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The two most common causes for RV battery failure are undercharging and overcharging. Undercharging is a result of batteries being repeatedly discharged and not fully recharged between cycles. If a battery is not recharged the sulfate material that attaches to the discharged portions of the plates begins to harden into crystals. Over time, this sulfate cannot be converted back into active plate material and the battery is ruined. This also occurs when a battery remains discharged for an extended period of time and becomes the number one cause of battery failure.

The second leading cause of battery failure is overcharging. Overcharging batteries results in severe water loss and plate corrosion.

The good news is both of these problems are avoidable. Routine battery maintenance, simply checking and refilling the distilled water in the batteries keeps the plates fully submerged in fluid, reducing the chance of crystallization. Secondly, maintain a charged battery. Solar panels are great for this. Unless you store your unit in the deep shade.

Plugging your unit into "shore power" every month or so, just for a day or two will let the converter keep a full charge on your batteries. Remember, just a day or two, unless your converter is the good one that tapers off to zero output when the battery is fully charged.

More power to you.