Battery Maintenance (watering) Made Easy

[txav8r]

I wanted to pass along something I discovered when we bought the motorhome. It is a battery watering system. This is the single biggest issue besides maintenance charging, that batteries suffer from. The electrolyte level falls from using/charging, and many boat owners do not replenish it because removing the batteries in our boats is a PIA. I have AGM batteries on my boat for this reason. But most don't want to spend the money to put AGM's in the boat. A watering system makes keeping up with the electrolyte level easy. On my motorhome, I have 4 BIG 6V golf cart batteries, that serve as my house batteries. They are not easy to get to although easier than our boats with two or more batteries. I have the Pro-Fill system on the 6V batteries, but you would want to use the Qwik-Fill system on our boats. It is as easy as taking a gallon of distilled water out to the boat, hooking the quick connect on the battery bank to the hand pump hose, and pumping until it won't pump any longer. No spills, no leaks, no mess, and your batteries stay at the right water level. They come in a kit and you cut and fit to your bank(s). The Pro-Fill is made for 6V RV batteries, and they have products for golf carts as well. Here is a link for 12V marine application, and I will post this in a separate thread, but just wanted to share the info.

https://flow-rite.com/battery-watering/marine-rv/qwik-fill



Here is a video link to how to use them. There are installation videos and more on their website.

 

[Murf'n'surf]

Sweet! Wish I had this on a golf cart we had that constantly needed fluid.

 

[tdonoughue]

Just ordered one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-030-Capacity-Plastic-Battery/dp/B000RFUF12?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

May fit my use profile and pocketbook a little better... I will report on how it works.

 

[Jgorm]

Just ordered one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Plews-75-030-Capacity-Plastic-Battery/dp/B000RFUF12?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

May fit my use profile and pocketbook a little better... I will report on how it works.

Same here. I love that thing! Super fast and easy.

 

[txav8r]

But for those with two batteries or more, tucked back in the aft wing, even seeing the second battery is impossible. So while the battery bottle is and has been a cheap way to water batteries, it won't work with most dual battery setups. The beauty to a watering system like the pro-Fill, is that it is closed. You can't overwater, and you don't have spills, and you don't even have to see the battery to fill it. Also, if you leave your boat and batterie on the charger, adding water is an every two week deal on a deep cycle battery. Of course there is a trade off, less service life vs less maintaining. But the big 6V batteries in a motorhome are about $180 each for non AGM batteries and life expectancy is important to those folks. So they don't mind a one time expenditure to make their life easier and get they 5 to 7 years out of their batteries.

 

[tdonoughue]

So, reporting back a bit...

Love the bottle I got. The dealer put the two batteries in my boat just under the opening (so they are not placed way aft), so it works well for me (especially at the price). What Mel says above is completely correct if you have hidden batteries. And certainly my cheap bottle is not a carefree with the benefits of a closed system. Some day when I am rich and famous, I will probably put one in.

In the meantime, my little bottle does a fine job.

 

[2nazt]

Trojan also makes a similar product with built in caps for each cell. I use these on my equipment at work. Same set up with a hose with quick connect fitting and pump ball. They have an indicator showing if it needs water or not. In my observation of these the indicator gets fouled and never shows it needs water after time so it is recommended just try and water and if it needs it great if not so be it. They caps transfer from battery to battery so if you get new ones just swap the top and go on. I'm not sure as pricing though. Just another option.

http://www.trojanbattery.com/products/hydrolink-watering-system/

 

[tdonoughue]

Update: Got Mel's battery watering system for Christmas. Finally got the pump for it and installed it day before yesterday. Man, that is a neat little system. Very easy to install; even easier to use.

Frighteningly, my two batteries took almost 1/2 gallon of water using it the first time.