Routine maintenance and recharging a discharged battery as soon as possible will extend the life of the battery. The leading cause of dead lead-acid batteries is sulfation. When a battery is in a low state-of-charge small crystals start forming on the plates (sulfation)
Never let a 12-volt battery discharge below 12-volts. That probably sounds funny, but a fully charged battery is 12.7 volts. When a battery reads below 12-volts it is at or below a 50% state of charge.
Reducing the batteries depth-of-discharge increases the life of the battery.
If your RV is equipped with a battery disconnect switch make sure it is in the "off" position when you are not using the RV (avoid parasitic discharge)
Hot temperatures and overcharging will kill batteries. When it's hot outside and during periods of high battery usage check the water levels in battery cells more frequently.
When you add water, distilled water is best.
Properly charging your batteries needs to be done in stages. A bulk charge should be used to return the battery to 90% of a full charge during the first couple hours. An absorption charge is used for the remaining 10 percent to prevent any battery gassing and loss of water, then a float charge to maintain a full charge. Lots but not all RV converter chargers are three-stage chargers that will charge the battery properly.
Batteries should only be watered after charging unless the plates are exposed prior to charging.
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