Time to replace batteries??

[supercub]

My house batteries are not holding a charge. They also don't seem to be taking a full charge. I have 4 Trojan house batteries in my 04 Revolution. I can't remember exactly how old they are, but I'm thinking they're at least 7 years old, What do you think? Time to replace or ??

[DiamondDan]

CA Traveler wrote:

DiamondDan wrote:
Now the progressive dynamics 9280 converter is trying to blast 14.5V into the new ones, which doesn’t seem right and may be part of the original problem. All their troubleshooting is for no or low voltage, so that’s not super helpful.

My understanding of how they operate is they push 14.4 bulk charge to get to 80% before stepping down to 13.8 or 13.2 storage mode.

May be OK. With a good 3 stage charger and discharged wet cell battery the process is:

1. Bulk charging with constant amps and increasing voltage.
2. Absorb charging starts at 14.8V (80% SOC) and remains at that voltage as the amps taper down and then the voltage drops.
3. Float stage doesn't charge the battery but maintains it at 13.4V with very low amps.

Absorb charging at 14.8V can take a long time as the amps taper down to near 0A.

To observe the stages, you need a voltmeter and ammeter with the ammeter on the battery wire as charger amps are first diverted to any loads and then the battery. If the battery is disconnected then the charger and battery amps are the same.

There are variations and you can Google for details.

Thanks. I don’t recall seeing so high a charge rate in the past, but I really wasn’t paying attention. I’ll plug it in now that we are home and monitor.
I appreciate the detailed description as the manufacturer’s documentation is kinda thin.

[DiamondDan]

wa8yxm wrote:
Now the progressive dynamics 9280 converter is trying to blast 14.5V into the new ones, which doesn’t seem right and may be part of the original problem. All their troubleshooting is for no or low voltage, so that’s not super helpful.

The 9280 puts out 14.5 normally when first plugged in as the "BULK" charge. It will continue at (As I recall) 14.5 till it senses the batteries are full. then it drops to 13.6 for 20 hours. then back to 14.5 for like 15 minutes, then back to"Float" (13.6) for 20 hours.

I may be a bit off on the voltages. but 14.5 is normal

Thanks. Now that we are home, I’ll plug it in, monitor for charging voltage and signs of boiling, and report back here.
-Dan

[DiamondDan]

pianotuna wrote:
Dan,

Do you have the wizard? If so you can force it to charge at a lower voltage.

Supposed to be baked into the 9280. Will see if I can find the port to plug in a pendant. Thanks.

[CA_Traveler]

DiamondDan wrote:
Now the progressive dynamics 9280 converter is trying to blast 14.5V into the new ones, which doesn’t seem right and may be part of the original problem. All their troubleshooting is for no or low voltage, so that’s not super helpful.

My understanding of how they operate is they push 14.4 bulk charge to get to 80% before stepping down to 13.8 or 13.2 storage mode.

May be OK. With a good 3 stage charger and discharged wet cell battery the process is:

1. Bulk charging with constant amps and increasing voltage.
2. Absorb charging starts at 14.8V (80% SOC) and remains at that voltage as the amps taper down and then the voltage drops.
3. Float stage doesn't charge the battery but maintains it at 13.4V with very low amps.

Absorb charging at 14.8V can take a long time as the amps taper down to near 0A.

To observe the stages, you need a voltmeter and ammeter with the ammeter on the battery wire as charger amps are first diverted to any loads and then the battery. If the battery is disconnected then the charger and battery amps are the same.

There are variations and you can Google for details.

[wa8yxm]

Now the progressive dynamics 9280 converter is trying to blast 14.5V into the new ones, which doesn’t seem right and may be part of the original problem. All their troubleshooting is for no or low voltage, so that’s not super helpful.

The 9280 puts out 14.5 normally when first plugged in as the "BULK" charge. It will continue at (As I recall) 14.5 till it senses the batteries are full. then it drops to 13.6 for 20 hours. then back to 14.5 for like 15 minutes, then back to"Float" (13.6) for 20 hours.

I may be a bit off on the voltages. but 14.5 is normal

[hedgehopper]

My 2008 Mazda is still using the original battery. How is that possible? When I'm not using the vehicle, I desulfate the battery with a BatteryMINDER 2012.

[pianotuna]

Dan,

Do you have the wizard? If so you can force it to charge at a lower voltage.

[DiamondDan]

DiamondDan wrote:
Thanks, all. I do dry camp (EAA Oshkosh is right around the corner), so I’ll give these a try well before that.

Forgot to update this… my bad.
After the first battery took almost a full gallon of water, I basically gave up and replaced them.

Now the progressive dynamics 9280 converter is trying to blast 14.5V into the new ones, which doesn’t seem right and may be part of the original problem. All their troubleshooting is for no or low voltage, so that’s not super helpful.

My understanding of how they operate is they push 14.4 bulk charge to get to 80% before stepping down to 13.8 or 13.2 storage mode.

Any advice on troubleshooting an over voltage condition from the converter other than buy a new one?

[supercub]

After talking to several different battery dealers. I ended up buying US 2200 batteries for my RV. I'm replacing Trojan T-105's. which are next to impossible to find right now. Everyone I talked to said the US 2200's are good batteries. Guess I'll find out. Thanks for all the feedback.

[DiamondDan]

Thanks, all. I do dry camp (EAA Oshkosh is right around the corner), so I’ll give these a try well before that.

[pianotuna]

You have nothing to loose by trying to recover the batteries.

[Gjac]

DiamondDan wrote:
My 2008 Damon Astoria has been sitting plugged in since Oct 2019. My bad: didn’t check the water levels in the house batteries, and now it is well below the tops of the cells, and they won’t hold a charge. Can they be revived with water and a couple charge / discharge cycles, or are they toast? Batteries were installed 2015.
Thanks in advance.

Same thing happened to a friend of mine, he keeps his MH plugged in 24/7 and the water boiled out of his 4 6v GC batteries, tops of the plates were exposed. I added a gal of distilled water to his cells, equalized and desufated 5 years ago and he still has the same batteries. Try it and see if they come back. Another thing to think about is what kind of electrical loads are required for the way you camp. I just dry camp, I don't watch TV, listen to music or play on the internet so my loads are low compared to someone that has those requirements or makes coffee with an inverter etc. If you mostly go to FHU CG's you have even less electrical loads on your batteries. Let us know how you make out it won't cost you anything but time to try to recondition your batteries.

[CA_Traveler]

DiamondDan wrote:
My 2008 Damon Astoria has been sitting plugged in since Oct 2019. My bad: didn’t check the water levels in the house batteries, and now it is well below the tops of the cells, and they won’t hold a charge. Can they be revived with water and a couple charge / discharge cycles, or are they toast? Batteries were installed 2015.
Thanks in advance.

Plates exposed to air sulfate and the lost capacity cannot be restored. You can try including equalizing and perhaps they will be adequate for your use, but they are also 6 years old. Or replace, maintain and enjoy.

[DiamondDan]

My 2008 Damon Astoria has been sitting plugged in since Oct 2019. My bad: didn’t check the water levels in the house batteries, and now it is well below the tops of the cells, and they won’t hold a charge. Can they be revived with water and a couple charge / discharge cycles, or are they toast? Batteries were installed 2015.
Thanks in advance.