If they test at 14 volts after sitting for a couple of weeks, the electrolyte will almost certainly need replenishment with distilled water, and will likely be below the tops of the plates. Check the levels in the cells.
I wrecked a few batteries by leaving them hooked up to "smart" battery chargers. The batteries still need to be monitored although less often perhaps. Anyway, I should have checked the levels more often than I did. A hydrometer is another way to measure remaining battery capacity when the battery is fully charged (as far as it will go) and the electrolyte levels are nominal. Any cell that can't get up to the "fully charged" specific gravity is at least partially sulphated. Steve Thomas C&C27 MKIII Port Stanley, ON -----Original Message----- From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Robert Abbott Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 11:10 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Stus-List batteries Mike: 14 volts seems a bit high.....when are you taking this measurement? If you take your batteries over to Burnside to Maritime Batteries (or Great Northern Battery) not sure what they are calling themselves these days, they will do a 'load test' for you at 'no charge'....no pun, let me try again, at 'no cost to you'. Last year, I let the electrolyte go down in my batteries.....thought they might be toast....took them to Maritime Batteries and they rehabilitated them.....no cost to me......I gave the guy a good Cuban cigar....he was a happy guy. Bob Abbott AZURA C&C 32 - 84 Halifax, N.S. On 2013/04/15 11:29 AM, Bill Bina wrote: They likely have reduced capacity after that treatment. All 6 cells may still be working, which is why you can get what appears to be a good voltage reading. Unfortunately, a good voltage reading is only half the battle.When a battery is that dead, it starts to sulfate immediately, rendering portions of the lead plates non-functional. That reduces how much f a charge tthe battery will really take, and how much run time you get from them after fully charging. The only real way to know the capacity of a battery is with a test using a battery load tester. They are not very expensive. http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-6-volt12-volt-battery-load-tester-69888.html Most autoparts places that sell batteries will use one of these to check your batteries for you, but you would have to take them to the store. Bill Bina On 4/15/2013 9:45 AM, Hoyt, Mike wrote: Our boat has two Group 24 deep cycle batteries with 140 min reserve. I also have a Guest 1, 2, Both, off battery selector switch. As we have an outboard motor with alternator (6 amp) and therefore do not need a starting battery. The batteries are to power lights, instruments, etc .. only and are charged using a Guest Charge Pro 3 stage electric charger and when the Outboard engine is running. Charge goes into whichever battery is selected on the battery selector switch. Last Fall while motoring two hours back to my mooring I had the battery selector switch on BOTH to put some charge in each battery. It was cold and wet and I did not turn off the instruments (Speed, Depth, Chartplotter, VHF) on leaving the boat. The next weekend on arriving I had two completely discharged batteries. Temperatures were +5C and above in the intervening week. I motored to the club where we were racing and then plugged in the battery charger for just over an hour and we had sufficient charge to race on Battery 1 for 2.5 hours and some time at dock listening to stereo before that charge started to run out. Then I plugged in charger and started recharging batteries. That was last week of season and the batteries appeared to be fine I have been since told that once a battery is fully discharged it will never be the same and may be ruined. I have left the batteries aboard all winter and approximately every six weeks plugged in the Guest 3 stage charger to keep them topped up. They never seemed to become discharged. This past weekend I measured the voltage and each seems to be at 14 volts. They had not been charged for a period of two weeks and the stereo had been on for a bit Am I correct in assuming that these two batteries were not seriously harmed by the complete discharge last Fall? Note that they are 2 and 3 seasons old. Mike Nut Case _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com [email protected] _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com [email protected]
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