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Thread: Bad Batties????

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    Bad Batties????

    After being plugged in at a campground for three days my landing gear would not retract when we wanted to depart. I took the batterys to the local Advance Auto and after charging them and doing a load test they said they were fine. Good news? Maybe. Having charged batterys I now had enough power to retract gear, get home and unhook. Thinging it might be the convertor I did a test on it and it's putting out 13.7 volts. So where do I go from here? I put a charger on the batterys and it inidicates they are only 25% charged. I have operated the landing gear three times at this point.
    My speculation that my 2 year old batteries won't hold a long term charge. Does anyone have any other ideas?
    2020 F250, 7.3 gas, Solitude 2930
    Nights camped:
    2013 - 180, 2014 - 57, 2015 - 91, 2016 - 171, 2017 - 107, 2018 - 21, 2019 - 65, 2020 - 150

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    Site Sponsor NB Canada's Avatar
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    Batteries are likely toast. They pass tests many times but when pushed to the limit they fail

    Need new batteries
    2021 Imagine 2400 BH
    2018 GMC Sierra 4x4 Crew 1840lb payload

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    Long Hauler
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    Where did you test the converter? Why was the converter putting out 13.7 V, but you're not seeing that at the batteries?
    Howard and Peggy
    2019 Momentum 351M, and 2018 RAM Cummins dually 6-speed.
    His: 1999 Honda Interceptor
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    Site Sponsor sande005's Avatar
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    Auto store load test are pretty much "can they supply a high amount in a short amount of time" tests. Like for starting an engine. While relatively fast to do, they don't tell you how well the batteries can do with lower loads over longer periods (like camping in an RV). Can be common for them to pass the store test, and still be unsuitable for our use. Harder to find anyone with the setup/time to do a prolonged test. Usually some kind of a load (20 amps or so) and see how many hours it takes to run them down.

    Most common reason for them to loose capacity? - being discharged too deeply. Sometimes once, or on repeated occasions.

    If you want to get into the details (and there are lots) folks here will be glad to advise on proper voltage tests, capacity tests, converter output tests, etc.

    But if you have common dealer supplied lead acids, the least hassle is to just replace with new. Sure, a slight risk that the issue lies somewhere else, but 95% of the time replacing is what you will end up doing anyway.....
    2017 Imagine 2670MK
    2012 F-150 SCrew, Eco, 4x4 6.5 box
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    I took the converter out of the RV, plugged it into the house receptical and then tested the output with a multimeter.
    I charged each battery seperately for an hour with my charger which only puts out 6 amps. But it never went above 25% charge. I had to take the RV back to storage and when I did no I took the batterys out and went to an auto store. Without charging their battery test indicated they were good. They are going to charge the batterys on their equipment and retest. I'm pretty sure they will test good. In that case I will bring them home and let them sit for a day or so and see if they hold charge. I'll post an update when I have one.
    Any other ideas are welcome.
    2020 F250, 7.3 gas, Solitude 2930
    Nights camped:
    2013 - 180, 2014 - 57, 2015 - 91, 2016 - 171, 2017 - 107, 2018 - 21, 2019 - 65, 2020 - 150

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    Long Hauler
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    It looks like you've checked the converter, but did you check it while it was plugged into the trailer? You may have a bad circuit, flipped circuit breaker, etc. and it's not charging while plugged in, or the Battery Disconnect Switch had been thrown, not allowing the batteries to charge. I would make sure it is working in situ. And post back what your voltage your batteries are at after a couple days. That's not a great indication of SOC, State Of Charge, but it's what you have to work with.
    Howard and Peggy
    2019 Momentum 351M, and 2018 RAM Cummins dually 6-speed.
    His: 1999 Honda Interceptor
    Hers: 2013 Spyder ST-S

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor sande005's Avatar
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    An hour? On pure math, a cheap group 27 battery on 6 amps would take 10 hrs from fully dead. Actually a lot longer when factoring in the different rates the charger uses as the battery "fills up". After an hour, at initially 25%, at most they would be at 30%. Given the imprecision of the monitoring tools most of us use, the actual charge level change may not even be detectable in that amount of time. If you are determined to avoid just buying new, put them on charge on the converter for a solid 24 hrs, and then give them a 12-24 hr rest after coming off, before applying your voltmeter....
    2017 Imagine 2670MK
    2012 F-150 SCrew, Eco, 4x4 6.5 box
    Max. Tow, HD Payload, Airbags, ProPride hitch
    (Previous: Jayco 26.5RLS Fifth, Revolution Pinbox)

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    Big Traveler dryfly's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sande005 View Post
    Auto store load test are pretty much "can they supply a high amount in a short amount of time" tests. Like for starting an engine. While relatively fast to do, they don't tell you how well the batteries can do with lower loads over longer periods (like camping in an RV). Can be common for them to pass the store test, and still be unsuitable for our use. Harder to find anyone with the setup/time to do a prolonged test. Usually some kind of a load (20 amps or so) and see how many hours it takes to run them down.

    Most common reason for them to loose capacity? - being discharged too deeply. Sometimes once, or on repeated occasions.

    If you want to get into the details (and there are lots) folks here will be glad to advise on proper voltage tests, capacity tests, converter output tests, etc.

    But if you have common dealer supplied lead acids, the least hassle is to just replace with new. Sure, a slight risk that the issue lies somewhere else, but 95% of the time replacing is what you will end up doing anyway.....
    I'm with you. On a 2 year old battery, even one that's been well taken care of, an auto store load test would put a lot of stress on an already aging battery.

    If we were talking about a 1 year old battery that had been well taken care of, then spending some time testing would be prudent. I agree that probably new batteries would be the easiest solution. But following the charging recommendation in post # 7 is sure worthwhile.

    Anytime I've tried to get extra time out of a "probably bad battery" I ended up with a dead battery in a time i really needed it.
    2020 Reflection 273MK

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    Battery update. Batterys were fully charged on Friday evening. Today, four days later they are still indicating a 12.3V and 12.4V. In response to Hoopy Frood's question, yes I did check the receptacle the converter was plugged into and it was indicating 115 V.
    I had to ask myself "Why did I remove the converter from the RV to test it"? So far I have not gotten any response. I'll just contribute that to thinkin thinkin. Or lack thereof.
    I'm presently speculating that the battery switch got thrown accidently. I normaly don't fool with that since I installed a battery cut off at the battery.
    My next trip wil be in June so I'll have time to ponder this problem.
    Thanks for everyones input.
    2020 F250, 7.3 gas, Solitude 2930
    Nights camped:
    2013 - 180, 2014 - 57, 2015 - 91, 2016 - 171, 2017 - 107, 2018 - 21, 2019 - 65, 2020 - 150

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