| Author | Message | ||
| Tom Dessert (Mci5er)
Registered Member Username: Mci5er Post Number: 42 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 71.80.204.142 Rating: N/A |
In checking out the bus today, I noticed the case on at least one of my house batteries, was swollen and the battery was hot to the touch. The inverter remote panel gave no indications of a problem, so I shut everything down to check it out. I pulled all three batteries, two had noticable swollen cases, the third was minor. The batteries were installed in june 03. They are manufactured by Power Factor, Model SLF-12205 Style 4D AGM. So my question is ... Is three years reasonable life for deep cycle batteries. I'm assuming here that the batteries have failed. I know very little about Power Factor batteries and what would be a good choice to replace these with. Any help would be appreciated. Tomorrow these batteries are going to a battery shop for testing. | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 21 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 206.149.192.8 Rating: N/A |
"what would be a good choice to replace these with. Any help would be appreciated." Sounds like they suffered from overcharging. For low price brand name golf carts are great. The Trojan L-16 is taller , but the same footprint as most 6v golf carts. FAST FRED | ||
| Steven D. Braud (Steve77amg)
Registered Member Username: Steve77amg Post Number: 39 Registered: 5-2005 Posted From: 24.144.4.182 Rating: N/A |
Here is a link with some good info about batteries. Check it out and see what you think. http://www.vonwentzel.net/index.html | ||
| Bob greenwood (Bob_greenwood)
Registered Member Username: Bob_greenwood Post Number: 313 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 4.90.7.124 Rating: N/A |
had the SAME thing happen on my OLD motohome....the charger inside the converter has gone nuts ,clip the correct wires to ELIMINATE it & get a 12 volt charger from harbor frieght to replace it,(a standard car battery charger) | ||
| Brian Brown (Blue_velvet)
Registered Member Username: Blue_velvet Post Number: 389 Registered: 6-2005 Posted From: 76.186.181.86 Rating: N/A |
Make sure your charging profile in your inverter/charger is set up for AGMs and NOT lead-acid. IIRC, AGMs need less voltage and different float profiles. HTH, Brian Brown 4108-216 w/ V730 Longmont, CO presently in Dallas, TX | ||
| joe padberg (Joemc7ab)
Registered Member Username: Joemc7ab Post Number: 43 Registered: 6-2004 Posted From: 66.38.159.33 Rating: N/A |
TOM Not Knowing the details of your particular setup, I would suggest becoming more familiar with the idiosyncracies of the various types that are out there. The suggestions of Steven and Brian are excellent, but do not go out and buy a standard battery charger, hook it up and ignore it, because you will have the same problem all oner again even with new batteries. Joe. | ||
| Ed Roelle (Ed_roelle)
Registered Member Username: Ed_roelle Post Number: 23 Registered: 3-2005 Posted From: 68.41.246.175 Rating: N/A |
Fred probably hit the nail on the head. But first, identify the root cause of the problem by measuring. Put a volt/ohm meter on your charger when charging and check voltage. As battery becomes charged, voltage should reduce from 14.? to 13.? Ed Roelle | ||
| Bob greenwood (Bob_greenwood)
Registered Member Username: Bob_greenwood Post Number: 319 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 4.226.78.183 Rating: N/A |
It definitly wasn't the batteries fault.you could sit it on the floor & it wouldn't blow-up.It was the charger | ||
| Tom Dessert (Mci5er)
Registered Member Username: Mci5er Post Number: 43 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 71.80.204.142 Rating: N/A |
Thanks for all the info guys. I've been doing some research on the subject of batteries in general and believe I know what happened... death due to overcharging. I probably had the inverter/charge set incorrectly for the type of batteries I used. So the question now is what to replace them with. Fast Fred mentioned the L-16's which are 6v lead acid with great capacity. How do you deal with ventilating these type of batteries ? Also I assume that the number of batteries required is determined by house demand. So as an example is two L-16 adequate for most applications. We don't boondock for extended periods of time and can recharge from either genset or 12v alternator. My old bank had three 4d 184amp/hr batteries. Two of the L-16 type batteries would give me better capacity and take up less space. Comments please - Tom | ||
| Bob greenwood (Bob_greenwood)
Registered Member Username: Bob_greenwood Post Number: 326 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 4.226.225.103 Rating: N/A |
everything depends on how many things you are going to run,I have a house refrigerator,lights, & water pump that run off house batterys,I have (6) 12 volt car batterys, & they are charged by delco remy alt. going down the road & a charger,in my converter while being plugged into power pole.you say you have adjustments on your charger, the one in my converter,has no adjustments. | ||
| Tom Dessert (Mci5er)
Registered Member Username: Mci5er Post Number: 44 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 71.80.204.142 Rating: N/A |
Bob, my inverter/charger has a remote panel w/dip switches that let's you select the type of batteries your charging which affects the charging voltage applied. The newer versions of my charger/inverter has a AGM type battery settings so you don't have to guess. The one I have deals pretty much with wet cell(warm or cold) and gel cell. My confusion on what to set it too was probably what messed them up. | ||
| Bob greenwood (Bob_greenwood)
Registered Member Username: Bob_greenwood Post Number: 327 Registered: 7-2006 Posted From: 4.226.237.70 Rating: N/A |
hope so | ||
| joe padberg (Joemc7ab)
Registered Member Username: Joemc7ab Post Number: 44 Registered: 6-2004 Posted From: 66.38.159.33 Rating: N/A |
Tom You mentioned that you were using three 184 amp/hr batts. so total capacity was 552 amp/hr. If you replaced them with 2 L16 your bank capacity would be smaller either 375 or415 A/H depending on which you went with. If you are using a propane fridge and dont boondock a lot it would likely be adequite. The key will be to monitor the state of charge of your batteries. Joe. | ||
| Tom Dessert (Mci5er)
Registered Member Username: Mci5er Post Number: 45 Registered: 12-2005 Posted From: 71.80.204.142 Rating: N/A |
Joe, you're right and thanks for pointing that out. I forgot the L-16 is 6v so they need to be connected in series. My frig is propane(three way) but the furnance 34k btu is 12v only. Kinda chilly here in Southern Oregon right now. - Tom | ||
| joe padberg (Joemc7ab)
Registered Member Username: Joemc7ab Post Number: 45 Registered: 6-2004 Posted From: 66.38.159.33 Rating: N/A |
Tom Yes winter has come noticeably earlier than last year. I had hoped to get the roof sheating and shingles on my storage shed ,attached to the side of the bus barn,installed before winter. Now hoping for a couple of mild days to finish it. Yes it is big enough for another bus!! It looks that you have a good handle on your problem. Joe. | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 206.149.192.92 Rating: |
You can worry less about proper venting , and do less watering of the batt set if you install Hydrocaps. FAST FRED |
