House Battery Maintenance

[Dieter]

I have wrecked the two Interstate SRM-27 house batteries in the Clipper we bought last a year, because I let the water dry out. I thought it was due to the fact that I plugged in the Clipper while parked at our house, and it was overcharged.
I bought new SRM -27B batteries in January, and just now noticed that they were very low again, too, without being plugged in.
Questions: Is this normal? Could it be that the batteries get overcharged while driving? If so, any recommendations on how to fix this?

Dieter Mahlein

[handyman]

Dieter the house battery charges off the alt it's easy to check but if one is over charging thell all be that way starting and house just put a volt meter on the battery with the engine at 2000 RPM you should read from 13.6 to 14.6 do you smell acid when you open the door or a rotten egg smell this is another way of knowing you might have gotten a bad battery ?  

[Adrian]

You might try switching to two 6 volt golf cart batteries. A friend of mine did this with his RV. For one thing the golf cart batteries are very stout. The lead plates are substantially thicker providing more heat and vibration resistance. When you hook them in series you get about 600 amp hours.