Battery Corrosion

[Pat]

I am needing advice on battery. On boat yesterday (on cradle) and finished winterizing
the engine...I noticed that one of the batteries had corrosion on the terminal....although the engine started right away, I decided to check the fluid level and found 4 of 6 cells on one of the batteries were basically dry...i.e. no fluid visible... I filled the cells and turned the charger back on (Statpower for 2 batteries) the light on the charger indicated "absorbsion" mode.

What have I done wrong? was it a mistake to leave the charger on or did I do the right thing.
I'm certain I will plan on replacing this battery in the spring. Thank you for your thoughts,
Patrick

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

If the connection was really bad, the charger may not have cycled to float thereby cooking the batteries. After you trying recharging, have them load-tested to see if they have any capacity left and consider yourself very lucky if they do. Obviously, you will want to monitor the charge so as to replicate the problem which could easily happen if one or more cells is bad.

 

[Pat]

If the connection was really bad, the charger may not have cycled to float thereby cooking the batteries. After you trying recharging, have them load-tested to see if they have any capacity left and consider yourself very lucky if they do. Obviously, you will want to monitor the charge so as to replicate the problem which could easily happen if one or more cells is bad.

thank you very much for the info...Here's another question (don't laugh); can the battery load be tested with the boat in the yard? Currently, it is out of the water at our club in the yard.
I can buy a testor or whatever if you can tell me what to get and how to test....I obviosuly did not pass "Electricity Class" in Jr. High...I really do appreciate your help..! Patrick

 

[Maine Sail]

I am needing advice on battery. On boat yesterday (on cradle) and finished winterizing
the engine...I noticed that one of the batteries had corrosion on the terminal....although the engine started right away, I decided to check the fluid level and found 4 of 6 cells on one of the batteries were basically dry...i.e. no fluid visible... I filled the cells and turned the charger back on (Statpower for 2 batteries) the light on the charger indicated "absorbsion" mode.

What have I done wrong? was it a mistake to leave the charger on or did I do the right thing.
I'm certain I will plan on replacing this battery in the spring. Thank you for your thoughts,
Patrick

What charger is it? How old? Some chargers are ok to leave on and are "smart" others should not be left on for long term..

 

[anchorclanker]

Your in Witchita. You should be able to leave a fully charged batter sit over 6 months without a charge, provided its disconnected or has zero electrical drains.

How old are the batteries? I have a theory that old batteres start corroding terminals as part of their death sequence. The low levels may simply be a sign of the battery beginning to discharge internally, and the charger responding by overcharging it. Another good reason to avoid automatic chargers and simply disconnect batteries when sitting.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

thank you very much for the info...Here's another question (don't laugh); can the battery load be tested with the boat in the yard? Currently, it is out of the water at our club in the yard.
I can buy a testor or whatever if you can tell me what to get and how to test....I obviosuly did not pass "Electricity Class" in Jr. High...I really do appreciate your help..! Patrick

For a lot less money, you can take the batteries to a battery retailer and have them tested. It would cost you $100 minimum to buy a decent load tester.

As has been said here before many times, batteries don't just die; they usually get killed by improper charging so make sure you have a properly functioning charger.

 

[Pat]

Your in Witchita. You should be able to leave a fully charged batter sit over 6 months without a charge, provided its disconnected or has zero electrical drains.

How old are the batteries? I have a theory that old batteres start corroding terminals as part of their death sequence. The low levels may simply be a sign of the battery beginning to discharge internally, and the charger responding by overcharging it. Another good reason to avoid automatic chargers and simply disconnect batteries when sitting.

I'm guessing the batteries are around 8 yr's old plus or minus a year..the charger is a Statpower Smart charger for two banks of batteries...I'm going to drive out tomorrow and see what has happened since I left the charger on this Wednesday...

It''s early in the morning but here is a true story..we bought our boat in 1987
in a snow storm...the boat came from O'Day with two batteries from East Penn Manufacturing. Our dealer had installed a big old charger as a gift to us for buying the boat...This is only the 2nd set of batteries for this boat.
When the first set died, I called East Penn and was able to talk to the Pres.
of the company...He said they had been built with Nazi war technology that
had been brought to the states and that they were big Mercedes Benz batteries that were designed to handle a lot of accessories. He confirmed for me that the batteries were not available West of St. Louis, so I gave up and just bought Autozone batteries...The 'big old charger' died trying to keep
those original East Penn batteries charged...I have seen mention in the
big West Marine catalog of East Penn batteries, but unless they are now marketed under another brand name, I'm not certain they currently exist.

I don't want to burn up my statpower charger trying to keep these batteries charged so I think I'll just drive out and turn the charger off after checking the status of the rather cheapo batteries. Chargers are expensive..so are the batteries..do you know of East Penn Corporation...I think I'll google.
Thanks to everyone for their help and advice....

 

[Pat]

I am needing advice on battery. On boat yesterday (on cradle) and finished winterizing
the engine...I noticed that one of the batteries had corrosion on the terminal....although the engine started right away, I decided to check the fluid level and found 4 of 6 cells on one of the batteries were basically dry...i.e. no fluid visible... I filled the cells and turned the charger back on (Statpower for 2 batteries) the light on the charger indicated "absorbsion" mode.

What have I done wrong? was it a mistake to leave the charger on or did I do the right thing.
I'm certain I will plan on replacing this battery in the spring. Thank you for your thoughts,
Patrick

Went to the lake yesterday and disconnected the boat at the power pedestal at the yard space. This will stop any charging, but I wonder if I'll find both
batteries totally discharged in the spring...I guess I can always plug it back
in periodically in the winter. The only power draw will be the memory on the stereo system that recalls channels and clock. Your thoughts are
appreciated. Patrick

 

[anchorclanker]

Pull those old ones out and buy new batteries. If the ones in there are that old and beginning to corrode, they could be potentially dangerous. At the very least I would disconnect them.

 

[Pat]

Pull those old ones out and buy new batteries. If the ones in there are that old and beginning to corrode, they could be potentially dangerous. At the very least I would disconnect them.

will disconnect tomorrow. thanks for your advice. .

 

[Chris Patterson]

A load tester for a battery can be had relatively cheap, if you don't "shoot" for one of the high-end ones. Bearing in mind that you are not in the battery testing business, so a little cheaper model will work. It is one of my most valuable pieces of testing equipment, and I use it regularly. At the flip of a switch, it's either yea, or nay.

Oh yeah, 8 year old battery? They're gone. Or about to..

 

[Maine Sail]

A load tester for a battery can be had relatively cheap, if you don't "shoot" for one of the high-end ones. Bearing in mind that you are not in the battery testing business, so a little cheaper model will work. It is one of my most valuable pieces of testing equipment, and I use it regularly. At the flip of a switch, it's either yea, or nay.

Oh yeah, 8 year old battery? They're gone. Or about to..

Problem is most testers, like carbon pile testers, tell you nothing about remaining Ah capacity. Even expensive testers are only a guide but are far closer than a carbon pile. This is why the industry now uses impedance testers for warranty claims. Deka for example supplies their distributors with Midtronics analyzers. Johnson Controls supplied Wal*Mart with Midtronics analyzers.

In order for a carbon pile to work correctly it needs to be loaded to 50% of CCA for 15 seconds and temp compensated. The battery should remain above 9.6V during this test.. Most of the cheap carbon pile testers are far to small for this. A battery with 600 CCA would need a carbon pile tester capable of 300A for 15 seconds..

Loading the battery to anything but 50% CCA for 15 seconds really tells little about state of health and even the 50% CCA for 15 seconds tells you little about state of Ah capacity but can be a decent "guide"....

The only way to accurately know how the batteries are aging is to do a controlled 20 hour Ah capacity test. I have seen many batteries pass a carbon pile test yet they have less than 50% of the new Ah capacity. They don't however trick a quality impedance tester like a Midtronics or the Argus. While the Midtronics type testers are not perfect they are the closest we have unless you spend 5k on a capacity tester, or build one...