Strength of a battery :

A lead-acid battery must be considered as a muscle. Each battery as it’s own characteristics and must be respected. Here’s a general rule to follow: Your battery powering the accessories must be able to provide energy during more than twenty hours without interruption. If the battery cannot provide that autonomy, you need to change the battery for a bigger capacity or add another one in parallel to reach over twenty hours autonomy. A battery that can power your accessories without being stressed will have a longer service life.

Battery’s limit :

When a battery reaches the critical level of discharge, it continues to provide power to the circuit, but damages itself in order to maintain the current flow. It is best to avoid crossing this threshold, because when the battery reaches it, it got only 5% of its total energy left. The battery will continue discharging while damaging itself before being completely drained. This ill-treatment shortens the life of batteries. Using the battery manager for RV avoids criticaly discharging your batteries.

Batteries and winter :

The lead-acid batteries supply power to your accessories by electrochemical reactions. As in all chemical reactions, temperature plays an important role. It is clear that a battery can release energy more efficiently and quickly in warm temperatures. In very cold weather, the chemical reaction occurs more slowly. It is important to mention the lead-acid batteries contain water (acid) and can freeze very cold temperatures. When a battery freezes, its internal structure is substantially damaged by the formation of ice crystals. If you can not store your batteries in a warm place for the winter, make sure they are completly recharged because a battery fully charged is more resistant to freezing.