Two New US 2200 6 Volt Batteries will not hold voltage
I have recently bought two new US 6 volt batteries to replace two old Trojan T105s. The Trojans performed well for around 6-7 years. When I went to replace them, I discovered there was not a place near me to buy Trojans again and the place where I had bought the old ones had recently changed to US batteries. The owner talked me into buying these two 2200's at a total cost of $194. Not cheap. He said that they are just as good as the Trojans.
I have had the two batteries at home for about 3 weeks getting ready to put them into the 5er and take a trip. While I had them at home, I decided to charge them up. I have two chargers at home. I have the Battery Tender that Camping World sells and an old car charger that will charge at 10 amps and automatically slow down as the battery charges up.
First charge was with the Battery Tender. It took three days which I expected. When the charger indicated the charge was done, I unplugged it. At first the two batteries read over 13 volts, normal. After a couple of hours, the voltage dropped down to 12.6, normal. This is a normal full charge as I understand it. The next day, I checked the voltage again. Surprise, 12.4. And this is with nothing attached to the two batteries.
I called the battery store and asked about this. I was told that the batteries needed to be cycled several times before they would work as I had expected. I was told to put them into the RV and let them cycle several times. Since I still had them at home and had everything I needed to cycle them, went about cycling them two times. Both times, I pulled them down to 12.2 volts and charged them back up. Both times, I checked to see how long they would hold the 12.6 volts. Both times, they would drop to 12.5 within 12 hours and then 12.4 within 24 hours. And this is still with nothing attached to them.
I sure would like to hear from some battery experts. Am I expecting the right thing? Am I doing something wrong? Are these batteries any good? I remember with the Two Trojans, they would hold the 12.6 volts for a lot longer than 12 hours.
Thanks for any help.
I have had the two batteries at home for about 3 weeks getting ready to put them into the 5er and take a trip. While I had them at home, I decided to charge them up. I have two chargers at home. I have the Battery Tender that Camping World sells and an old car charger that will charge at 10 amps and automatically slow down as the battery charges up.
First charge was with the Battery Tender. It took three days which I expected. When the charger indicated the charge was done, I unplugged it. At first the two batteries read over 13 volts, normal. After a couple of hours, the voltage dropped down to 12.6, normal. This is a normal full charge as I understand it. The next day, I checked the voltage again. Surprise, 12.4. And this is with nothing attached to the two batteries.
I called the battery store and asked about this. I was told that the batteries needed to be cycled several times before they would work as I had expected. I was told to put them into the RV and let them cycle several times. Since I still had them at home and had everything I needed to cycle them, went about cycling them two times. Both times, I pulled them down to 12.2 volts and charged them back up. Both times, I checked to see how long they would hold the 12.6 volts. Both times, they would drop to 12.5 within 12 hours and then 12.4 within 24 hours. And this is still with nothing attached to them.
I sure would like to hear from some battery experts. Am I expecting the right thing? Am I doing something wrong? Are these batteries any good? I remember with the Two Trojans, they would hold the 12.6 volts for a lot longer than 12 hours.
Thanks for any help.
