deep cycle battery purchase date sticker

[Mobilesport]

I bought my batterys around April 2016 ,,sticker says Nov 2015
I've been strugging to get a charger to charge em so they've been neglected until last month thanks to Sternwake and his almighty Meanwell technology.
I've been wondering how much damage has been done , i heard 
golf batterys can handle some abuse

 

[Mobilesport]

Bump ,, 
I would say the first 6 months the batteries were only charged with
the alternator ( i would guess that they were 50 to 70 percent charged them
first 6 months ,,,,how much damage has been done?

 

[SternWake]

YOu would have to perform a 20 hour capacity test to know.


ADivide original stated capacity and apply that ~11 amp load for 20 hours at 77F.

See how long it takes for voltage to drop to 10.5v

19 hours, they are pretty good, 17 hours, Meh, 12 hours, they are not so happy, ect

Doing this test accurately is not easy.  mainsail has a water bath to keep batteries at exactly 77f and a load which can maintain a steady load as voltage drops.  He also performs a few cycles and an EQ charge before performing the test.

He does this for boaters that want to goto the Caribbean or elsewhere where obtaining new batteries will be a huge hassle and expense.

That is the real only way to test a battery capacity.  Many people like to do the carbon pile load tester, but this does not correlate strongly with a deep cycle batteries available remaining capacity, unless of course the batteries are toast anyway.

As far as a 5 month old battery when new, they were likely somewhat sulfated and somewhat capacity compromised on purchase as the self discharge would have them below 80%.  Then another 6 months of alternator only charging and a guestimate of 50 to 70% charged,

I'd Guess they lost another 20%.

HOld them at 14.8v until amps taper to about 2.5, then check specific gravity, then bump the meanwell upto 16.2 until Specifi gravity, compensated for rising temperature, stops rising.

That state there will be your new 100% charged and have the batteries at their maximum remaining capacity.

Honestly this will take many hours, and if you are running your generator to do it it is waste of fuel, money better spent toward the next set of batteries which you will know how to treat better, and will have the equipment to treat better.

 

[Mobilesport]

@ Stern
Thanks for posting.
Them samsclub GC2 are good batteries to use while someone is
learning , i think i'm going to step up to the Trojan t05 and test specific
gravity right when i get them .
I got the Powermax working too , turned out it needed resister 1 removed.
Also my old Honda had been putting out low output causing some confusion.

I think i'm going to do a quick test before buying new batteries
I'm going to charge the batterys up and then see how long
they'll run my furnace before needing recharged , as long as 
they'll run my furnace for 12 hours a day i'll consider them good enough for me.
If they wont run my furnace for 12 hours a day i'll need new batteries .
Thanks again for all the helpful info

 

[SternWake]

Glad to help.

Unfortunately you are dealing with some unknown amount of capacity loss, but ultimately this capacity comes down to will it be enough to meet my overnight needs, and if so, how long will it continue to be able to do so......

Maintaining maximum capacity is all about reaching that 100% true full charge, so in your usage where you do not have solar to do the long low and slow to full or nearly so every sunny day, your batteriea re at a disadvantage.

Also with sulfated batteries, getting from 80 to 100% takes longer, to significantly longer than with healthy batteries, and without this 'longer' applied, they degrade in capacity even faster, and then take even longer.

An Extended EQ charge to recondition the batteries to maximum remaining capacity will also shorten the time requirement to reach full for a certain unknown amount of cycles afterwards.

Really, see if you can plug in somewhere so you can hold 14.8 volts untiul amp taper to the 2 to 2.5 range then bump voltage upto 16.2v perhaps in 0.35v steps, if it requires more than 10 amps to get to 16.2v instantly.

If you cannot regularly achieve the 100% recharge and perform the occasional EQ charge, the additional quality of trojan t-105s over sam's club gc-2s might never be realized.

Your money might be better invested in 200 watts of solar.

 

[Mobilesport]

Glad to help.

Unfortunately you are dealing with some unknown amount of capacity loss, but ultimately this capacity comes down to will it be enough to meet my overnight needs, and if so, how long will it continue to be able to do so......

Maintaining maximum capacity is all about reaching that 100% true full charge, so in your usage where you do not have solar to do the long low and slow to full or nearly so every sunny day, your batteriea re at a disadvantage.

Also with sulfated batteries, getting from 80 to 100% takes longer, to significantly longer than with healthy batteries, and without this 'longer' applied, they degrade in capacity even faster, and then take even longer.

An Extended EQ charge to recondition the batteries to maximum remaining capacity will also shorten the time requirement to reach full for a certain unknown amount of cycles afterwards.

Really, see if you can plug in somewhere so you can hold 14.8 volts untiul amp taper to the 2 to 2.5 range then bump voltage upto 16.2v  perhaps in 0.35v steps, if it requires more than 10 amps to get to 16.2v instantly.

If you cannot regularly achieve the 100% recharge and perform the occasional EQ charge, the additional quality of trojan t-105s over sam's club gc-2s might never be realized.

Your money might be better invested in 200 watts of solar.

I'll try to find a place to plug in and do the eq charge , i dont think solar will work for me because i live in the midwest.
Anyways i think i got my battery situation under control because i've learned to take 
care of them the best that i can and keep my specific gravity up and since i wont get em 
to 100% i'll swap in new batteries. when needed .

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

. . . i dont think solar will work for me because i live in the midwest . . .

Curious as to why you think solar won't work in midwest.  I live in Minnesota, boondock between here and Rocky Mountains.  I have no problems keeping 2 GC2's charged.    I have to watch and not stay under the forest canopy for too many days, but seldom are my batteries under 100% by end of day.  Last winter I had to turn down the solar charger because I was cooking my batteries.

 -- Spiff

 

[Mobilesport]

Curious as to why you think solar won't work in midwest.  I live in Minnesota, boondock between here and Rocky Mountains.  I have no problems keeping 2 GC2's charged.    I have to watch and not stay under the forest canopy for too many days, but seldom are my batteries under 100% by end of day.  Last winter I had to turn down the solar charger because I was cooking my batteries.

 -- Spiff

Very interesting to hear that.
Whats your average state of charge % during the winter months?
The reason i never looked into solar was because i figured there 
would be many times with no sun , e.g during winter and also the rainy season , also 
there would be times that i would have a foot of snow on top of them.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Very interesting to hear that.
Whats your average state of charge % during the winter months?

102% :blush:  That's what I meant by 'cooking them'.  The absorption or float voltage was too high.  I was having to add ~ 100 ml to each cell every month.  Lowered the voltages this spring (at Morningstar's suggestion) and so far so good.

The reason i never looked into solar was because i figured there 
would be many times with no sun , e.g during winter and also the rainy season , also 
there would be times that i would have a foot of snow on top of them.

In the winter I don't have a lot of big draws on the batteries.  I have a buddy heater = 0%, run the Maxxfan while heater is running = ~5%, use the LED lights a lot more = ~2%.  I have a harder time keeping food from freezing than keeping it cold; refrigerator seldom runs (like almost never).  I don't full time in the winter, more like 2 - 3 day trips for skiing/snowshoeing in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario.  But when I am out I almost always get back to 100% before dark.  I have gone the last two years with solar as my only charging source.

I do see some solar output in cloudy weather unless it is real dark.  Snow has not been a problem.  I have only had a few days when it was snowing all day while I was gone and the panels were covered.  A short ride blows it all off, or you can sweep it off easily if it isn't frozen gunk.  Even if you get no output in winter, I still think solar is worth it.  In the other 3 seasons I can be out for 6 weeks with no hookups and keep the batteries happy.  Hardest time I have with solar is in the fall.  Big wet oak leaves fall and stick to the panels and I can really see a drop in output.  Sometimes have to go up and clean the panels 6 or 8 times a day.

 -- Spiff

 

[SternWake]

I can't imagine having access to sunlight, and not having it charge my batteries.

Back in 2011 or 12 I had my Solar system down while I repainted roof and readied it for more wattage and thicker wiring, and not having any charging going on during the daytime, felt like a crime was occurring.

Glad someone from a Northern location has some actual harvest data.

Solar will pay for itself in battery life.  Not only does it recharge while the sun is out, even with limited sun, it lessens average the depth of discharge when there are loads running during daylight hours.  Harvest might be minimal on Dec21 when cloudy at 44' north, but there will be some. 

Achieving That last few percentage of charge is vital for achieving very good to excellent battery longevity, and without access to the grid and plenty of time,  solar is the best way to get the 98% battery to 100%, and once installed it just keeps on giving. 

For you MS, Solar can reduce your generator run times, saving you money on Gas to run it.
In your situation the return on investment in adequate solar might be realized sooner than most users here, despite your northern location.

 

[Mobilesport]

I measured my roof , the most I could fit would be a 2 ft x 4 ft solar panel
.In the summer my generator is running constant anyways because it has to power the air conditioner , while its running i could also power the battery charger so i dont think i could use solar during the summer.
Fall . idk?
Spring , i could use solar .
Winter . Idk?