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ess105 · 14-12-2008, 09:44

As I used a bit more than a gallon, the gallon container is unfortunately used up. I did get it from Budget Marine here in St Martin which should be good. Even then, I would think bad water would screw up the plates over time, not straight away.

Yes - part of the issue is the extra level of attention I am now giving the system. However, I know for certain the voltage drop between apparent full charge in the evening and the readings I get in the morning is different to previously experienced.

I'm glad of Chuck's advice - advice I'm often quick to give others so I'm mentally standing back and putting together the broader picture. I am now considering the possibility that I am not really fully charging in the evenings. Could my Xantrex be fooled into thinking the batteries are charged. Perhaps it can as I have the solar charger in the circuit and I have been charging before sun down. Tonight I will charge with the circuit breakers to the charger off to see if I can put more amps in from the Xantrex and get better hydrometer readings. After all, they indicated the batteries were uncharged. I know if the fluids aren't mixed this will read low but I don't know if this accounts for all I'm seeing.

ess105 · 14-12-2008, 15:09

So I tried equalization. Wasn't sure if it was working properly. I had been on 'Accept' at around 14.4V for around 40 mins so I thought it was a good time to shift to Equalization where I expected the voltage to head north to around 16.3V. It dropped to 13.3 and stayed there for the 10 mins I was patient enough to leave it there. I then reverted to normal charging to regain the 14.4V where I get a lot more bubbling in the cells.

Is anyone familiar with the Xantrex to know if the equalization cycle has some complexity built in that brings the voltage up some time after the 10 mins I waited?

ess105 · 14-12-2008, 15:49

Ok - so I tried it again. This time the equalization voltage hovered nearer 14V. I turned off the fridges and it went up close to 15V. That's better. Can only do this for about an hour a night. We'll see how this helps over the next few days. I presume the effect will be cumulative.

AnchorageGuy · 14-12-2008, 16:13

You need to keep a close eye on water levels when equalizing. It should best be done at the same time rather than short bursts. Your fridges should not warm up all that much through the process. If so, you need to look at that problem.

ess105 · 15-12-2008, 02:42

I managed 2h at over 14V yesterday. My hydrometer readings were still in the red afterward but slightly better than previous day. 10h later, having used a measured 67.3 Ah the battery bank is reading 11.95V again with a small load on. No real improvement on yesterday. I checked all the cells and no individual cells were gassing which would indicate a cell failure. I also removed each battery one by one and measured individual voltage. All 12.1V. No variation.

I guess the next thing to do is to go for the longer equalization tonight.

Tropic Cat · 15-12-2008, 05:24

You have a good controller and it's working. I hate to tell you. Your batteries sound like they've had it.

ess105 · 15-12-2008, 05:42

Beginning to think that myself. It's just frustrating that I was getting pretty acceptable performance before I added the extra distilled water.

AnchorageGuy · 15-12-2008, 07:19

You really can't do equalization in short periods. Depending on the battery status you will probably need at least 4 hours uninterrupted and keep checking water levels. It may even take longer than that. Once the batteries are back you can do the equalization once a month for about an hour.

AnchorageGuy · 15-12-2008, 07:35

Read over the information here to get a better understanding of what needs to be done
Charging the lead-acid battery

ess105 · 16-12-2008, 05:17

Progress. Using solar I was able to equalize for 4-5 hours yesterday. I followed this by another 2 hours on gen. All at 15V and above not counting the odd time we had clouds.
Hydrometer readings are now nudging into the 'Fine' band and overnight capacity has also improved (greater Ah were used as a result of longer check period and higher voltage reading at end. All good). Periodic measurements throughout yesterday revealed no flattening out of hydrometer readings during equalization so I will be repeating this for the next few days until I get no more improvement.

ess105 · 23-01-2009, 01:36

Thought I'd conclude this by letting you know I eventually made it to a marina for a day and equalized for 10 hours straight. Batteries are now back to being pretty decent. Thanks for the advice folks.

electricme · 02-03-2009, 18:10

@ ess105,
This is my first post here so if I'm outa line sorry guys.

I have just been reading about ess105' troubles and as I read along I could see his problems.

OK in your first post you mentioned, you didn't make a Hydrometer reading, bad that but understandable, we not all perfect.
Second was to remove some of the electrolite from the batteries, hmmmm.
This is where you went wrong also.

Thequestion as I see it, is how to replace some of the missing electrolite or the Acid to each cell, because each cell is now having to try and cope with out it's correct amount of acid mixture.

I know it's always said, never add acid to the battery, but in ess105s case, he has removed some of it and it needs to be put back, so his cells can work at the output they have been designed for.

Has anyone ever done this before? I havent, so here is the perfect time for someone reading this to offer some constructive help, and I could do with it also.

My personal thoughts would be to add acid by eyedropper, drop by drop until the SG returned to the recomended levels.

Your thoughts readers please?

**s/v Jedi** · 02-03-2009, 20:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by electricme

Second was to remove some of the electrolite from the batteries, hmmmm. This is where you went wrong also.

I don't think he actually removed it, he tried mixing it by sucking it up and squirting it back into the same cells.

I had this happen with my car battery some time ago. But that one gave me trouble before so it was just at it's end already.

cheers,
Nick.