Yes it's my own D***N fault

[Canadian_Rainbi]

First part of this was posted Sunday on the "What Did You Do to Your Class A MH Today" Forum.

Not really asking for help. Sympathy maybe. Just really a comment. Perhaps someone will learn something. Maybe even me.



It was going into the tech Monday to replace (on warranty) the Coleman basement heatpump. So since I would need an early start on what might be a drizzly Monday I decided to get things all ready the day before. The rig hasn't moved since winterizing in the fall.

Before pulling the shore power and storing the cords I thought to check things over: NO SHORE POWER incoming. The Maxx fan had been left on, as well as the ham radio in beacon mode. Neither were working, nor were the lights. Not even the LEDs. :E

Switch them off, go check the plug on the shore power extension: Plug hanging loose from the socket. Looks like a deer or a neighbour or what ever had bumped it and partially pulled the plug. It's under tall trees so the solar wouldn't have been able to keep up.

Batteries: 4 6V GCs, rated at 484 AH

Xantrex Prosine 2.0 Inverter/Charger (Max 100 A charging)

420 Watts of Solar, BlueSky MPPT controller.

The Xantrex charger voltmeter was reading nothing.

Plugged the shore power back in--nothing. (Tripped the breaker down by the house as I discovered later.) Started the Cummins, waited until I could see a decent (13V+) on the display and started the Onan 7.5 gen, checked that the Xantrex was charging.

Here is one interesting/puzzling thing:

It charged away at 80 Amps for several (4+) hours before tapering. Hmmmm. The max charge rate is set for 96 Amps, max voltage set at 14.8V. Never saw it above 14.0 but I didn't stay there watching it.

Once the charge current had reduced (around 30 A at 13.8V) I shut down the gen and moved the rig out of its parking pad into the drive, hooked up Wrangler for towing, ready for morning. After sitting for an hour or two, Xantrex voltmeter reading 12.9 We'll see what it says in the AM. (Forgot to check before starting it up.

On picking up the rig next day (Tuesday) about noon, the batteries were showing about 12.5 volts. The rig was parked under trees but the solar would have been on for a few hours.

Took the rig to the wash for a quick rinse (The solar panels were FILTHY)

Back home I pulled the solar controller input and killed all the internal loads to let the batteries sit undisturbed. About 6 hours later the batteries were reading 12.54V according to the BlueSky readout.

This morning (Wednesday) displayed 12.45V (Solar panels still disconnected).

Around noon today I plugged the shorepower in and energised the Xantrex charger. Charging at about 60 Amps. Solar still disconnected.

More later. I'll keep this thread going until I decide if I need to replace the GSs or not. We're likely going to Mexico for the winter so I don't want iffy batteries.


I know I have probably seriously damaged these 4 2 year old GSs, how badly remains to be seen. Batteries: 4 6V GCs, rated at 484 AH

:S

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Had the rig out for a few days last week, batteries performed well though they were hardly strained on shore power.

Wednesday, set the Xantrex to 15.0 volts @ 5% C for bulk and absorption since I couldn't get the Equalise function to work. Currant began to taper hours later.

Turned off charger function (Solar had already been disconnected)


Yesterday, voltage was at 12.6 Volts. Of the four cells I could reach, SG was

Battery 1:

1.285 (or so)
1.275
1.275

Battery 2

1.275

Bought charger with manual and automatic settings. Opening the box I found that it will only do a manual charge on the 6 Volt setting. Good enough for the GCs. Good for 15 Amps so I'll do two in Parallel.

Today: Batteries still showing 12.6V

On the agenda for later today, remove all the batteries from the rig, test and record SG and voltage for each battery

Put the manual charger on a pair at 15A, pull up a deck chair and read while watching the ammeter. I hope this charger will produce the 8 volts I'm looking for.

More later.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

It's like a prize fight where one boxer takes it on the chin and falls flat on his face.

"Well, the fight's over" you think.


However the bell sounds, and the woozy boxer wobbles to his corner and the trainer and cut doctor go to work...

The boxer arises, hobbles across the ring, and knocks the opponent through the ropes.

I agree with niner. Then, do a full hydrometer test, and if the batteries pass that, connect the 12 cells in series and apply a 500 ampere load test for twenty seconds (5-more seconds than the standard 15-second load test).

If the batteries pass it serves to prove the point that golf car batteries are not just a fad or buzz fashion. The fat plates and extra acid do things for a living.

Take another dip a month before you come down and if the cells are happy campers, then you can rely on the batteries for full-duty for a long Mexico sojourn.

Be vigilant to detect the presence of cloudy gray or red tinted electrolyte while dipping. The electrolyte must be crystal clear. But give the batteries 15-minutes to settle the sediment if you really rock them with a mega charge. Electrolyte can gas saturate after hard charging which makes it look white cloudy. Not a bad sign. But smoky or red tinted electrolyte is a death knell.

My weak-sister cell (A) recovered after 630 amp hours of top-charging. .330" plates are awesome. I could not disconnect cell A to cell B strap, so cell B got a whipping even though it was innocent.

You paid a premium for GC batteries. And now, you may find out how deep runs your wisdom.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Look at Princess Auto for a manual charger.

[NinerBikes]

Sooner or later, preferably sooner, you need to get each battery, if 6v, up to 8V, or if on a 12V system, up to a full, equalized charge of 16.0V. If your batteries are good, it may take 1 or 2 cycles of 16V to get the SG up about 1.275 across all 6 cells. If they are a bit stubborn, 3 or 4 attempts, supervised, are in order, to get them equalized and desulfated, and the sulfur back into ionic battery acid solution.

It's important to emphasize sooner being the operative word here, don't wait, time is money in this case. Top charged fully, then equalize charged.

Also important to emphasize multiple EQ charge attempts, with discharge cycle in between, attempts. Warm days, for me, tend to facilitate this occurring easier. Cold days require more voltage to get 'er done.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Last evening they were at 14.2, accepting only 6 Amps from the Xantrex, now on shore power. Once it goes into "Standby", when the Xantrex considers them fully charged, I'll put the solar back on and try to set it to 15V and see what happens. I'll also check the CG is those cells that I can reach without taking everything apart.

I'm looking for a "dump" charger (manual) so I can follow Mexicowander's routine.

[jrnymn7]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

You have created an opportunity! You can replace the lead with lithium, have 1/2 the amp-hours, and never worry about getting to 100% state of charge again.

I did get a quote on a 400 amp-hour 12 volt LI with battery management for $2 k. 200 amp-hours should be 1/2 that cost.

I would definitely go Li if I did not have to worry about charging below -20 (-4f).

That was 400Ah of Li for 2K? I thought it was 200Ah. That's a great price! I was finding 200Ah for $2000u.s. Can you re-post the link, or direct me to the thread, as I'm not sure where you posted it originally. Thanxx!

[jrnymn7]

You need to charge them FULLY... meaning until float kicks in, then a top charge, then an EQ. If not done properly, they will suffer capacity loss due to sulfation.

Once the surface charge dissipated, they dropped back down to 12.5v. And at 30a acceptance, at only 13.8v, they were very likely still in the less than 80% soc range. Charge them up properly and they should be fine.

[wa8yxm]

One of the major advantages of GC DEEP CYCLE batteries over 12 volt MARINE/Deep cycle.

You very likely did not kill them..Oh you may have taken a couple months off their life but you did not kill them dead.

I have enough battery to push the full 100 amps of my Prosine.. it has done it..ONCE.. but that was all new batteries.. Yours sulfated some and re-conditioning them may be in order..This is why you never hit 100 amps.

[PatrickA51]

Interesting. Thank You for posting. I have 6 6v. 220ah batteries in my RV been sitting since last Oct. I filled them with water a couple months ago(Feb.or Mar.) better go tomorrow and check them. Maybe be time to run the generator also :h :S. Again thanks for posting this reminder. Yes I did put SeaFoam in the tank before I parked the RV.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

You have created an opportunity! You can replace the lead with lithium, have 1/2 the amp-hours, and never worry about getting to 100% state of charge again.

I did get a quote on a 400 amp-hour 12 volt LI with battery management for $2 k. 200 amp-hours should be 1/2 that cost.

I would definitely go Li if I did not have to worry about charging below -20 (-4f).

Hi Don, the husband of one of my nieces is an engineer with Corvus Energy in Richmond. Perhaps I should lean on him a little! :B

[RJsfishin]

They may have been down, but don't count them out. They will probably just be 4 more of many 6v (and 12v) batteries that have come back from the dead, and still give many years of good service.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

You have created an opportunity! You can replace the lead with lithium, have 1/2 the amp-hours, and never worry about getting to 100% state of charge again.

I did get a quote on a 400 amp-hour 12 volt LI with battery management for $2 k. 200 amp-hours should be 1/2 that cost.

I would definitely go Li if I did not have to worry about charging below -20 (-4f).