May have cooked my batteries...

[gumpy]

Well, it's one of those things. As you get older, you get more forgetful / lazy / overworked / whatever excuse you want to use.

I normally check the water in my house batteries every 6 months. They are on float charge 24/7, so always being maintained by the Trace. Well, the 6 month check was supposed to have been in April! I'm a little late. They were dry. And by dry, I mean Mojave Desert dry! Some of them took more than a gallon of water. I think I put 6 full gallons in 8 batteries!

They're probably toast. I'm equalizing them now, and will then disconnect them for a few days and see how they respond individually.

I guess the bright side is this is my first set of batteries, and if I'm not mistaken, I'm at 14 years on them.

craig

[Tikvah]

Im going down to check my batteries

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

Yup.  You are right, they are probably toast.    I learned the same lesson as I am sure several folks here have too. Thou should never let thou batteries run dry.  Even if they do take a charge they probably won't be able to keep one.  Time for new batteries. 

We have a local battery distributor in town that I have been going to since I lived on Southern California.  Most honest two brothers you will ever meet.

When I went over to buy new house batteries for my MC-9 and I told them that I plan to go full-timing soon, they recommended that I buy my batteries at Sears.  I was flabbergasted that a local battery dealer would tell me that and loose a four battery sale. I asked him why and he said because if one of the batteries fails, there are Sears stores all over the U.S. so it will be very easy to get a replacement if you need it and this battery dealer was not part of a chain.  Besides most Sears stores have parking lots large enough to park a 40' bus.

One time I went to the same place to buy a battery for my car because the battery was dead one day after I ran the radio all day whilst working outside so I figured it was time for a new battery.  I charged the battery and drove my car in there and they load tested it and said it was okay. I asked them that since I was in there anyway, shouldn't I have it replaced anyway?  They said no, it is good for at least two more years.  Now how many merchants are that honest.  We need more honest people like this in the world.

The company's name is Powertron Battery Co and they are located at 2218 W 2nd Street in Santa Ana, CA.  You can reach them at 800-400-4858.  If you need new batteries these guys are the best. 

[kyle4501]

Bummer about the batteries.

In my opinion, if 2 months made that big of a difference, they weren't hitting on much anyways. 

I try to check mine every month. I have one of those watering cans that won't overfill the batteries, so it is harder for me to put too much water in them. 

[gumpy]

Bummer about the batteries.

In my opinion, if 2 months made that big of a difference, they weren't hitting on much anyways. 

I try to check mine every month. I have one of those watering cans that won't overfill the batteries, so it is harder for me to put too much water in them. 

Kyle, I agree with you. I actually think at least one is bad, and has been causing the rest to overcharge and boil. This isn't the first time I've missed the 6 month appointment,
and I've never added more than a gallon or maybe a bit more to all eight. I've been thinking they might be getting weak. Over Christmas, we were boondocking in Colorado and
they went down within about 10 hours. I think that may have contributed to the heater sooting problem I had.

I equalized them today. I'll shut them off tomorrow and disconnect them and let them sit for a couple days and see how they react. I had a couple cells that were "muddy" looking, and one that looked like the plates were poking up, so I'm pretty sure they're toast, but we'll see.

But again, I'm not too upset. I was looking at my website and I see I had photos of them in July of 03, so nearly 13 years on them. I think most say they get about 7 on a set of deep
cycles. I think at some point it became a challenge to see how long they'd last. Maybe the challenge just ended.

And Gary, thanks, but I won't buy anything from Sears ever again!  Look up MaxAccess patent infringement by Sears.

I know a guy here that services batteries for forklifts and such (if he's still in business, I haven't had to talk to him in several years!) He handles the Trojans that I have.

[DoubleEagle]

Your batteries did quite well to last that long, but don't feel bad about forgetting to water them, worse crimes have been committed. I once mis-wired the generator on my 05 Eagle and it ran at full output continually for a thousand miles, boiling the batteries (two new 8D's) to ruin.

[Oonrahnjay]

Kyle, I agree with you. I actually think at least one is bad, and has been causing the rest to overcharge and boil. ...

     Yeah, after 13 years, it's very likely your bookdocking was just too much of a load of them.  At that point, they die if you charge them or they die if you don't.  13 or more years is VERY good so you must have been doing a good job of maintaining them.  Good luck to you - and all of us - on the next set.

[TomC]

This is one of the many reasons I use AGM batteries. No checking water-they're sealed. My first set of 2-8D Lifeline AGM's lasted 7 years (they have a 5 year warranty). In that 7 years I did absolutely zero to the batteries-not even clean the terminals-because the batteries don't outgas, you don't get corrosion. It's as though they weren't even there. In my book, well worth the twice money over wet batteries.
If you stick with wet batteries, on your next set use Thermoil. You pull 1/4" of electrolyte out of the battery and refill with Thermoil. It is a special oil that floats on top of the water and cuts way down on out gassing, corrosion, etc. I only checked my batteries once a year, and even at that only had to top them off a little bit. Good Luck, TomC

[Iceni John]

If you stick with wet batteries, on your next set use Thermoil. You pull 1/4" of electrolyte out of the battery and refill with Thermoil. It is a special oil that floats on top of the water and cuts way down on out gassing, corrosion, etc. I only checked my batteries once a year, and even at that only had to top them off a little bit. Good Luck, TomC

Can you still check the SG with a hydrometer if you have Thermoil in your batteries?

John

[Seangie]

Craig -

I spent the extra on AGM's.  They rebound better and no checking in on them.  We went to NYC for a week and left my bus plugged in at my brothers house.  We got back and the breaker had blown and the Batteries were down to 8.7v.  Fridge was no longer on. 

That was in July of last year.  Batteries have since been Recharged and hold up almost as well as they did before that happened.  After 24 hours on a 400AH bank they are around 12.1v.

Hang on though....in just a year or 2 they will have Lithium Ion batteries that can recharge 100k  times with only a 5-10% loss in total capacity.
https://www.engadget.com/2016/04/22/accidental-discovery-batteries-last-years-longer/

That looks pretty tasty for us boondockers.

Or maybe you "Paint" the battery onto your bus  -
http://news.rice.edu/2012/06/28/rice-researchers-develop-paintable-battery-2/

-Sean

[gumpy]

yeah, they're toast. After equalize and overnight float, I disconnected them. three of the batteries were reading 4.2 volts. The other five were 6.4. Pretty sure at least one has been bad for awhile and caused the rest to overcharge and boil away.

New T-105s are $135 each with exchange ($145 without), plus tax. Scrap would be $12.40 each but I'd have to drive 100 miles to get that. Not worth the extra $20.

I paid $60 each for these in 2003!

Oh well. They did me well for 13 years.

[Oonrahnjay]

...
New T-105s are $135 each with exchange ($145 without), plus tax.

      I dunno if you pair them for 12V or group them for 24V, but that's a lot of power for $135, Craig.  Congrats on getting 13 years out of the old set.

[gumpy]

      I dunno if you pair them for 12V or group them for 24V, but that's a lot of power for $135, Craig.  Congrats on getting 13 years out of the old set.

Two strings of 4. 24v setup.

[Oonrahnjay]

Two strings of 4. 24v setup.   

     Still a lot of power for about $1000.  If you can get another 13 years out of them, you will have "rented" them for $80 per year.  Can't beat that.