Many people on here are smart with electric...I did something pretty stupid. Took off for 7 months and forgot to disconnect the house battery. Of course its dead. I'm trying to see how bad I messed up the battery before buying a new one. Really don't want to pull battery and take to auto part store to test if I absolutely don't have to.I'm charging it up right now (or try to). After (and if)it charges and I get the green light on my battery charger. I'll let it sit for 4 hours and see what state of charge is? Is this "the" way to find out how much damage or is there another way? Pretty sure batteries are group 27 and 3 years old. I have cheap hygrometer, but a good volt meter.Thanks

Charge it as you're doing and check after a few hours. That will tell you a lot.You're referring to a hydrometer, not a hygrometer.

When lead acid batteries discharge fully and are left discharged, the Plates usually sulfate and the batteries will never return to their full state of charge and longetivity. What you DO, with Deep cycle batteries is charge at the rate they discharged. That means you charge at the lowest rate your Aftermarket Battery Charger will charge it and then do a Hydrometer test. That will tell you the condition of the batteries after a full charge. If just one tests bad, you replace them all. Doug

Yea give it a go. Disconnect and charge. Rest 24 hours and check voltage. If the charger has an equalize function use it after the normal charge. Most likely you will be down exchanging the batteries for new not testing them.

Rest minimum 12 hours after charging. 24 hours is better.Green light doesn't mean much. Measure voltage on disconnected battery after 12-24 hours, together with SG.Most likely you've lost some capacity, but could be still usable for a season or two if you don't demand too much from it.

You've got nothing to lose. My advice is if at the end, you believe the battery is "good", prove it - turn on some lights for eight hours then re-check the voltage. You don't need to have a moment of discovery halfway into your next trip. Think on the positive side if all goes ill with the resurrection attempt: The battery was more than middle-aged to begin with.

Dead battery question | Good Sam Community

18 Replies

path1
Explorer
Jul 11, 2016
Op here.....Resolution? (on this matter)...........

Nothing on volt meter....Well I did get 0.94

Time for new. This is an expensive lesson.

Guess I need to actually follow the check list I made up.:)

Thanks folks
path1
Explorer
Jul 11, 2016
OP here...going to unplug charger and let sit for at least 4 hours.

Any guesses on what volt meter will show?
Almot
Explorer III
Jul 10, 2016
In addition to loads, there is a self-discharge. In 7 months - even if everything is disconnected - wet battery may discharge waay below 50%.
path1
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
westend wrote:
Resolution?

Op here... Getting on it Tuesday if nothing comes up.
westend
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
Resolution?
old_guy
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
even if you had unplugged the electric from the TT the in house or in TT alarms would have drained the battery anyway and you would still have a dead battery. if you are going to leave and have the TT plugged in you need a converter that has a charge wizard in it so the battery won't over charge
bighatnohorse
Explorer II
Jul 10, 2016
Be pragmatic. Try them out and see.
westend
Explorer
Jul 10, 2016
Kayteg1 wrote:
Than bare in mind that Jay Leno is still reusing his over 100 years old batteries in his fire truck.
I had instance one time, when DW (REALLY) come Saturday afternoon and left headlight on Volvo.
I did not notice till Sunday morning, where we had to go. I jumped the car with other battery and HD cables and just took off.
The battery recharged on 18 miles drive and serve us for several more years.
Miracles are not every day events, but do happen.
Your angel only had to sit on the battery for one day. The OP's battery-angels sat for 7 months.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Jul 09, 2016
Than bare in mind that Jay Leno is still reusing his over 100 years old batteries in his fire truck.
I had instance one time, when DW (REALLY) come Saturday afternoon and left headlight on Volvo.
I did not notice till Sunday morning, where we had to go. I jumped the car with other battery and HD cables and just took off.
The battery recharged on 18 miles drive and serve us for several more years.
Miracles are not every day events, but do happen.
westend
Explorer
Jul 09, 2016
Sam Spade wrote:
path1 wrote:
Really don't want to pull battery and take to auto part store to test if I absolutely don't have to.

You probably have to.
You probably have to get a new one too.
It probably went dead in the first 2 weeks and just sitting there DEAD for 6 months would cause a lot of sulfation, which will cause total failure fairly soon.....even if it does appear to charge up OK.

Bite the bullet now or it will bite you later.

X2
Seven months is too long for any chance of usable recovery. Chances are it will **** out on one of your next trips. Believe me, I've tried to recover many "dead" batteries.

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Dead battery question

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