battery

[Danford50]

I have charge house battery for 3hours and I check it and it only shows 11.58 volts it was showing 11.5 volt before I charge it, I just got my motorhome from cam ping world in which they had it for 3 week just wondering if they kept it plug in to power I guess what I would like to know is my battery no good or do I need to charge it longer?

[Harvey51]

rjxj wrote:

Danford50 wrote:
I check my battery and after three hour charging it show 72 amp out of 600 cca

How does it do that?

A battery labelled with Cold Cranking Amps is an engine starting battery - not a good house battery. Look for "deep cycle" and an amp hour rating if you buy a new one.

X2 on resting the battery for a few hours (24 hrs would be better) before trusting a voltage reading to give a useful state of charge. I last charged my house battery a month ago and it is reading 12.8 volts at -20C.

[Dakzuki]

When checking battery voltage after charging, the battery needs to "rest" before the voltage measurement is made. Let the battery sit for a few hours unloaded and then take a voltage reading. A fully charged rested battery should be very close to 12.7 volts with no load.

[time2roll]

Danford50 wrote:
hey thanks for all of your assistance, but I seen were my battery charger the negative cable the wire to it had melted and cause my negative cable not to work, so I replace it and now my battery it fully charge.

Excellent.

[Bordercollie]

If your battery is over ten years old and has not been kept charged and electrolyte levels maintained, it probably needs replacing. Your converter/ charger in the motorhome must be working to keep the battery charged when rig is connected to 110vac/shore power. When connected to shore power, battery voltage should read 13.6 volts DC using voltmeter connected to battery terminals. RV engine running, voltage should read around 14 volts. A good battery, connected to a 10 amp charger should read around 13.6 volts DC when charged for some 12 hours.

[Danford50]

hey thanks for all of your assistance, but I seen were my battery charger the negative cable the wire to it had melted and cause my negative cable not to work, so I replace it and now my battery it fully charge.

[Hank85713]

There are several DIAGNOSTIC battery charges available. Most from Schaurer/sears.
They will analyze the battery and either tell ya its bad or send an error code. Sears had some 3amp charger maintainers and they do a good job. There is also a charger that is also a starter booster and then can also be a maintainer/charger again available at most auto stores.

[tenbear]

Don't throw your battery out yet. There is lot of good advice here. Use the advice, then decide if the battery is shot or not.

[Sam_Spade]

ksg5000 wrote:
Have your load battery tested - any auto parts/tire outlet will do for free.

In order to do a proper load test, it needs to be fully charged FIRST.

Two posts back, it sounds like he HAS a load tester already.

BUT.....not all "10 amp" chargers are created equal. I got a cheap CENTECH 2/10/50 from Harbor Freight and it is junk. The meter is not calibrated in amps so I can't be sure but it looks like it never comes anywhere close to 10 amps, even on a battery that is half discharged.

So....check the charging voltage. You might need to leave it connected for DAYS not hours.

[ksg5000]

Have your load battery tested - any auto parts/tire outlet will do for free.

[azrving]

Danford50 wrote:
I check my battery and after three hour charging it show 72 amp out of 600 cca

How does it do that?

[Danford50]

I check my battery and after three hour charging it show 72 amp out of 600 cca

[ScottG]

Oh, that's not a good sign. After three hours at 10A I would expect a surface voltage of more than 12V.
I'd say that battery is gone.

[azrving]

Danford50 wrote:
using a 10 amp charger

What does your voltmeter show while it's charging?

[Danford50]

using a 10 amp charger