Topic: More charger/battery questions

This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 5 months ago by BasscatRJ.

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December 30, 2008 at 12:27 am #417500

BasscatRJ
Participant

Folks, Ive been noticing that my batteries are giving out earlier than usual. Im running 2 AC Delcos that are 9 months old and have the Cul-M-Rite 3 bank charger. Im not sure if I have a charger issue, battery issue or both. . I wonder about the charger because the output changed. Heres what I had last night. Charger connected and on Switched the leads and turned back on. Battery 1 13.35 volts Battery 1 13.06 volts Battery 2 12.75 volts Battery 2 13.14 Charger turned off right after lights turned green Battery 1 12.96 volts Battery 2 12.75 volts 24 hours later Battery 1 12.73 volts Battery 2 12.41 Volts TOne battery had a shelf life of 5 months and the other 6 months when I put them in the boat. So back to the original question. Bad batteries, bad charger or both. Im leaning toward bad battery. Thanks

December 30, 2008 at 1:05 am #417503

gclayfam
Participant

Before you jump off and blame either the batteries or charger (been there) take all your connections and clean them with a wire brush or sand paper or wire wheel on a drill to clean possible corrosion off. I had corrosion on the terminals of the charger which I couldnt see and caused me a great deal of grief looking at batteries and then the charger. You may really have a problem, but I would start there and eliminate that possibility. Just a thought…… GeorgeGeorge

December 30, 2008 at 1:23 am #417504

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Not blaming either. Just trying to figure it out. I understand electrical gremlins can be tough to find and I appreciate the thought. I had already cleaned them and added the corrosion inhibitor to them about a month ago. However Ill hit it again to make sure.

December 30, 2008 at 8:55 pm #417505

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Swap the leads and clean the connections as suggested. It does not sound like either may be bad? A fully charged battery settles between 12.4 and 12.8 volts. And a hydrometer will tell you the individual cell quality. BCB

December 30, 2008 at 11:47 pm #417506

BasscatRJ
Participant

Dont think I can check the cells as it is a maintenance free battery. However I thoughtIi read somewhere on here one time that you could tell if the battery was bad based on how much the voltage dropped over night. I searched the archives but couldnt find that article. Does anyone remember the numbers?
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