Why didn't batteries last longer
The batteries in my TT seem to have lost most of their capacity after three years. Now three years isn't terrible performance, and I was looking for an excuse to switch to 6 volt anyway, but I'm curious if there is something I could have done to make them last longer.
I have a pair of Deka group 24s, nominally 65 Amp-hr each. The internal charger is a WFCO. When I am dry camping, I charge with an external charger, B&D VEC1093DBD. I set it to start at 40 amps. I generally turn off the generator when the charge current drops below 20A.
Now, after a full charge, the hygrometer reads around 1.225, fairly uniform across all cells, though I have a hard time getting repeatable readings. If I just turn on 40W of lights and time how long it takes to drop to 50%, I think I only have about half my original capacity. Both batteries seem equally weak.
We've camped about 180 days during the three years, with about 50 dry camping. I've only let the charge go much under 50% a few times. I've checked the water level occasionally, and it never seemed to need filling up. I've done the desulfate and equalize cycles of the charger a few times. It didn't seem to make much difference.
When I store the trailer during the summer, I just open the battery disconnect switch and leave it. During winter, I do the same, but I check the voltage occasionally and plug in overnight if it seems low. Generally, it doesn't seem to need that more than once or twice per winter.
There have been a couple of times when dry camping when it probably went without a charge above 90% for a couple of weeks.
So, what could I have done different? Is 40 A too aggressive a charge rate for these batteries? Should I have recharged more often during storage? Desulfated more often?
I have a pair of Deka group 24s, nominally 65 Amp-hr each. The internal charger is a WFCO. When I am dry camping, I charge with an external charger, B&D VEC1093DBD. I set it to start at 40 amps. I generally turn off the generator when the charge current drops below 20A.
Now, after a full charge, the hygrometer reads around 1.225, fairly uniform across all cells, though I have a hard time getting repeatable readings. If I just turn on 40W of lights and time how long it takes to drop to 50%, I think I only have about half my original capacity. Both batteries seem equally weak.
We've camped about 180 days during the three years, with about 50 dry camping. I've only let the charge go much under 50% a few times. I've checked the water level occasionally, and it never seemed to need filling up. I've done the desulfate and equalize cycles of the charger a few times. It didn't seem to make much difference.
When I store the trailer during the summer, I just open the battery disconnect switch and leave it. During winter, I do the same, but I check the voltage occasionally and plug in overnight if it seems low. Generally, it doesn't seem to need that more than once or twice per winter.
There have been a couple of times when dry camping when it probably went without a charge above 90% for a couple of weeks.
So, what could I have done different? Is 40 A too aggressive a charge rate for these batteries? Should I have recharged more often during storage? Desulfated more often?
