Fleetwood 1985 Southwind Manual page 32

baking soda and water to neutralize any acid pre"
sent, then flush with clean water. Acid· foaming
around terminals or on top of the battery is normal
llcid neutralization. Avoid getting the soda solution
in the battery. Be sure the vent caps are tight. Dry
the cables and terminals. Don't use grease on the
bare metal inside the cable terminals to prevent cor-
rosion. Grease is an insl,llator .. Electricity will not
flow through' It. A plastiC Ignition spray will protect
the terminals after youhaveCieanec!' and reinstalled
them. "" . . . ,,' .
To prevent the battery from shaking In Its carrier, be
.. sure thehold-tloWn nutil"a're'tight.Check'them often.
Keep the carrier and hold-down nuts'cleaii and free of
corrosion and chemical accumulatl09.:., ",'
Battery Charging
Normally the battery will be kept charged by either
tile motor home charging system wh.ile on the road,
or by the
AC/DC
powe~,converter,when.pluggedlnto
AC service. On those occasions' when the battery
needs to be charged from a different charging
source, please follow these safety guidelines:
,
"
cases, do not use a regular automotive battery for
replacement. Your dealer or an authorized Fleet-
wood SerVice Center can advise you on proper bat-
tery selection.
THE POWER CONVERTER
The converter will supply 12 volt requirements
when your motor home is operating on 115 AC
volts. Thus you Will not have to worry about running
the battery
down'~'
When you are plugged into 115
AC volt service, the converter I!utomatically switches
. the . load from ,the pattery tClthe converter. The on-
bClardbatteryvii!lgr,alluallybe brought up to a full
charge al1d",pslntained
by~he
battery charger as
long as 115 volt power is available.
WARNING: NEVER EXPOSE THEBATTERV TO
OPEN'FLAME ORELECTRIC'SMRKPCHEMICAL
' . " , ,~(mON, 1N:':.THE.'V,BA11FERVt:GENERATES"HV";'
.' OROGEN GAS WHICH",ISil'ilAMIIII4BLE 'AND
", EXPLOSIVE.' DO NOT<ALLOW:BATrERV ELEC-
"TROL VT.EiTO',CONTACTSKIN/EVES;FABRICS; ".'
.. "."QFl'P~INTED:~U.RFACES.iTHE\ElEC:rJlOLVTE'(S' • . ' • . ";');,':;e'~:fl')
""." 'A'SULPHuRIC:'ACIOSOLOJIOI)tWHICH',COULD ,.' . ,\,· ....
'·'ia·,~,:J;;;
'CAUSE" 'SERIOUS';'PERSONAl'/"lilliu'RV' OR
. PROPERTY .DAMAGE. WEAR EVE PROTECTION
WHEN WORKING ,WITHBATrEFUES. .
• Do not smoke near batteries being charged
or whichilave,been"recentlY'ch'arged.'"
• Do not break Iiv8circuits' at the terminals
of the.battery. Use care when connecting or
disconnecting booster leads or cables on
fast chargers. Poor connections area com-
mon cause of electrical. arcs which can
cause explosions.
• Check and adjust the eleCtrolyte level before
charging. Fill each cell to the indicator with
distilled water .
• ' Do not charge the battery at a rate that
causes the electrolyte to spew out of the
vent caps. Always remove vent caps before
charging the battery.
Sele~ing A Replacement Battery
When the battery requires replacement, always
choose a battery with the same physical and electri-
cal characteristics as the original equipment. In all
-'-.' ". " (- ,.: \-.'"'>'" ,- , '.-',
! '
:':-.'-~
'Ma~i~~m ch~rgeratels
10
amps. Note that
"pecause.,theconverter,uses a'specialsensing circuit
28
connected to the battery which draws a very small
!3mount of current, the battery may become dis-
charged If the motor home is not used for an ex-
tended period. of time, or if the, COll\lerter is not con-
nected to a 115 volt AC source. sbme accessories
or equipmentsuchas clocks,' radios, Or the re-
frigerator may draw small a.mounts of current even
when turned "off". The folloWing chart specifies cur-
rent draw for these devices.
Temporary Turned
Storage off
. Radio memory (electronic tuning) .25 .25
LP leak detector
.80
O.
Dometic AES refrigerator'
1.0
O.
Water heater (auto ignition)
3.0
O.
Power step .75 O.
Total current draw in amps 5.8 .25