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Old 12-24-2019, 03:52 PM   #1
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House batteries bad?

So I replaced my house batteries about a year and a half ago with Interstate batteries and they all read dead with hygrometer and run down in a matter of minutes when disconnected from shore even after being connected to shore for 2 days. When disconnected from shore, they read 5.8 volts on meter at the terminals. When connected to shore, they read 6.8, so they should be charging. When stored (which is most of the time) I have a knife switch that disconnects them from the RV electrical system. Is it likely for all four to go bad at the same time. Always worked fine up until this time.
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Old 12-24-2019, 04:46 PM   #2
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It's possible they could go bad at the same time but not usually. I'd be asking myself what happened recently....was the switch left closed with a large parasitic load going in the coach? What else was changed/added or done differently.


For now- try to get the batteries back up with an external charger- see if they'll accept the charge. If not, one or more cells are open. This is a start. try it and see what the next step will be.
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Old 12-24-2019, 04:48 PM   #3
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Are these 6 or 12 volt batteries?
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Old 12-24-2019, 05:11 PM   #4
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Were they fully charged when you disconnected them ?

Did they sit discharged and then freeze ?
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Old 12-24-2019, 05:13 PM   #5
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Quote:
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Are these 6 or 12 volt batteries?

Yes, I guess this would be a logical first question!
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Old 12-24-2019, 05:19 PM   #6
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It appears there are probably 4 six volt batteries that all went low and are probably needing replaced. After replacing make sure the charger is working correctly and don't let the new batteries get low on water.
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Old 12-24-2019, 07:52 PM   #7
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Battery problems

They are 6 volt batteries, All were 100% charged when disconnected. They were disconnected, no access to parasitic loads. I always disconnect them and they typically drop 3% to 5% per month. Not sure what happened here, but maybe a cold spell got them. They may have set discharged, but I don’t understand why they discharged. Hooking to shore power charges them but they dump their load in 10 minutes. Looks like bad cells. Wierd that they would all go out at the same time being only 1.5 years old. Oh well.

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Originally Posted by Fordphares View Post
So I replaced my house batteries about a year and a half ago with Interstate batteries and they all read dead with hygrometer and run down in a matter of minutes when disconnected from shore even after being connected to shore for 2 days. When disconnected from shore, they read 5.8 volts on meter at the terminals. When connected to shore, they read 6.8, so they should be charging. When stored (which is most of the time) I have a knife switch that disconnects them from the RV electrical system. Is it likely for all four to go bad at the same time. Always worked fine up until this time.
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Old 12-24-2019, 09:00 PM   #8
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Battery tester

I would disconnect them from one another and then charge each one separately. You may just have one bad battery. I bought a battery load tester to test my house batteries.https://www.harborfreight.com/100-am...ter-61747.html
This works good and can save time and hassle of taking them to a battery store to have the same thing done. I use it before every trip to check out both chassis and house batteries.
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Old 12-25-2019, 01:01 AM   #9
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Charge -> check specific gravity -> equalize -> check specific gravity again. Typically should see an improvement and increased cell to cell consistency.
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Old 12-25-2019, 06:40 AM   #10
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Yes . As suggested. Test each individually
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Old 12-25-2019, 02:12 PM   #11
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If charging is successful- then find the big loads that are drawing the batteries down. I find that it's a good 2 person job. One person looks at the meter while connected to the battery bank. The other pulls fuses- one by one. The person at the batteries monitors voltage drop each time a fuse is pulled. Make sure you are checking one at a time- replacing each fuse as you check the next. In your case, a 2 or 3 volt drop on one circuit should show you where the main problem is. Your knife switch- if installed properly and used properly should have prevented this event in the first place.
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Old 12-25-2019, 03:02 PM   #12
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Alright, so I think I may have a bad battery. I’m seeing 13.8 on the batterIes the solar is connected to. The battery that’s the last line, connected to the coach, has a ton of corrosion buildup on the terminal. It’s like greenish white solidified foam on the top. Weeks back the couch got left on not on shore power so I’m guessing I toasted a battery or two
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Old 12-25-2019, 03:03 PM   #13
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When you use the batteries, how far down do you usually discharge them? The lower you discharge them during use, the fewer charge/discharge cycles you will get out of them. General recommendation for flooded cell batteries is to not discharge to a state of charge less than 50%. There are charts available to show the state of charge based on battery voltage.
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Old 12-25-2019, 03:03 PM   #14
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Quote:
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If charging is successful- then find the big loads that are drawing the batteries down. I find that it's a good 2 person job. One person looks at the meter while connected to the battery bank. The other pulls fuses- one by one. The person at the batteries monitors voltage drop each time a fuse is pulled. Make sure you are checking one at a time- replacing each fuse as you check the next. In your case, a 2 or 3 volt drop on one circuit should show you where the main problem is. Your knife switch- if installed properly and used properly should have prevented this event in the first place.

Thanks: this is with no load at all. Pretty sure I have a bad battery or several.
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