Battery Life question
 

Yea, you can get a de-sulphator like the Battery Minder or something
similar. I can't find the links right now, but I have one and love it.

--


Keith
__
Never let a boat take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes
earlier.
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they are shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

Capt.
Them poor batteries, subjected to northern Florida conditions! I can
feel their pain up here in Michigan as it was -10F this morning. :-)
Paul

"Capt Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi Jeff,
You can have a battery load tested at most battery stores (Maybe even
Sam's). This will indicate the life/load remaining. House batteries are
notorious for going bad over winter. They don't like freezing cold, being
run low on electrolyte, or not being trickle charged over extended
periods.
Last year (July), I installed "Optima" brand, maintenance free batteries
in
my cruiser. I will let the group know about the lifespan results later in
the year. So far, they have worked well in north Florida conditions.
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they are
shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

Capt.
Them poor batteries, subjected to northern Florida conditions! I can
feel their pain up here in Michigan as it was -10F this morning. :-)
Paul

"Capt Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi Jeff,
You can have a battery load tested at most battery stores (Maybe even
Sam's). This will indicate the life/load remaining. House batteries are
notorious for going bad over winter. They don't like freezing cold, being
run low on electrolyte, or not being trickle charged over extended
periods.
Last year (July), I installed "Optima" brand, maintenance free batteries
in
my cruiser. I will let the group know about the lifespan results later in
the year. So far, they have worked well in north Florida conditions.
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they are
shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

Key phrase?:

Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to

Sounds like your bank is too small. You should try to avoid running the
batteries down more than 50%, (even deep cycle), to get the maximum life out of
them. If you are running off these batteries until the refrigerator and anchor
lights "aren't working" then you are likely discharging more of the capacity
than you should.

Calculate you amp load by adding up the amps consumed by all loads, and
multiplying each loads by the number of hours used in a day. Then multiply that
figure by the number of days you go between recahrges. Multiply the final
answer by four to determine how large a bank you should have. (The first "two"
enables you to avoid discharging beyond 50%, the second "two" accounts for the
fact that a battery reharges very quickly between 50 and about 80%, and then
much more slowly after that. Your "sweet spot" between the 50% minimum and the
80% easily attainable recharge is 30% of the battery's rated capacity. 30% x 4
= 120%, a reasonable reserve)

Two Group 27's should be OK for a night or so on a boat using just a moderate
amount of DC. (I usually shut off the refrigerator about bedtime and avoid
running the 5-amp load for 8 hours until morning, but that's just me.)

The other thing to check is your voltage regulator. Are you sending the
batteries to
hot a recharge, and consequently slowly destroying the internal plates?

Battery Life question
 

Key phrase?:

Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to

Sounds like your bank is too small. You should try to avoid running the
batteries down more than 50%, (even deep cycle), to get the maximum life out of
them. If you are running off these batteries until the refrigerator and anchor
lights "aren't working" then you are likely discharging more of the capacity
than you should.

Calculate you amp load by adding up the amps consumed by all loads, and
multiplying each loads by the number of hours used in a day. Then multiply that
figure by the number of days you go between recahrges. Multiply the final
answer by four to determine how large a bank you should have. (The first "two"
enables you to avoid discharging beyond 50%, the second "two" accounts for the
fact that a battery reharges very quickly between 50 and about 80%, and then
much more slowly after that. Your "sweet spot" between the 50% minimum and the
80% easily attainable recharge is 30% of the battery's rated capacity. 30% x 4
= 120%, a reasonable reserve)

Two Group 27's should be OK for a night or so on a boat using just a moderate
amount of DC. (I usually shut off the refrigerator about bedtime and avoid
running the 5-amp load for 8 hours until morning, but that's just me.)

The other thing to check is your voltage regulator. Are you sending the
batteries to
hot a recharge, and consequently slowly destroying the internal plates?

Battery Life question
 

This is an interesting link

http://www.flex.com/~kalepa/desulf.htm

Requires some nerdish electrical skills, but the site as some good
information and links about batteries.

Rufus


Messing In Boats wrote:

I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they are shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

This is an interesting link

http://www.flex.com/~kalepa/desulf.htm

Requires some nerdish electrical skills, but the site as some good
information and links about batteries.

Rufus


Messing In Boats wrote:

I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they are shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

Hey Paul,
Yep!it was a chilly 65 this afternoon with lows in the 30's. The poor,
lonely, batts are snuggled warm and dry in their heated engine room. I
really should go visit them this week and make sure they are fed and
watered. ;-
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
Capt.
Them poor batteries, subjected to northern Florida conditions! I can
feel their pain up here in Michigan as it was -10F this morning. :-)
Paul

"Capt Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi Jeff,
You can have a battery load tested at most battery stores (Maybe
even
Sam's). This will indicate the life/load remaining. House batteries
are
notorious for going bad over winter. They don't like freezing cold,
being
run low on electrolyte, or not being trickle charged over extended
periods.
Last year (July), I installed "Optima" brand, maintenance free
batteries
in
my cruiser. I will let the group know about the lifespan results later
in
the year. So far, they have worked well in north Florida conditions.
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's
are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last
summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and
anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they
are
shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I
won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them
if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to
re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

Hey Paul,
Yep!it was a chilly 65 this afternoon with lows in the 30's. The poor,
lonely, batts are snuggled warm and dry in their heated engine room. I
really should go visit them this week and make sure they are fed and
watered. ;-
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Paul Schilter" paulschilter@comcast,dot,net wrote in message
...
Capt.
Them poor batteries, subjected to northern Florida conditions! I can
feel their pain up here in Michigan as it was -10F this morning. :-)
Paul

"Capt Frank Hopkins" wrote in message
ink.net...

Hi Jeff,
You can have a battery load tested at most battery stores (Maybe
even
Sam's). This will indicate the life/load remaining. House batteries
are
notorious for going bad over winter. They don't like freezing cold,
being
run low on electrolyte, or not being trickle charged over extended
periods.
Last year (July), I installed "Optima" brand, maintenance free
batteries
in
my cruiser. I will let the group know about the lifespan results later
in
the year. So far, they have worked well in north Florida conditions.
--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
I've got a two year old house bank of two Group 27B's. (the 27B's
are
supposed to be a little bit better than a plain Group 27) Last
summer
they seemed to loose their ability to keep my refrigerator and
anchor
light working as long as they used to and I'm wondering if they
are
shot
or not. They have gotten a lot of use these last two years, so I
won't
whine too much if they are gone, but I would hate to replace them
if
they aren't.

How do I check this out?

Is there some way to de-sulpher the plates or something to
re-energize
them and save me a $130 trip to Sam's Club?

Capt. Jeff

Battery Life question
 

For whatever it's worth, I took a poster's suggestion and bought a 4 amp
Battery Minder for $100, which the battery Minder folks say might solve
our problem. These are deep cycle batteries that were only taken down to
0% only a couple times by refrigeration and fans in hot weather and
charged right back up again with the engine. I tested them for voltage
after a full charge and they appear to hold it well.

If this doesn't improve their capacity, at least I will have the system
for my next set. For those who care, the 4 amp charger will handle two
different types of batteries (two Group 27Bs for house and one Group 24
starting, hooked up to a combiner) and will supposedly charge and
maintain the set and can be plugged in all the time to keep them happily
de-sulfated, even all winter. I don't take my batteries out of the boat,
ever. They seem to like it just fine, as long as they are charged.

I'll find out soon whether it brings them back, as I'm trailering it
from COLD Minnesota to WARM Florida in two weeks.

Capt. Jeff