Battery Charging ?

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:

Hank MI wrote:
What drained the batteries? I have 2 Costco 6v batteries and they never discharge when the battery disconnect is off. Fully charged batteries with no load should stay charged for many months, especially in cold weather.

Many months of no activity in cold weather emphasizes stratification of electrolyte, especially if the accumulator sits on a floor 5C or cooler than the atmosphere.

My point was something is draining the batteries and he needs to determine what that is. A small battery maintainer is a good idea but not if the drain on the batteries is too large. Find the drain first or manually disconnect the batteries.

MrWizard, Mmmm a manual switch…. Thats just what I did on our '01 Cougar and no further issues! LuvnitLivinit

Hank MI wrote:
What drained the batteries? I have 2 Costco 6v batteries and they never discharge when the battery disconnect is off. Fully charged batteries with no load should stay charged for many months, especially in cold weather.

Many months of no activity in cold weather emphasizes stratification of electrolyte, especially if the accumulator sits on a floor 5C or cooler than the atmosphere.

PUT a 'MANUAL' battery disconnect in the 'main' Negative lead of your battery bank

the parasitic possibilities are numerous, CO detector, LP detector, inverter on idle ? trailer brakes AKA the 'break away switch'

the disconnect typically disconnects the DC fuse panel but NOT other items wired directly to the 12v BUSS

It is covered storage under shade (no electrical available), but adding the solar charge capability would be nice to have so I'll put that on my project list……I do have a portable 10/30/50A 12V charger and a spare 1.5A battery maintainer for the boat and other batteries. Yes…..I need to find out what load is draining my batteries. I need to learn more about convertor comments and questions. When I went to the storage facility and discovered the low batteries I noticed my panel for auto level was illuminated and there was a beeping going on!

Thanks…..this forum is so great …..I find the wisdom of experiences,PMs and feedback very useful.

What converter do you have? I would return that charger and upgrade the converter if needed. Get at least 10 amps for a portable charger.

100w of solar would make a world of improvement both for storage and while camping.

Gonski,

Yes, the two T-105s in series are a 12V bank. Treat it as a single 12V and ignore the connection between to two except when cleaning and maintaining the terminals, then clean those also.

If the T-105s went down, then you must have drain that is loading them even with the disconnect open. First you should find that and correct that problem.

That 3.5 amp charger you ordered will literally take a month to bring those T-105s back to full density. Go find and install a real good smart 3 or 4 stage converter charger like those from Progressive Dynamics or Iota.

Are there any connections to the bank directly? Very often lazy installer will do this because it is easier than doing the job the right way. Before the depression, I did work on big expensive boats and this was a very common problem.

Matt

What drained the batteries? I have 2 Costco 6v batteries and they never discharge when the battery disconnect is off. Fully charged batteries with no load should stay charged for many months, especially in cold weather.

Hi,

You should charge them as a 12 volt battery. This will give equal amperage into each battery. However you could charge them separately as 6 volts on that setting if you wanted to fill each one separately.

I have power at my RV storage lot, and keep my RV plugged in. Otherwise if not for the covered storage, my solar would keep it full.

If you have uncovered storage, consider a 100 watt solar panel, it will keep it full all the time. SunElec.com has some 80 - 120 watt panels for less than $150.



Fred.

If connections are secure, charge them as 1 battery BC that's what it now is.

Why not maintain them w/ your good 3 stage converter which does equalize also. If you don't have a decent converter, buy one for $120, not much more than a smart charger.