I have an old battery - old in age, not necessarily old from use. Was a house battery, was not old when pulled from the boat, and likely saw very little draw down in its former life.
It was on the shelf in the garage, and I had been okay about putting it on the charger periodically to keep it charged up. I tried to just keep it at a good state of charge so I wouldn't lose it. But I got busy and had forgotten about it for a while - a year or two? - and just pulled it back down. I don't have a ton of money to replace it right now - other priorities, so I decided to put it on the charger and see what happens. Charger is a typical 10/2/60A automatic charger with float.
Was showing 9.15V before I plugged it in. Set it on the 10A selection. It only took about 2 Amps for a long while, at about 13.4V from the charger, and then it slowly climbed up around 6 or 7 Amps. I left it overnight, and then I disconnected it from the charger for a while (rainstorm coming so I brought the charger inside). When I went to put the charger back on, the battery was holding 12.6V pretty steady.
So I put the charger back on and it has held pretty steady, taking between 4 and 5 Amps continuously, at about 13.8V across the terminals with the charger on. The battery is warm. Bubbles can be seen rising pretty frequently in the open water fill ports on top (yes, I left the caps off while charging). It has been on the charger now about 3 full days, and does not really show much sign of slowing down.
I'm not really worried about it, just want to know if anyone with real battery experience can tell me if I'm wasting my time or if this is normal, and the current draw will eventually drop down to the 2 Amps or less range where the low range of the charger will float it? (manual switch to the low Amp rating) It isn't in the way or anything, just sitting on the patio with the charger attached.
It was on the shelf in the garage, and I had been okay about putting it on the charger periodically to keep it charged up. I tried to just keep it at a good state of charge so I wouldn't lose it. But I got busy and had forgotten about it for a while - a year or two? - and just pulled it back down. I don't have a ton of money to replace it right now - other priorities, so I decided to put it on the charger and see what happens. Charger is a typical 10/2/60A automatic charger with float.
Was showing 9.15V before I plugged it in. Set it on the 10A selection. It only took about 2 Amps for a long while, at about 13.4V from the charger, and then it slowly climbed up around 6 or 7 Amps. I left it overnight, and then I disconnected it from the charger for a while (rainstorm coming so I brought the charger inside). When I went to put the charger back on, the battery was holding 12.6V pretty steady.
So I put the charger back on and it has held pretty steady, taking between 4 and 5 Amps continuously, at about 13.8V across the terminals with the charger on. The battery is warm. Bubbles can be seen rising pretty frequently in the open water fill ports on top (yes, I left the caps off while charging). It has been on the charger now about 3 full days, and does not really show much sign of slowing down.
I'm not really worried about it, just want to know if anyone with real battery experience can tell me if I'm wasting my time or if this is normal, and the current draw will eventually drop down to the 2 Amps or less range where the low range of the charger will float it? (manual switch to the low Amp rating) It isn't in the way or anything, just sitting on the patio with the charger attached.