Problem charging House Batteries
My 2004 Ford E-350 V10 Class C has developed a problem with charging the house batteries. I have a Xantrex Battery monitor. My house batteries are 2 Group 24 batteries brand new, 2 weeks old. becaus...
Forum Discussion
Sage...
12.6v is nowhere near full, and as Almot pointed out, if you took the voltage reading shortly after charging, you are reading a certain amount of surface charge. After a good top charge, (truly FULL), it can take up to several days to burn off a good surface charge with no loads attached.
Only 10 amps from your alternator is an indication that you need either a larger capacity alt., fatter wiring to the batts, or you have another issue? And if your batts lost charge while driving, there is definitely something wrong. Mex, and others, are best suited to delve into that. if in fact it is alternator, etc., problem.
But the fact they went down while both driving and while on shore power, seems to indicate a significant continuous draw on the batteries?
Using your handheld volt meter, and your clamp amp meter, determine the voltage and amps to the batteries; at the batteries; while charging. Keep monitoring. Once near full, you should see that amps have tapered down to about 2 amps per 100Ah Capacity, at say 14.6v, or whatever it is those charge wizards put out.
Moreover, take SG readings from every cell, and compare. They should be within .010 on a good turkey baster style hydrometer. This will tell you if there are any bad cells, as well as the actual state of charge.
12.6v is nowhere near full, and as Almot pointed out, if you took the voltage reading shortly after charging, you are reading a certain amount of surface charge. After a good top charge, (truly FULL), it can take up to several days to burn off a good surface charge with no loads attached.
Only 10 amps from your alternator is an indication that you need either a larger capacity alt., fatter wiring to the batts, or you have another issue? And if your batts lost charge while driving, there is definitely something wrong. Mex, and others, are best suited to delve into that. if in fact it is alternator, etc., problem.
But the fact they went down while both driving and while on shore power, seems to indicate a significant continuous draw on the batteries?
Using your handheld volt meter, and your clamp amp meter, determine the voltage and amps to the batteries; at the batteries; while charging. Keep monitoring. Once near full, you should see that amps have tapered down to about 2 amps per 100Ah Capacity, at say 14.6v, or whatever it is those charge wizards put out.
Moreover, take SG readings from every cell, and compare. They should be within .010 on a good turkey baster style hydrometer. This will tell you if there are any bad cells, as well as the actual state of charge.
