Battery Watering System

[Dwight Lindsey]

I've just purchased 4 new Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries for my Knight.  I want to get a watering system but I don't know much about them.  Any hints would be appreciated.

A quick google gave me the Flow Rite Watering System and the Trojan Battery Golf Car HydroLink (which is more expensive) and apparently will take longer to get.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on what to get and what to watch out for.

Dwight

[Bob Nodine]

6 hours ago, Dwight Lindsey said:

I've just purchased 4 new Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries for my Knight.  I want to get a watering system but I don't know much about them.  Any hints would be appreciated.

A quick google gave me the Flow Rite Watering System and the Trojan Battery Golf Car HydroLink (which is more expensive) and apparently will take longer to get.

I'd appreciate any recommendations on what to get and what to watch out for.

Dwight

We have used battery watering systems for hard to reach batteries but never liked them. Our coach has a pull out tray for the batteries and I prefer to pull the caps once a month and add water myself. That way I actually get to see the water and know how much water is being lost each month. I set a reminder in my Google calendar that sends me an email each month reminding me to check the water level in the batteries. I started doing this after forgetting to check the water until it was below the plates and ended up purchasing new batteries. We have converted the chassis batteries to AGM's so don't have to worry about it there. There are big fans of AGM's on this site and I am sure you are going to get comments about why you did not buy AGM's. If you do much dry camping the AGM's are great and work well with inverters because they have low internal resistance. They are quite a bit more expensive so buying six or eight can make a dent in the old pocket book.

[David White]

I agree with Bob Nodine on keeping up with battery maintenance.  The AGM Batteries do cost more, but the water worries are gone and the battery compartment tray will stay much cleaner without the wet cells.

Also, the cost of the watering system, plus the cost of wet cells,  will likely be near the cost of AGMs.  And, hopefully they will have a longer life.

[granvillebarker]

I had one of the watering systems on my previous set of batteries in my coach and golf cart.   Total waste of money, they would never get the all the cells filled.    Go AGM or LiPo, at least with LiPo you can use allot more than 50% of your battery.

[drewat2]

I've had good results with "water miser" caps. Way less water consumption and cable corrosion maintenance greatly reduced

 

[Frank McElroy]

I use the water miser caps.  Battery compartment stays clean with no corrosion.  I fill batteries about half way above the plates to the max fill ring.  With the battery miser caps, I'll go 6-9 months before needing to add water.

[Moonwink]

I just bought 4 of the Trojan T-105 batteries myself.  I had 4 Interstate GC-2 batteries before that and purchased the Flow Rite system for them because I don't have a battery tray and it would be extremely difficult to figure out what the level is in the batteries in the back of the compartment.  The Interstate batteries were completely full when I pulled them out.  I found the best price on Amazon for the pump and caps for 4 batteries.  I'm happy with the system and would buy it again although I think it's over priced but it does work. 

This is a picture of my battery compartment with the 6 year old Interstate batteries.  I'd need an extension mirror to see the level in those back cells but I can't figure out how I'd ever fill them to the correct level. 

[nostlerab]

Back in the day when there were service stations, when you got gas the attendant would check your oil, coolant, and battery among other things.  Ahhh the good old days.  They would usually use a quart bottle designed to fill batteries.  I walked into NAPA and asked for one and they had it for about $16.  Works great and you don't need to see the level as it sets it automagically for you.

Bob Bartleson

'09 Knight, '16 Grand Cherokee

[granvillebarker]

On 10/7/2020 at 12:25 PM, Moonwink said:

I just bought 4 of the Trojan T-105 batteries myself.  I had 4 Interstate GC-2 batteries before that and purchased the Flow Rite system for them because I don't have a battery tray and it would be extremely difficult to figure out what the level is in the batteries in the back of the compartment.  The Interstate batteries were completely full when I pulled them out.  I found the best price on Amazon for the pump and caps for 4 batteries.  I'm happy with the system and would buy it again although I think it's over priced but it does work. 

This is a picture of my battery compartment with the 6 year old Interstate batteries.  I'd need an extension mirror to see the level in those back cells but I can't figure out how I'd ever fill them to the correct level. 

That's the flow-rite system, I had on my interstate's, but it stopped flowing rite after a year or so.   Also the hand pump you use to fill them came apart on me, so I imagine the little float valves were made about like the hand pump. 

Edited October 9, 2020 by granvillebarker

[Bob Nodine]

13 hours ago, granvillebarker said:

That's the flow-rite system, I had on my interstate's, but it stopped flowing rite after a year or so.   Also the hand pump you use to fill them came apart on me, so I imagine the little float valves were made about like the hand pump. 

I went thru the same thing with the system we had. After repairing it twice I ditched it. I had it on the 5th wheel we had previous to the motorhome and it was needed on the 5ver. I moved it to the motorhome but it was not necessary because of the pull out battery tray. The last time it failed it went in the garbage.

Edited October 10, 2020 by Bob Nodine

[Hypoxia]

I've used Flo Rite for around 8 years with zero problems.  I like it.