I bought two new 6 volt batteries last June and the other two one year before that. I get back from a vacation of three months and all four are dead at 10 volts for each group of two which was 13 volts before vacation. (Two 6's together).. I charged both groups of two over night and only get 11.6 volts after ten hours of charging. Should I try to charge each 6 volt separately or buy new ones again? Help. Garchar :sick: :sick: :sick: SEE NEW NOTATIONS ON FOURTH RESPONSE. Garchar :sick: UPDATED AGAIN :
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Why are my new 6 volts not charging?-gctid805668
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Were the batteries left on charge or disconnected? What is the load on the batteries, such as bilge pump, CO monitor, fridge, etc.? In other words, were the batteries left with no charge (10v per group of 2 x 6v in series) because they were under load or because the charger stopped? You say you charged them upon your return but can only get them to 11.5v. What charger are you using, what is the charge current? How long were they charged? If the charger has completed its cycle this means the batteries have gone bad or the charger is malfunctioning.
Situation will not change by charging 6v batteries separately. Indeed how will you achieve that using a 12v charger to charge the individual 6v batteries?
Retired, computer expert / executive
Bayliner 285 Cruiser / Mercruiser QSD 4.2L 320 HP Diesel
Live in the Bay Area, CA, USA, boat in Turkey
D-Marin @ Turgutreis in Bodrum/Turkey
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Water levels are full. It was hooked to a 110 volt heater via wall plug inside boat the boat and the power went off which made the system to switch to the batteries. I think the power was drained from the four 6 volt batteries. My charger is from sears and will charge either six or twelve volt. I hope this answers the questions I should have noted in the problem. Question still stands. See new notations. Thanks Garchar
GARCHAR
1988 2655
2009 Volvo Penta 5.7 300 hp DP F3s
Twice Past Commodore
Northwest Outboard Trailer Sailors, Eugene,OR
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Assuming you have a working charger and your battery connections are clean and tight it's most likely that you have brought what was once a week cell in your battery assembly to complete failure due to the overdischarge. You need to buy a battery hydrometer from a hardware store, use it as per its instructions and you will find that one or more of your cells tests way lower than the others. Replace that battery and set your inverter to disabled when you leave the boat for extended periods, the remaining batteries will be sensitive to further abuse. Keep us posted on what you find out. Good luck.
1990 3888 Bayliner, Twin 351's
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As mentioned if the batteries were deeply discharged and left in that condition for a some time (a few days) they most likely were destroyed. That is the killer of any battery even deep cycle batteries.
Btw, if you have all 4 batteries in one bank, they should all be the same age and type. If not the first one that reaches its life will draw down the others.
In other words, change one, change them all.
Doug
Started boating 1955
Number of boats owned 32
Bayliners
2655
2755
2850
3870 presently owned
Favorite boat. Toss up. 46' Chris Craft, 3870 Bayliner
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Thanks to everyone. As I mentioned before two batteries were One year old and the other two were two years old. I charged six hours and they are uo to 11.8 which is slowly climbing upward. The hydrometer says dead. Maybe a hard lesson learned again. Anymore comments are appreciated. Thanks Again Garchar.
GARCHAR
1988 2655
2009 Volvo Penta 5.7 300 hp DP F3s
Twice Past Commodore
Northwest Outboard Trailer Sailors, Eugene,OR
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How much current does your charger provide? How many outputs does the charger have? It is possible that the charger has a low charge current capability and when split between two groups each group gets only half and is taking much longer to finish charging.
If you can check the electrolyte levels in the groups and have topped them if necessary, I would charge the groups separately. This way all of the charger current will be used to charge each group separately and charging will complete sooner. Also, if only 1 group has one (or both) 6v battery that has gone bad, still the entire series connection of 6v batteries would be a bad 12v group and when you put a good 12v group in parallel with a bad 12v group the bad group prevents either/both being fully charged. Separate them.
Retired, computer expert / executive
Bayliner 285 Cruiser / Mercruiser QSD 4.2L 320 HP Diesel
Live in the Bay Area, CA, USA, boat in Turkey
D-Marin @ Turgutreis in Bodrum/Turkey
[email protected]
[email protected]
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Chances are the batteries are ruined.
It happens......
If repeated charging doesn't do the trick, you're in for a new set methinks.
Can't tell you how many batteries I ruined in my old Camaro by just leaving the stereo clock running. Just milliamps, but dead after a winter of storage.
2007 Discovery 246
300mpi BIII
Welcome island Lake Superior
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Can't tell you how many batteries I ruined in my old Camaro by just leaving the stereo clock running. Just milliamps, but dead after a winter of storage
Doug
Started boating 1955
Number of boats owned 32
Bayliners
2655
2755
2850
3870 presently owned
Favorite boat. Toss up. 46' Chris Craft, 3870 Bayliner
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