house battery concern
I am having the exterior refinished and today went in to choose colors. The house batteries, 4 Interstates installed 2/15/2010, were almost flat. The business owner said lights must have been left o...
Forum Discussion
RRodda wrote:
I am having the exterior refinished and today went in to choose colors. The house batteries, 4 Interstates installed 2/15/2010, were almost flat. The business owner said lights must have been left on and he would plug it in tonight.
My concern is that the batteries have been damaged. I recently serviced them including testing each cell and they were fine.
What is the chance the batteries have been damaged by allowing them to be almost complete discharged?
Did you check the battery-bank with a meter before taking it in? How long has it been stored since you last checked the batteries?
The 12v batteries should be checked every month when stored and recharged if needed. The batteries, even on "disconnect", do discharge over a few months.
After he plugs it in for you, the batteries should be checked with a volt-meter, at the battery-terminals, to see if your converter/charger is working. Voltage should go to 14.4+ volts soon to show "bulk" charging, or at least 13.7 volts to show "absorption" charging.
Anything under 13.2 volts could mean a charger problem (breaker tripped, blown fuse, charger failure). Whether you have long term problem depends on how long the batteries have been left in a discharged state.
