New battery question

[Manny]

I bought a new deep cycle group 27 battery today at my local chandlery to supplement my other battery. I asked the the guy at the counter if the battery was fully charged, he said it was but I may want to put it on a charge anyway. I took it down to the boat and plugged it in to my charger (Guest 6 amp three stage). Well after 5 hours of charging it still was not fully charged, but was getting close...Two questions -1) When you purchase a new battery, should it normally come fully charged (or at least close)?2) Could the battery life be significantly shortened since the charge was low?Thanks,Manny

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

how new?

The battery is only new to you, not the store, distributor, warehouse from which it was shipped or mfg warehouse awaiting shipment. It's not surpising to me it needed charging and at 5 hours, you only charged it 30 amps max, probably a lot less. It's a deep cycle battery so no need to worry unless one or more cells partially dried out

 

[Benny]

It depends on how long it has been sitting on the shelf.

"Significantly shortened" I doubt it unless it was discharged way past 50% of its capacity and was allowed to sit for a while. Don't read much into the fact that your 3 stage took 5 hours to top it off. They are designed to lower charging amps as the battery charge approaches 100%. What would be perhaps significant would be the amount of time the charger spent on the "Bulk Rate" stage. Charge the battery, let it sit overnight and then take a voltage reading accross the terminals and it should be 12.6 volts.

 

[Roger (Ninette Manitoba)]

batteries in stores

no battery in a store is fully charged, unless the salesperson pulled it off the charger when you purchased it. Usually you can sit them on an auto-shutoff charger (best) overnight (10-12 hours) to top them up. On my Deep Cycle group 27, I measure a voltage of 13.18 after sitting an a charger overnight. Hope that helps.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Benny, read and learn from

The Ample Power Primer.Go to www.amplepower.com, download it and get some very good information.

 

[Manny]

I feel better now

Thanks guys. It ran at the higher stage (6 amps) for about 3 hours and then went to the middle stage (4 amps) for the last two. It looked like it was getting close to switching to the 2 amp finishing stage but I had to disconnect the charger - the boat is on the hard and I didn't want to leave 50' of extension cord running to the boat all night. The chandlery has decent business and I would guess the battery is fairly new (to them). I know they didn't charge it themselves due to a plastic cover on the positive terminal that I had to remove. It would not have gone back on properly if they had removed it to charge the battery.Thanks,Manny

 

[jimq26]

Here's another great battery info link.

(nm)

 

[Wayne M]

There should

be a date code sticker on thi side of the battery. I just got a new group 27 battery and the date code is C8 which means the battery was manufactured March of 2008 it registered at 13.08 volts when i got it.

 

[bffatcat]

Another battery Question

My boat has no electrical system on it. I use portable running lights and a hoistup anchor light when needed all have D batteries. The only wet cell battery on the boat is a tractor battery I use for my vhf. I let it sit and go flat in my garage over the winter. The battery has enough power to last the season If I leave the radio off. I only turn It on when I need it. The battery is now flat in my garage. Should I put it on trickle charge 2 amp till it charges up or should I put it on 6 amp for 24 hours until it charges up and than leave it charging on 2 amp to maintain it. The charger has an automatic shut down when fully charged if set at 2 ampsBob

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

bffatcat

You have probably heard the expression -" batteries don't die, they are killed "Allowing any battery to go "flat" is the surest way of killing it so without knowing the actual condition of the plates, it's kind of impossible to tell what, if anything, can be done to preserve it. Short of trying to equalize the cells, anything done now is probably futile. More important, reliance on this battery to hold a charge sufficient to run a VHF in an emergency isn't very reassuring.Having said that, you could try bulk charging at the highest rate your charger allows, monitor the charge rate and after allowing it to rest, check the voltage to see how bad it is.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

Bffatcat - Ouch!

You don't tell us enough about your battery. A Tractor Battery could be almost anything. If it is a small (Type 24 or smaller) starting battery it could be pretty sick already. The same could be said for a huge D8 starting Battery.The plates are much closer together on a starting battery so that sulphates deposited on the plates during discharge will short them out much quicker than on a deep cycle battery. Your boat is similar in size to Mannys so his answers should apply to you. You should have at least a rudimentary electrical system because even most outboard motors have some sort of charging capability. If you don't need a battery to start an outboard then you should have at least one good deep cycle battery.  I think I would warehouse the Tractor Battery unless it is deep cycle, and if it is. go back and read don's advice.

 

[Banooma]

newbie to this setup

Not having used a battery before the boat I'm about to launch I have a battery/charger questions. Do you typically leave the shore power charger leads connected to the battery all the time through the season- even when under motor or sailing, or can they be disconnected? How much shore power do you really need to use mostly daysailing with vhf radio and anonometer, depthfinder, knotmeter? I assume I need to keep the cables connected - even if just for convenience, and am still trying to figure a practical way to route the 5' short cables from a port bulkhead mounted charger to the batteries under the settee... has anyone drilled holes in interior fiberglass to route the charger cables?

 

[Stu Jackson]

Bffatcat and Banooma

Please read Reply #4 in this thread, download and read it, it answers all of your questions.

 

[Joseph Shirley]

If you have a marine charger

that is multistage (Absorption, Bulk, and Float), you can leave them connected because the charger will automatically charge and then reduce the voltage to float which will correctly maintain your battery. If however, you use an automative type charger that just reduces the current as it charges, it would eventually boil out and overcharge your battery and that charger should be turned off. Whether it is disconnected from the battery is not important.