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

You can test the acid in your batteries ("specific gravity") and you can take
them to an auto-shop and have them load tested...

When was the last time they got a good full charge?

We're going on 3 years with a couple of die-hard deep cycles..
Last year; one battery wouldn't keep the anchor light & cabin lights going all
night -- we took them home & put them on the battery charger and gave them a
full charge, back to normal now...

On Sun, 15 Feb 2004 22:28:14 -0600, 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


---
Remove x's to send.

My experience has been if you don't recharge deep cycle batteries soon
after depletion, say less than 24 hours, a few times of this and your
battery's capacity is reduced. You can get some 29-MAXX's at Wal-Mart
for $65 each. These have a little more life than 27's which go for about
$55 each at Wal-Mart. Both are worth what they cost.
Peter
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...sort=3&rows=50

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

Jeff,
The first question I would try to answer if a client approached me with
this situation would be - are the two batteries strapped together or are
they charged separately. The typical answer is that are strapped
(hardwired) together.

If they are, separate them, check them out, then try to charge them back
to max SG (probably 1.270 but check the battery and temp)

It is very hard to get two batteries that are in parrallel to both fully
charge.

You can also get a line powered device that will de-sulpate the plates
to some extent, but with out doing a two hour chemistry lesson, it is
tough to explain.

http://www.batteryfaq.org/ will lead you to a whole lot more than I
feel like writing.

Matt Colie www.yachtek.com
"Free answers to simple questions"


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

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

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

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

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

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

Great, send me an email from the link on my website. If you are passing any
where near to Jacksonville, FL, we can get togeather for coffee. First cup's
on me.

--
Capt. Frank

__c
\ _ | \_
__\_| oooo \_____
~~~~|______________/ ~~~~~
www.home.earthlink.net/~aartworks
"Messing In Boats" wrote in message
...
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