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Safety Warning: Batteries can be hazardous! Batteries produce hydrogen gas which is explosive. Keep all sparks and flame away from batteries. Additionally, batteries contain sulfuric acid, which can cause severe burns, so make sure you wear proper protection when working on or around batteries. Wear rubber gloves and eye protection. It is essential to keep your batteries charged in cold weather. If you are storing the RV for the entire season, it is advised to remove your batteries from the RV and store them inside a climate controlled space up off the floor. Make sure they’re charged before you store them. If you're removing them, make sure you diagram or photograph the batteries before removal, especially if you have a large battery bank, to assure that you know exactly how they go back in the spring. If you think you'll be using the RV during the winter season or you’ll be keeping it plugged in, then leaving your batteries in the coach is ok, but you must keep them maintained. Flooded cell batteries, especially, need to be checked regularly for electrolyte and water level. Make sure the batteries stay full of distilled water and check each cell with a hydrometer. Don't worry if you don’t have one. They’re available at most auto parts stores and they’re pretty inexpensive. Look at the batteries, take note of any broken hardware, such as brackets and clamps, and replace them. Make sure the batteries are clean. If the terminals are severely corroded, they need to be cleaned using a battery terminal cleaner, and then sprayed with a battery terminal spray (the red stuff you see on battery terminals). I am particular about my battery compartment. I occasionally remove the batteries and clean and, if necessary, paint the cabinet with a rust preventive paint. I like my coach to look good, but more importantly, I want it to last. So keeping spaces like the battery compartment clean and painted will help assure that. Folks often ask if there is a maintenance-free option. The answer is, really, no. There is reduced maintenance but not maintenance free. Gel-Cell or AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries require less maintenance that the flooded lead-acid batteries do, but they still need to be kept clean and the compartment maintained. My coach is a 2000 model year with four six-volt RV batteries, and two twelve-volt starting batteries.. all original, and all test out to their spec levels. As I am a full-timer, the batteries are always on a monitored charge by the inverter/charger, and I maintain the water levels carefully with deionized water. They're standard flooded lead-acid batteries and they work well. There are commercially available electric blankets for batteries. While I have never personally seen or worked with one, I have had my coach down to -25F and have yet to have a problem on my system. Charging does keep the electrolyte circulating within the battery, preventing freezing, but my charger also has a battery temperature sensor,which may affect the charge rate and, thus, freezing. Just remember: batteries are expensive, and just a bit of thought and care will keep yours in service for the maximum amount of time.
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