Battery Question

Parrot_Head

Parrot_Head

Junior Member
Noticed my battery was low on water , so i added some and put it on the charger. Now after 2 hours theres water starting to seep out from the caps. Is that normal or should i take some out. Thanks ??? ???

Scott
 
Parrott, how full didja make 'em?...the plastic collar that extends into the water inside the cap should only be 1/8" to 1/4" deep to be "FULL" ... and distilled water SHOULD be used when refillin' ;) ...


There's one school of thought that says you should remove the caps when charging to release gases...this also allows priodic check on charging level; just when the water stars to bubble in EVERY CELL she's charged...any time on the charger past that is wasted, can overcharge and cause water to seep out like yer talkin' about... ;) ... if just ONE cell in a battery won't bubble, that's a BAD battery :D ...
 
was checking a battery the other day, had teh charger on, looked in the holes and only one was bubbling, you guessed it, that cell was bad, replaced with a new battery
 
Parrot_Head said:
Your a gentleman and a scholar. ;)
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Sshhhh!!...you'll ruin a reputation it's taken YEARS to establish ::) ...


...and Spare...the one that was bubblin' was the only good cell...bad ones don't bubble... ;) ...
 
Mine was in the boat from Nov till today, turned the key and started right up? No need to charge ;D
 
Parrot_Head said:
Mines been charging for about 30 hours and none of them are bubbling. Is it bad ??

Scott
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As long as you know the charger is good and gettin' good connection, I'd say it's bad :-/ ...
 
One very important note on batteries and chargers I'm sure most if not all of you know, but it bears repeating.



NEVER REMOVE THE CHARGER FROM THE BATTERY WITH THE CHARGER STILL CHARGING!!!!!!!!


The little spark can and most often will ignite the hydrigen that is bubbling out and the battery will explode.

I saw this first hand once and there wasn't much left of the battery, along with the acid burns the guy had.
 
go to Harbour Freight and buy a load tester, get the obne with the analog dial, not the digital one. Its the best way to check a battery. You can also take a volt meter and go from the negative terminal to the first cell, then the first cell to the second, and so on. Each cell should have a little over 2 volts on a charged batteyr, any of them that is substantually lower than the rest of the cells is bad
 
spareparts said:
go to Harbour Freight and buy a load tester, get the obne with the analog dial, not the digital one. Its the best way to check a battery. You can also take a volt meter and go from the negative terminal to the first cell, then the first cell to the second, and so on. Each cell should have a little over 2 volts on a charged batteyr, any of them that is substantually lower than the rest of the cells is bad
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Wow...never heard of volt meter used from neg post to cell??...are you sayin' probe into water or conact w/ plates or what ... neg to 1st cell, then cell to cell??


Does "Load Tester" you mentioned above work on Maint Free batts??...
 
Load Tester works on all 12v batts. We use them from time to time for our golf car batts, which reminds me, it obviously works on 6 volt batts too ;D What you wanna know about batts, I've got 216 of em right outside. And I'll correct myself again, they work on 8volt batts too, cause thats what our new ones are. 48v golf cars nowdays. ;D
 
Airslot said:
Load Tester works on all 12v batts. We use them from time to time for our golf car batts, which reminds me, it obviously works on 6 volt batts too ;D What you wanna know about batts, I've got 216 of em right outside. And I'll correct myself again, they work on 8volt batts too, cause thats what our new ones are. 48v golf cars nowdays. ;D
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Only thing I need to know about batteries now is where to get 'em at true wholesale ;) ...I guess 3 of those 8s would get me 24 for the trollin' motor...


::) ...
 
reel, just drop the leads in the water, check voltage, each one from cell to cell should be a little over 2 volts( thats why there are 6 of them), kinda like a compresion test for batteries, you can find out which one is bad, but you can't do anything to fix it. I did see a battery on a trawler that used independant cells, had a manifold water distributor with a recovery tank so you never had to topp off the water, if you had a bad cell, you just replaced that one cell, look very expensive
 
Spare Parts you are sounding good with your battery knowledge, except there maybe help for a battery with a lower cell volt reading.

If you happen to get a cell a little lower then the rest you can try to discharge the battery over a couple of hours with a small load like a spot light and the put it on a charge with a higher current at around 14.5 - 15 volts. You may have to repeat it a couple of times but it will help to remove any sulfate that has built up on the plates and regain the surface area.

Sometimes just a equalizing charge will help if the battery isn't damaged to bad.

You need to keep in mind that the above process will shorten the remaining life of a battery, but if it is close to being replaced any way who cares. This will only help extend your battery for maybe a season.

One of the easiest ways to protect a battery is to install a battery minder. You need one that has enough amperage to maintain the charge of the battery and yet be able to reduce the charge low enough not to cook it when it reaches full charge.
 
shhh! how do you think I get batteries for my boat ;D
Seriously, I've saved a few by charging and discharging them like you said(i use the load tester to discharge them), also someone told me to pick the battery up about 6" off the ground and drop it, to break the scale loose from the plates( don't know if it works but sounds good).
 
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