering system is similar to yours.  Whenever my Ollie is in storage I keep it covered with a CalMark cover and simply hook up the batteries to a single 25 watt solar panel.  Over the past 7 years this has maintained the batteries at full charge with no issues.  However, as these batteries are now at or beyond their "normal" life, I'm keeping a very close eye on them because I know that the end is neigh.  I suspect that your batteries may have already met that "neigh".

Bill

Edited April 14, 2023 by topgun2
spelling

[Rolind]

We are anxiously awaiting the delivery date for our LEII. We have a similar situation with our current non Oliver trailer. We store our trailer under cover and the rooftop solar was ineffective. I can only address your first question. We use a 100 watt inexpensive panel and an inexpensive PWM solar controller we installed an inline fuse and connect thru the factory installed zamp solar connect on the outside of the trailer. We use a cable bike lock to secure the panel to a support of the storage shelter. We leave this connected whenever the trailer is in storage. We also bought a very small panel initially and it didn’t cut it.  When boondocking, we often take the portable panel with us to augment the rooftop solar. Lastly, if you don’t have a battery monitoring system, I would strong recommend it. I initially made myself crazy trying to predict state of charge from battery voltage.  

[Geronimo John]

Winterization Step One:  If you have a battery master switch, turn it to OFF.  If not, disconnect the positive terminal that feeds power into the cabin.  The parasitic losses in our trailers are small, but over winter the accumulate a lot and certainly can cause our batteries to suffer.  

OLD SCHOOL METHOD:

Were I in your shoes, I would disconnect all four batteries and individually put a slow charger on them and try to bring them up to charge slowly.  Once you get some voltage on them, you could then take the charging power up to 25 amps.  Just keep an eye on their temperature.  If hot to your hand or boiling, back the charge back to 2 amps or so.  

The process can take a lot of time slow charging, but the potential for more damage is much less.

Once you think you have them charged, you could individually put one at a time on a battery load tester.  It will load them up to 1500 watts load and you can calculate how much power they were able to deliver from full charge to the 50% voltage.  Don't draw them down below this voltage.  The answers between each of your four batteries should be very close.  If one is not, bingo you know what failed. 

GJ 

[dewdev]

After you think you have charged them to 100%, you can take them to a automotive parts store (NAPA, etc.) where they can test them under a load to see what their health is.

[SimonJester]

Thank you, everyone!

I have an update and a question.  Here goes.

We returned our Oliver to our home and plugged it in.  After 24 hours, none of the batteries read over 6.1 volts.  So, I think we may need to find new batteries.

Question - can anyone recommend a good battery replacement for the Trojan 105?  I have looked online and that battery may be hard to find.  

Thank you, in advance!

Joe

[Geronimo John]

Lithiums!  But the change over is a time consuming effort that requires some mechanical and electrical skill.  There are several threads on this topic.

A simpler change is to go with AGM's. 

But if you are going to own your OE2 for a long time, the cost and performance benefit of Lithiums is WAY better than all other options.

I don't know of any owner that still owns their trailer saying they wished they had not converted to Lithiums.

GJ  

[Mike and Carol]

Two Battle Born 100aH lithium batteries would give about the same performance as your four T105s.  They will fit nicely in your battery tray.  Due to the age of your trailer you would also need to change out your charger (PD4045) located in the fuse box under the dinette.  I has a switch for lithium battery charging.  If you have the Blue Sky solar controller you will need to change a couple of settings on the charger.  Not difficult, I did both of mine in about 30 minutes moving very slowly.  Battle Born supplied the new PD4045 and can provide the Blue Sky setting changes.  We had two BB’s for a year and had no issues ever running low on electricity.  Mike

[dewdev]

Lithium batteries cost more but are lighter then lead acid batteries.

To change to lithium batteries, you would need to replace your existing 2000 watt battery charger with something like a Xantran Freedom XC 3000 watt inverter-charger, upgrade your battery cable wiring, add a battery management system,  and potentially other devices like a DC to DC charger so your TV can charge the batteries while traveling. If  you wanted to run your AC off  the lithium batteries you would need to replace your fuse panel. This information is from a discussion I had with OTT service.

If you want to stay with lead acid batteries, then I recommend Trojan ACM batteries. The ACM batteries are a sealed battery so you do not have to add water. 

[Mike and Carol]

1 hour ago, dewdev said:

Lithium batteries cost more but are lighter then lead acid batteries.

To change to lithium batteries, you would need to replace your existing 2000 watt battery charger with something like a Xantran Freedom XC 3000 watt inverter-charger, upgrade your battery cable wiring, add a battery management system,  and potentially other devices like a DC to DC charger so your TV can charge the batteries while traveling. If  you wanted to run your AC off  the lithium batteries you would need to replace your fuse panel. This information is from a discussion I had with OTT service.

If you want to stay with lead acid batteries, then I recommend Trojan ACM batteries. The ACM batteries are a sealed battery so you do not have to add water. 

Hmmmm… that’s interesting advice from OTT service.  I replaced my AGM’s a couple years ago with lithiums.  Kept my 2000 watt Xantrex inverter (if that is what they are referring to), kept my cabling, didn’t add a battery management system (just reprogrammed my Blue Sky controller), kept my fuse panel and didn’t add a DC to DC charger.  The only new component beside the batteries was a new charger (PD4045, less than $150) that has the lithium option.  We did change some cables, but only to clean up the battery compartment.  Existing cables were reused.  I’ll talk to Jason at the rally, upgrading to lithiums should be fairly straightforward with the cost being the batteries and the PD4045 charger panel that fits in the fuse box.  Mike 

Edit:  we did add a surge protector on the Maxxfan circuit to prevent any surge to the fan.

[Geronimo John]

6 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

The only new component beside the batteries was a new charger (PD4045, less than $150) that has the lithium option.

I have one in Texas as a spare that I would be willing to part with.  It has the Lithium switch.  Just PM me.

GJ

[dewdev]

14 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

Hmmmm… that’s interesting advice from OTT service.  I replaced my AGM’s a couple years ago with lithiums.  Kept my 2000 watt Xantrex inverter (if that is what they are referring to), kept my cabling, didn’t add a battery management system (just reprogrammed my Blue Sky controller), kept my fuse panel and didn’t add a DC to DC charger.  The only new component beside the batteries was a new charger (PD4045, less than $150) that has the lithium option.  We did change some cables, but only to clean up the battery compartment.  Existing cables were reused.  I’ll talk to Jason at the rally, upgrading to lithiums should be fairly straightforward with the cost being the batteries and the PD4045 charger panel that fits in the fuse box.  Mike 

 

Mike:

OTT did indicate that the battery management system and the DC to Dc charger were only a option but not necessary. Also the fuse panel was suggested to be replaced only if the person was gong to run their AC off the lithium batteries. 

Please let me know what Jason has to say. 

[SimonJester]

Next, and hopefully last update...

After looking on the internet most of the weekend, I just made a few phone calls and found the t105s at a Battery dealer about an hour from the house (Lenoir, NC).  Their price was unbeatable, $171 per battery with turning in the old 105's.  

I was expecting them to be scarce, and at a much higher price.  It does pay to be patient...  Incidentally, I did find them on the Walmart website; however at about twice the price, but guaranteed delivery in three days.  That may work in an emergency.

Joe