6 Volt Battery Issue

The Charger that I use when the batteries are out of thye MH is an Automatic one with the 15 and 2 Amp Settings, and a 6 Volt 15 Amp Manual charge setting. This is the one I used to try and put some power into the battery before letting it sit overnight. As to the question concerning the placement/location of the battery position in the MH, as I recall, this Battery was nearest to the Positive input. So, it would be nearest the Xantrex Inverter/Charger/Converter when being charged/or maintained when the MH is plugged into SP, and would have power passing through it to another battery. From the suggestions and comments, it appears that for what ever reason that middle cell is beginning to fail.
One other thought is....some of these Xantrex Inverters will try and top off batteries, I forget what this is called, but I suppose if this were to happen it may cause a battery to get hot and dump the electrolyte. Just a thought. Thanks for your comments. David

Get one new battery and enjoy for another eight years.

You have a bad battery. Take it back for warranty adjustment.

You may want to look at your MH converter/charger unit. Being a 2002 model it probably does not support smart-mode charging technology and since you are on-line 24/7 this older series converter/charger will only produce 13.6VDC constantly. This is right on the border line of over-charging your batteries over time and will boil out some battery fluids. Once the levels get below the cores inside the battery then the battery starts going bad on you.

If you have such an older converter/charger then it would be a good idea to keep checking your battery fluids on a weekly basis or so just to make sure they are are not boiling out fluids.

Just me thoughts...
Roy Ken

Keeping the bad battery is your worst option. Finding a battery with a middle bad cell howlers a manufacturing flaw for that battery

Any problems from charging (over or under-charging) usually show up with more water loss from the battery-bank cell closest to the cable connection at the "pos" or "neg" terminals.

I use Trojan T105's, and just replaced with another pair after 10 years on the first. I would think that due to the fact your still have 3 good batteries only eighteen months old, that purchasing one similar battery would be the best gamble.

I would place the battery first in line in series with the best looking other 6-volt, and leave the other set in parallel. Since more batteries are likely under-charged now-day's than overcharged by old single-stage chargers, being first rather than last may help.

I would complain and return battery where purchased (if possible) since it looks to me like a manufacturing defect than poor "TLC". You might get a break even though slightly past warranty.

The loss of water is possibly due to heat from the weak cell. Especially since it is the one that is low on water. Did the water level go lower than the plates before you replenished?

Some of the acid is still in there more than likely. It may have just turned to sulphate on the plates (and other bad places). If I am right, then it has a very small working area so it charges faster. Once it is charged, it starts bubbling the electrolyte.

If this is true, you need to see how much sulphation you can reverse before you think about adding acid. There are experts here can tell you options for how to do that in this case.

How many amps is your 6v charger? What other chargers do you have?

Jim

There is only clear liquid covering the plates. Charger only has a 6 Volt Manual Setting. Just from an observation, there doesn't appear to be any reason for the loss of liquid. I did put some distilled water in all the batteries since they have been on SP since late February(last used). But, this is the only one which lossed liquid. Sure made a mess in the battery compartment. while I had the batteries out during cleaning, I checked the electrolyte in all 4 batteries with a hydrometer. This particular battery did show a low reading. I could add some electrolyte to the cells and see what happens, but I'm not sure of how much to add. Any thoughts?

2 hrs is not going to fully charge your battery. The 5.67V you saw was just surface charge. How many amps does your 6V charger put out?

EDIT: What skipnchar said is correct but first you have to fully charge that battery THEN let it sit overnight to see if it holds a charge. Is the acid in any of the cells in that battery milky looking?

The low battery will sap power from the other battery in the bank causing a net loss of useful power since you cannot isolate a single 6 volt battery. My guess would be there is a short in one cell and it is POSSIBLE that it could be saved by discharging and emptying acid/electrolyte out by turning it upside down while discharged. You'd have to add battery acid and fresh distilled water and recharge the battery and see what happens but may not be worth it for a one year battery. NO guarantee it would work and not saving that much either. You could CONTINUE to use it even with low voltage if the power loss if acceptable (camping with electric hook ups nearly always) but watch it to be sure the case is not heating up from the short (if there is one) because they can be dangerous if they overheat. If it were me I'd replace it.
Good luck / Skip