Procedure to exercising the generator an maintain house battery

[THEBRAIN]

Procedure to exercising the generator an maintain house battery. 05 Pleasureway Lexor RD Chevy 3500
I’m currently using a old fashioned lead acid deep cycle for house battery an
Regular LA for start battery.

Been cruising around town like the RV is a 2nd car mainly to prove it’s dependability
(haven’t hit the road yet).
Plus it runs on regular fuel my high performance car requires 91 or higher octane an
Don’t drive it much during rain season.

I keep the battery kill switchs red key off bc the vans not driven daily an don’t
What the CM detector sucking down the battery.
1.w/ red key off and cruising around is the chassis alternator charging house battery?or
Must the red key be on for alternator to charge HB?
The battery guage at control panel only registers 1 red light (even though HB is at 12.8V DC) as if it’s real low kindof useless for a guage.
Welcome to suggestions on a real guage maybe cross connected to the control panel.


I read there’s a actuel procedure (not sure if this applies to the Lexor) when charging house battery and exercising the generator you start off w/ low wattage appliances say 500Watt for X amount of time then Step up to medium wattage say 1K watts for x amount of time then high
1500 + applicances.
2. is the above true or false?
3.if true what is the X amount of time for each appliance? I think total generator time on exercising is 30 minutes each month, so maybe X time is 10 minutes each appliance?

Edit: I’ve read never charge the house battery either w/ generator or shore power
If battery is 32 degrees

4.will the battery be 32 degrees if the ambient temp. is 32?

Edit2: I’ve used a small 18Volt sunvisor style solar charger year round for boats deep cycle below 32 degrees
This must be acceptable bc it’s such a slow charge like a trickle charge?

Thanks for any tips.

[mkguitar]

I often use my genny exercising to run hedge trimmer and other yard tools rather than run a long cord from the house.

If you use any solar or charger- don;t burn out your battery with 18 volts, even though low current it needs to be regulated to 14 ish.

Wont comment on your switch etc and my equipment may be different- for example I "think" that even with your battery switch off that your sofa motors work ?

[@Michael]

Originally Posted by THEBRAIN

I read there’s a actuel procedure (not sure if this applies to the Lexor) when charging house battery and exercising the generator you start off w/ low wattage appliances say 500Watt for X amount of time then Step up to medium wattage say 1K watts for x amount of time then high

I let it run for a few minutes until it idles smoothly, then turn on either the A/C or furnace. I don't try to slowly ramp up the load.

Originally Posted by THEBRAIN

Edit: I’ve read never charge the house battery either w/ generator or shore power If battery is 32 degrees

If the house battery is lead-acid/AGM, you can charge at any temperature. It's only lithium batteries that have restrictions.

[SteveJ]

The battery guage at control panel only registers 1 red light (even though HB is at 12.8V DC) as if it’s real low kindof useless for a guage.

Useless is the key word on those idiot light gauged. The gauge for the black tank is also generally quite worthless unless you're running See Level external(or similar).

Do consider a real battery monitor, it will utilize a shunt.

I read there’s a actuel procedure (not sure if this applies to the Lexor) when charging house battery and exercising the generator you start off w/ low wattage appliances say 500Watt for X amount of time then Step up to medium wattage say 1K watts for x amount of time then high
1500 + applicances.
2. is the above true or false?
3.if true what is the X amount of time for each appliance? I think total generator time on exercising is 30 minutes each month, so maybe X time is 10 minutes each appliance?

Onan does recommend 2 hours/month at 50% load. I usually call it good at an hour. If it's cold out I would go closer to 2 hours. If you have a 1500 watt electric space heater this would make a decent load for the genny. As mentioned above, run the genny for a few minutes at no load, run with load on it for whatever time then remove the load for a few minutes to let the genny cool a bit, then shut it down, then you're done. Do put the space heater in an area where the thermostat will not kick off. If it is quite warm out simply use the A/C instead.

[ChicagoTom]

You stated "Useless is the key word on those idiot light gauged. The gauge for the black tank is also generally quite worthless unless you're running See Level external(or similar)." My 08 Chevy Lexor gauge lights, battery & tank, work perfectly. Getting one light on the battery means you need to turn the red key on and charge it. Driving or running the chassis is the quickest way. Regarding the black tank, off subject, but simply use the flex wand when dumping and it'll read E Empty when you're done. All the chemical solutions etc are the lazy man's way to clean the tanks. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1