What happened to my battery ? |
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Author | |
flat6s
Groupie Joined: 21 Mar 2016 Location: Burlington, Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 84 |
Topic: What happened to my battery ? Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 12:35pm |
Hi everyone
Put my 2017 rp180 in my warehouse for winter. Battery stayed charged for about a week, not connected to shore. A week later I pulled battery out to take home and put on trickle. It sat on a 2x12 on cement garage floor for a week. I pulled caps to check water today, found all cells wayyyy low, far below plates. I checked battery routinel thru summer. What happened to the water ? I filled each cell and put on charger, not trickle. Is this battery ruined ? I know not to set batteryon cement, but I have it on a piece of wood. What do youthink happened, so I don't repeat. Happy Holidays and Love to all Joe, Karen and of course Bessie the bassett
|
|
Our pod
Groupie Joined: 03 Oct 2016 Location: Olympia WA Online Status: Offline Posts: 62 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 3:04pm |
I'd guess that it was getting more than a trickle. I've also read that modernwet-cell batteries can be in contact with a concrete floor - that old rule doesn't apply to today's battery cases.
Fill the cells a and put it back on the charger, but monitor the charge level with a voltmeter. Then disconnect the trickle charger and monitor the self-discharge rate. That should tell you what you need to know. |
|
Life is good.
|
|
john in idaho
Senior Member Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 3:43pm |
I would wonder if the trickle charger is broken and boiled the water out by over charging. I noticed that Harbor Freight has some on sale. Their stuff seems to work OK.
|
|
jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3257 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 3:51pm |
You probably need to get a new charger. As the above poster noted, "you were getting more than a trickle", I would second that with 100% certainty. With your water level way low, you were overcharging and the electrolyte evaporated. Monitor next charge with a voltmeter as was mentioned. I am quite convinced your battery is toast, will have to purchase another.
My 2 deep cycle 12V group size 24 batteries were purchased March 2011. Every winter when our pod is in hibernation mode they sit on concrete from November to April. The first year they sat in our basement, after that in our unheated garage in northern Michigan. They receive a trickle charge (2 amps) in November when we finish camping, it usually takes a good day or a tad more for each to reach 100%. The following March I will give them their 2nd trickle charge before taking them out it April. Again it takes 24 - 36 hours to bring them up to 100% SOC. Still work well, 5.5 years old, check electrolyte a few times per year but will only add distilled water to them maybe once/year if that. The misnomer of no batteries on concrete goes back to the early days when battery cases were constructed of wood, and they would lose their charge sitting on concrete. All batteries that I know of today are plastic cased, so that is no longer an issue. |
|
God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
|
flat6s
Groupie Joined: 21 Mar 2016 Location: Burlington, Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 84 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 5:05pm |
I re read my original post. No surprise to me...it is confusing.
Should have read that I brought battery home and stored on floor for a week...but did not put it on any charger. I went out today to hook up charger...checked water level first...found no water. So, if over charging is the problem, that means the R Pod is over charging the battery. So how can I check to see if that is the problem ? Thanks for your thought, greatly appreciated. Joe
|
|
jato
Senior Member Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3257 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 5:43pm |
Now that we have more info I will address this from a different vantage point. I purchase a fair amount of batteries at the business I work for (golf course). Local vendors sell their batteries with electrolyte in them. If they are shipped from a distance, they come dry because UPS or similar will not transport them wet. So possibly you got a dry battery from the start or the battery was sold with a low amount of electrolyte in it? I have seen this happen every now and then. Check the POS where you purchased your battery from; they may come dry and you have to add the electrolyte yourself. Let me know if that is a possibility. If not, there are electrical gurus on this forum who can walk you thru the process to check the potential overcharging question.
|
|
God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
|
mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 07 Apr 2016 Location: Greenbrier, TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3419 |
Posted: 13 Dec 2016 at 5:52pm |
I think you need to fill the battery with distilled water, put it in the TT, with shore power. Using a voltmeter check the charge voltage of the battery using the TT inverter. Measure between neg and pos terminals. It shouldn't be more than 15 volts I would think. Get up into the 15/16 volt range the TT is overcharging.
Anything above 16 volts is bad. You could also fill the battery, distilled water and charge, then test battery to ensure it is good. You should only test a fully charged battery and if it doesn't charge the battery is bad.
|
|
dropkick
Newbie Joined: 17 Jul 2015 Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 09 Mar 2017 at 4:52am |
If your plates were exposed, that battery is damaged--that capacity will never be fully regained. But you can refill it with distilled water (only!) and use to diagnose the charger before a potentially bad charger ruins a new set. Voltage should be just under 15 but more important the amperage needs to drop as the battery nears full charge. Monitor for overheating. If it's still pumping in 30 amps after 24 hours and the voltage hasn't dropped, the charger is suspect. Ideally let it charge for 36-48 hours, the voltage should have dropped to a float voltage just below 14V. Unplug it and let it rest for 2-4 hours and check the specific gravity of the cells to get the state of charge and check the battery voltage around 12.65V is 100% but it could be higher due to surface charge if u don't wait. If unable to do all this, just pop the caps after two days of "trickle" charging. If they're still actively bubbling it's not a trickle!
I had the stock converter/charger in our 2013 '177 suddenly cook a set of group 24's that I had just checked levels on maybe 2 weeks before. Nothing like pulling out steaming batteries and watching them boil for an hour on the driveway. Threw it all out and moved up to a pair of GC2's and new converter/charger. You should not be encountering new batteries with missing electrolyte in the consumer-grade market. Check levels when u buy a battery. If it's low, someone spilled it, really old stock, or a manufacturing error. |
|
techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9062 |
Posted: 19 Mar 2017 at 8:31pm |
+1, once the plates are exposed they are toast.
|
|
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
|
|
JandL
Senior Member Joined: 29 Mar 2014 Location: California Online Status: Offline Posts: 364 |
Posted: 20 Mar 2017 at 9:54am |
The loss of electrolyte in a flooded lead acid battery occurs through gassing as hydrogen escapes during charging and discharging. You will also lose water when a battery that is run at elevated temperatures thru evaporation. In California my battery sits in a black box exposed to the sun and can get warmer than the ambient air temperature. I check my battery before every trip and need to add water about every 3 months. I also keep the trailer plugged into AC power when it’s parked in my driveway so the battery is always charged up.
|
|
JandL
2013 Honda Ridgeline 2012 177 2 Paynes in a Pod |
|
Post Reply | Page 12> |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |