ooops! too much water loss in my batteries

Feb 6, 1998
11,667
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
As usual, Maine Sail blows me out of the water!!!! As one who consults his web site often, this one is amazing. I didn't realize some of this and I don't consider myself ignorant on somethings "battery" Thanks very much for this, and I doubt that my zantrex charger would do the complex maneuver that Maine Sail suggests. Still, it is something that will stick with me for a while. Maine Sail has correctly analysed the root of the problem I am having by questioning the commissioning procedures of the batteries. The answer is I don't know and the dealer from whom I bought these remains aloof and as helpful as a worn out battery. I will continue to measure thee SOC and SG and see what happens. If I have to junk the batteries, I think I will change brands. I never thought I would say that. Many thanks.
To jviss, yes I am new to the board because I spent most of my time on the old CSBB and moved with them to here. The boat is a 1982 Pearson cutter with a Universal 5444 diesel. 1985 hours. Twelve years ago, I rewired her and replace the standard alternator with an Ample Power small case, 100 amp unit. The v belt is 1/2 inch. Even though you can sense when the alternator engages (when oil pressure reaches the where it should) I have not noticed nor have I seen excessive ware on the belt and no wear on the pullies. For regulation, the ample power, Next Step three stage one continues to work after all this time. Ample power has changed somewhat, for example, I don't think they make the EMON, or monitor anymore. Thanks again, Mike Meier---I will add more.

Thanks again, M
Part of the problem is not really your problem at all. Until about 2016 Rolls was still recommending obscenely low absorption voltages for PSOC use at 14.4V @77F. This was because their main market was industrial use where the batteries sit on a specific industrial charger each night and return to 100% SOC before each deep cycle. They also failed to listen to the guys in the solar/off-grid and marine markets about what was happening in the real world. For industrial type use 14.4V worked okay. It was not until their batteries began suffering in off-grid & marine applications that they finally increased absorption voltage recommendations to 14.7V to 15.0V... Trojan, US Battery, EnerSys etc. did this many years before Rolls did and all of them have seen better longevity in PSOC use because of it..

Those of us in the business, who actually read, study and experiment, and need to stand behind the products we sell and install, have known the beneficial effects of higher absorption voltages and longer absorption duration's since Sandia National labs discovered this back in the late 90's doing PV studies..

Rolls used include info on a "freshening charge" in some older manuals but it is pretty much glossed over in current manuals.

Don't discard your batteries just yet, they are pretty robust, but they may need voltages as high as 16V to help correct the issues that have been created. The exposed plates will mean those batteries will have slightly less capacity and you may not be able to get the SG to 100%, but you'll only know this after equalizing them..
 
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