House battery sitting at 12V

[Syversens]

Hello group, my batteries are not charging about 12V these days and we havent used it much below so it might be not charging at all. I found that the level of acid is low and Interstate website (I Have interstate house battery) says til fill until right below the filling hole "tunnel" (1/4 in which will be hard to estimate). I think its been really low for a while, what can I expect now ? will it just not reach the full amp I had or is it gone ? is there a way to measure the amp capacity after its been shore charging for a while ? I got multimeter but no upgraded battery monitor but the V meter.thanks !Gaute

 

[Jentine]

A new battery may be in order.

You need two tools to properly evaluate the condition of your battery. The first is a reliable voltmeter and secondly is a hydrometer to read the specific gravity of the individual cells. Each cell should be similar and in the vacinity of 1.278 and a discharged battery would be near 1.108. From your description, I would guess that you have cooked your battery by not filling with distilled water when it was charged.What to do now: Fill the battery with water (distilled) and charge at 15.5v. it until the specific gravity in each cell is equal. This may take up to 15 hours so it is necessary to have access to shore power. Should one or more cells fail to reach the ideal specific gravity, the battery is beyond help. The only thing to do is "replace it".Jim

 

[Syversens]

thanks Jentine

I put destilled water on it, I read some posts saying to put some battery acid as well but I only went for destilled after reading the interstate manual. I'm still having problem identifying how much water to add as its hard to see in there and measuring the dept of clear acid sounds risky. I'm getting a hydrometer today so I can check them all.thanks for the info and lesson learned.