Dead Battery

[Coastalbirds]

My 2010 Salem with original battery (Interstate RV/Marine Deep cycle) just took a dive. It had been working fine, then went to nothing. I checked and added some distilled water and put it on a 2 amp trickle charge overnight, bumped it to 15amp this morning and put it on the trailer (plugged in) for the afternoon and evening. The gauge in the TT still shows empty.

Is the battery toast? Does it need more charging time? Do any of the "restore your battery" products online work?

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by Coastalbirds

My 2010 Salem with original battery (Interstate RV/Marine Deep cycle) just took a dive. It had been working fine, then went to nothing. I checked and added some distilled water and put it on a 2 amp trickle charge overnight, bumped it to 15amp this morning and put it on the trailer (plugged in) for the afternoon and evening. The gauge in the TT still shows empty.

Is the battery toast? Does it need more charging time? Do any of the "restore your battery" products online work?

4 yr old battery is probably toast. I would just toss it and get a replacement @ Wally World. They have an excellent warranty. Might even consider 2 if the hip pocket can stand it.

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Coastalbirds

My 2010 Salem with original battery (Interstate RV/Marine Deep cycle) just took a dive. It had been working fine, then went to nothing. I checked and added some distilled water and put it on a 2 amp trickle charge overnight, bumped it to 15amp this morning and put it on the trailer (plugged in) for the afternoon and evening. The gauge in the TT still shows empty.

Is the battery toast? Does it need more charging time? Do any of the "restore your battery" products online work?

Did you check it with a 12v meter? to make sure it's not just your light? If you are not taking charge then your your right it's dead. You would be wasting money trying to buy acid for it. You could have a dead short in it. Take it into a napa store or place like that and have them test it, it is free service they all do. If it's interstate you might get a pro rated discount always a try. But If it shows dead I would just get a new one.

[WrongWayRandall]

A multimeter is the best way to check your batteries, but it sounds like a dead cell/short situation. Try to keep your batteries fully charged at all times, and even with true deep cycle batteries you should not discharge them too deeply or you will reduce performance and shorten their lifespan.

We use Battery Tenders on all of our batteries that are not in daily driver vehicles and they seem to keep things well in hand (especially over Winter, when batteries can be damaged by slow, prolonged discharge and cold temperatures.) I have installed 'permanent' cables to allow quick connect/disconnect to the Tenders and that keeps me from having to pull batteries out and put them back all the time. Obviously this may not work well for someone who has to store their vehicle in a location that can't provide power to the Tender...

When you get a replacement, check to see what the manufacturer suggests as far as discharge levels. It's probably safer in the long run to stick with that rating than to guess and accidentally risk damage.

- Randy

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by WrongWayRandall

A multimeter is the best way to check your batteries, but it sounds like a dead cell/short situation. Try to keep your batteries fully charged at all times, and even with true deep cycle batteries you should not discharge them too deeply or you will reduce performance and shorten their lifespan.

We use Battery Tenders on all of our batteries that are not in daily driver vehicles and they seem to keep things well in hand (especially over Winter, when batteries can be damaged by slow, prolonged discharge and cold temperatures.) I have installed 'permanent' cables to allow quick connect/disconnect to the Tenders and that keeps me from having to pull batteries out and put them back all the time. Obviously this may not work well for someone who has to store their vehicle in a location that can't provide power to the Tender...

When you get a replacement, check to see what the manufacturer suggests as far as discharge levels. It's probably safer in the long run to stick with that rating than to guess and accidentally risk damage.

- Randy

well stated and good advice, all batteries are different.