Deep Cycle Batteries

[rana]

And yes. Ghost draws are pretty much standard issue. Anything under 1 amp isn't too bad. Over that, I might go looking for a culprit, but without physically disconnecting your house batteries, it's just a fact of life

[MountainTrippers]

Originally Posted by dswiss

If your dealer is like mine, he will keep your RV for a month and then tell you they did a load test and the battery holds 'a' charge ( not how much of a charge, just a charge). Therefore, no warranty replacement.
Save yourself a headache and buy a new battery.

31XHS | Trojan Battery Company These look like the best batteries I could find and they will fit without mods.

[mge]

I did replace the batteries with two of the same rating at my cost. In a similar test, instead of 34% of rated capacity the new batteries provided over 2.5 times more AH, meeting their capacity rating, and I stopped at there. (Makoto)...you were correct, the 13.4 volt starting charge was indicative of a bad battery.

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by mge

The batteries were in the motorhome connected in parallel. I have a continuous voltage readout and can shut off the converter which charges them. I did not have a 24 hour resting voltage but the starting voltage of my test was 13.4v and 30 minutes later under-load it was 12.8v. The load was 16 LED lights in the motorhome. I stopped the test when the voltage was 10.6v under-load at 22.5 hours. The open voltage went up to ~12.4v no load. When same load again was added voltage immediately dropped to ~ 11v.

For anyone's interest: the following are the Solera incremental loads in amps

Furnace running 4.7-5.3
Water Pump running 5.3
Fantastic fan 0.9,1.1,1.3 L, M, H
Bath fan 0.7
Hood fan 0.7
Hood light 0.7
LED awning lights 1.4
Night lights 0.1
Amber door light 1.0
White outdoor working light driver's side 2.0
16 Interior LED lights 3.0

Do you know if the hood, night, amber door, and white door are LED bulbs in your test. Thanks for the useful information.

[Still Kickin]

[QUOTE=Makoto;685396]Charge your battery, then disconnect charger. wait 24 hours before applying any load. Check voltage. It should read about 12.7 - 12.8 volts. That is the voltage of a fully charged battery. The 13.4 volts you stated in an earlier post hints at a bad battery.

Just my two cents...[/QUOTEl]

Try this in lieu of waiting the 24 hrs. With your meter connected, turn on some lights, that will draw off the "surface charge" that builds up on the plates, and give you a more real time reading in the instant. You will then have a more accurate reading of the batteries to see if there at full charge(12.7v).

[Witch Doctor]

[QUOTE=Still Kickin;687845]

Originally Posted by Makoto

Charge your battery, then disconnect charger. wait 24 hours before applying any load. Check voltage. It should read about 12.7 - 12.8 volts. That is the voltage of a fully charged battery. The 13.4 volts you stated in an earlier post hints at a bad battery.

Just my two cents...[/QUOTEl]

Try this in lieu of waiting the 24 hrs. With your meter connected, turn on some lights, that will draw off the "surface charge" that builds up on the plates, and give you a more real time reading in the instant. You will then have a more accurate reading of the batteries to see if there at full charge(12.7v).

Can you get to 13.4 reading if you are over charging the battery? Which I do know is bad but help me here how do you know it's bad because of it? Just trying to learn something here. Thanks for your answer....

[Still Kickin]

The "over charging" of the battery causes the acid in the battery to gas off, or boil in simple terms. If severe extended gassing occurs, the plates or portions of, will become exposed and thus be dead and will be unable to accept a charge. That greatly reduces the batteries life. Hope that helps. One note; most modern converters have a three stage charger, so minor gassing occurs in the process to full charge.

[mge]

Answering some questions:
The range hood, amber, work light, and night lights are normal incandescent bulbs. Interesting how much better the LED lights are!

The 13.4-13.6v charge was not a result of overcharging. Even after resting for an extended period, the "surface" 13.4v charge would hold until discharging began. Also, the discharge pattern was odd compared to the new batteries. The old batteries would provide good amperage for about two hours while voltage gradually dropped from 12.6 to 11.9, then drop off quickly to 10.5v. When load taken off, voltage would again read 12.4v within seconds until load reapplied. With the new batteries the voltage drops slowly from 12.6 to 11.0v and when load is removed, the voltage only gradually increases several tenths. The literature says to never discharge lower than 10.5v in testing.

One good 100 AH battery should provide 18.9 hours @ 5 amps or 5.5 hours at 15 amps or 160 minutes at 25 amps (RC). (Interstate)

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by mge

Answering some questions:
The range hood, amber, work light, and night lights are normal incandescent bulbs. Interesting how much better the LED lights are!

The 13.4-13.6v charge was not a result of overcharging. Even after resting for an extended period, the "surface" 13.4v charge would hold until discharging began. Also, the discharge pattern was odd compared to the new batteries. The old batteries would provide good amperage for about two hours while voltage gradually dropped from 12.6 to 11.9, then drop off quickly to 10.5v. When load taken off, voltage would again read 12.4v within seconds until load reapplied. With the new batteries the voltage drops slowly from 12.6 to 11.0v and when load is removed, the voltage only gradually increases several tenths. The literature says to never discharge lower than 10.5v in testing.

One good 100 AH battery should provide 18.9 hours @ 5 amps or 5.5 hours at 15 amps or 160 minutes at 25 amps (RC). (Interstate)

" The literature says to never discharge lower than 10.5v in testing. " Is incorrect. 10.5v is a totally discharged battery. Never take the battery down below 50% or 12.06v. If you do you WILL severely shorten its life.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

" The literature says to never discharge lower than 10.5v in testing. " Is incorrect. 10.5v is a totally discharged battery. Never take the battery down below 50% or 12.06v. If you do you WILL severely shorten its life.

Okay that is a correct statement, but a battery can not charge itself to 13.4 to 13.6 has to come from over charging how else would you get that kinda voltage measured?

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

Okay that is a correct statement, but a battery can not charge itself to 13.4 to 13.6 has to come from over charging how else would you get that kinda voltage measured?

The reading beyond 12.7V is a surface charge that builds up on the plates of each cell (6 in total per bat), which in cumulative, = your 13+v number. Putting a sufficient load on it, will get you back to the designed full voltage stage of 12.7V shortly there after. Not sure how else to slice it.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

The reading beyond 12.7V is a surface charge that builds up on the plates of each cell (6 in total per bat), which in cumulative, = your 13+v number. Putting a sufficient load on it, will get you back to the designed full voltage stage of 12.7V shortly there after. Not sure how else to slice it.

Okay thanks for the answer...

[camaraderie]

Still Kickin is exactly right...batteries can READ over 13 volts after charging when their true state of charge is really 12.7 OR significantly lower.
Unless you unhook the battery from everything and WAIT 24 hours...you won't see the actual resting state voltage. A simple and cheap ($20) load tester can get you immediate results :
6 Volt/12 Volt Battery Load Tester

Of course, a real battery monitor ...not a voltmeter...makes everything crystal clear with the push of a button or two.

[Sandiegodoug]

When my batteries go I was told a couple of 6 volt batteries along with a roof top solar system is the ticket


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[MountainTrippers]

Originally Posted by Sandiegodoug

When my batteries go I was told a couple of 6 volt batteries along with a roof top solar system is the ticket


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

The 12V Trojan 31Xhs deep cycle batteries have more capacity and will fit without mods. The 6V batteries are too tall to fit. See my earlier post in this thread to check them out.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Still Kickin is exactly right...batteries can READ over 13 volts after charging when their true state of charge is really 12.7 OR significantly lower.
Unless you unhook the battery from everything and WAIT 24 hours...you won't see the actual resting state voltage. A simple and cheap ($20) load tester can get you immediate results :
6 Volt/12 Volt Battery Load Tester

Of course, a real battery monitor ...not a voltmeter...makes everything crystal clear with the push of a button or two.

Thanks to you and sidekick, I just ordered one. Just never knew that, the things I learn on this site is just amazing.........

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

Thanks to you and sidekick, I just ordered one. Just never knew that, the things I learn on this site is just amazing.........

I'll take that as a compliment calling me "sidekick". pretty good, gljoohtrykk, umm..whatever.
Glad to help.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

I'll take that as a compliment calling me "sidekick". pretty good, gljoohtrykk, umm..whatever.
Glad to help.

Sorry Still Kickin, just keep still kickin...For some reason the SK brought to my mind side kick....but thanks for the lesson in 12 volt...

[tommyb]

Mountaintrippers
Where did you find those batteries?

[MountainTrippers]

http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/dat...ata_Sheets.pdf

Here it is. They also have a list of dealers.