Battery Specific Gravity (4 @ 100%, 2 <80%)
- Thread starter gathermewool
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If you buy a JC made battery, be prepared for it leaking acid all over the place-it'll keep working, but will corrode EVERYTHING near it! And the people who sell the most JC batteries, WM, AZ, & AAP won't warrant them for that.
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
wrcsixeight,
Could I try an extended equalization at this voltage? When I checked, the battery was pulling ~1A at this voltage, after fully charged.
EQ charges should be terminated when Specific gravity no longer rises, accounting for rising electrolyte temperatures.
The EZred hydrometer is not reported to be accurate repeatable or precise. i had a version which was difficult to use as bubbles kept sticking to the float and when they were kicked off would not read the same twice in a row. I use a glass turkey baster style hydrometer whose base has a built in thermometer which says to add or subtract from the reading. Bubbles can still stick to the float and make it read higher, but a few finger flocks otr bulb squeezes one can get them off.
EQ charges should also be terminated when battery temperatures start rising rapidly, or the amps required to maintian a voltage start increasing.
It is likley cells 1 and 6 have shedded much of their material and will not respond to EQ chrging and that doing so will just cause degradation of the other cells.
I used to be afraid of bringing a battery above 15.5v, but when I tried 16.0v The time required to max out the specific gravity on all cells dropped from about 4 hours to 45 minutes. EQ charging is hard on a battery so the less time required, the better, I figure.
I've only EQ's one 6 month old pure starting battery which had been regularly deep cycled by someone who knew and still knows no better. I cannot remember the amperage or time it took for SG to stop rising though, but I do remember it did not get up past 1.265 or so, but all cells were in this range =/- 0.005.
Usually when EQ charging the inner cells in the battery get warmer and the hydrometer will appear to not have changed, until one accounts for the rising temperature of the electrolyte. I've no idea how these EZred hydrometers account for different electrolyte temperatures, I think it these marketing claims are horse hockey.
If you have an IR temp gun or another way to measure temperatures, see if the bottoms of cells 1 and 6 are getting warmer. The surface the battery is on can make this difficult to discern. If they are getting warm I would not bother raising voltage above 14.4 in any attempt to top charge and would have a back up plan for when a cell totaly fails. How long that will take, is unknown. My one battery with the 1.260 cell, well I expected it to fail long ago yet if going by voltage alone after a few days rest, 12.8v+ would make me think the battery was still OK, but I know the abuse the battery has seen and the total KWH it provided when i used it hard and heavy, and know it is just a trooper dragging a broken leg and a big heart.
wrcsixeight,
Could I try an extended equalization at this voltage? When I checked, the battery was pulling ~1A at this voltage, after fully charged.
EQ charges should be terminated when Specific gravity no longer rises, accounting for rising electrolyte temperatures.
The EZred hydrometer is not reported to be accurate repeatable or precise. i had a version which was difficult to use as bubbles kept sticking to the float and when they were kicked off would not read the same twice in a row. I use a glass turkey baster style hydrometer whose base has a built in thermometer which says to add or subtract from the reading. Bubbles can still stick to the float and make it read higher, but a few finger flocks otr bulb squeezes one can get them off.
EQ charges should also be terminated when battery temperatures start rising rapidly, or the amps required to maintian a voltage start increasing.
It is likley cells 1 and 6 have shedded much of their material and will not respond to EQ chrging and that doing so will just cause degradation of the other cells.
I used to be afraid of bringing a battery above 15.5v, but when I tried 16.0v The time required to max out the specific gravity on all cells dropped from about 4 hours to 45 minutes. EQ charging is hard on a battery so the less time required, the better, I figure.
I've only EQ's one 6 month old pure starting battery which had been regularly deep cycled by someone who knew and still knows no better. I cannot remember the amperage or time it took for SG to stop rising though, but I do remember it did not get up past 1.265 or so, but all cells were in this range =/- 0.005.
Usually when EQ charging the inner cells in the battery get warmer and the hydrometer will appear to not have changed, until one accounts for the rising temperature of the electrolyte. I've no idea how these EZred hydrometers account for different electrolyte temperatures, I think it these marketing claims are horse hockey.
If you have an IR temp gun or another way to measure temperatures, see if the bottoms of cells 1 and 6 are getting warmer. The surface the battery is on can make this difficult to discern. If they are getting warm I would not bother raising voltage above 14.4 in any attempt to top charge and would have a back up plan for when a cell totaly fails. How long that will take, is unknown. My one battery with the 1.260 cell, well I expected it to fail long ago yet if going by voltage alone after a few days rest, 12.8v+ would make me think the battery was still OK, but I know the abuse the battery has seen and the total KWH it provided when i used it hard and heavy, and know it is just a trooper dragging a broken leg and a big heart.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I'll update probably early next year, when I perform the same PM (if the battery is still good-to-go).
Last update:
I was able to raise the specific gravity to just BARELY in the good region (1.250); however, the other low cell still indicates between 1.225 and 1.250, in that big blank area (i.e., nearly zero change, even after my janky equalizing charge.)
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
Dont waist your time,go straight to Costco pick up AN, INTERSTATE BATTERY WITH AFULL 42momth free replacement.Costco is only second to REI when it comrs to returns,dont look BACK!
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
most likely true.
as i stated its in icu on life support and may pull its own plug without further notice.
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
sounds like that battery is headed for the recycling pile soon.
unless the 2 low cells got overwatered i would schedule replacement before first cold snap.
sounds like you have a perfect storm for getting stuck somewhere.
undersized and damaged.
you could try floating it a while at around 15.5-16v at low current.
i use a 1a dumb charger to do that.
but 2 low cells in the absence of spillage or overwatering is a warning to replace.1 low cell is the same.
hopefully it holds out long enough to find a good deal/coupon code,ect for its replacement.
as for the voltage dropping thats likely a heavy load dropping the line voltage.
measure line and see if it drops when the battery voltage does.
This very well may be true, but we'll see. I'll start a new thread when it does die, so you guys can say, "I told you so." FWIW, I was told the same thing when I drained my Civic's battery to dead once. There were a ton of doom and gloom posts and they were all unfounded. It went easily through winter and all conditions, and was starting just fine when I gave the car away.
I feel like there are many here who give advice based on what they would tell their gramma. If my gramma was in my position, I would tell her to replace her battery, too. For your average BITOG'er, who maintains his or her battery, why would one dead event and two slightly low cells (without any baseline new specific gravity to compare current values to) automatically warrant a battery trade out. I'm not the type of person who swaps out things for peace of mind, when there are no indications of needing to do so. At this time, I'll remind you that I'm giving you guys free reign on the "told you so" front if I'm wrong and post that my battery died on me 300 miles away from home, without any AAP coupon codes to use!
Last update:
I was able to raise the specific gravity to just BARELY in the good region (1.250); however, the other low cell still indicates between 1.225 and 1.250, in that big blank area (i.e., nearly zero change, even after my janky equalizing charge.)
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
Dont waist your time,go straight to Costco pick up AN, INTERSTATE BATTERY WITH AFULL 42momth free replacement.Costco is only second to REI when it comrs to returns,dont look BACK!
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
most likely true.
as i stated its in icu on life support and may pull its own plug without further notice.
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
sounds like that battery is headed for the recycling pile soon.
unless the 2 low cells got overwatered i would schedule replacement before first cold snap.
sounds like you have a perfect storm for getting stuck somewhere.
undersized and damaged.
you could try floating it a while at around 15.5-16v at low current.
i use a 1a dumb charger to do that.
but 2 low cells in the absence of spillage or overwatering is a warning to replace.1 low cell is the same.
hopefully it holds out long enough to find a good deal/coupon code,ect for its replacement.
as for the voltage dropping thats likely a heavy load dropping the line voltage.
measure line and see if it drops when the battery voltage does.
This very well may be true, but we'll see. I'll start a new thread when it does die, so you guys can say, "I told you so." FWIW, I was told the same thing when I drained my Civic's battery to dead once. There were a ton of doom and gloom posts and they were all unfounded. It went easily through winter and all conditions, and was starting just fine when I gave the car away.
I feel like there are many here who give advice based on what they would tell their gramma. If my gramma was in my position, I would tell her to replace her battery, too. For your average BITOG'er, who maintains his or her battery, why would one dead event and two slightly low cells (without any baseline new specific gravity to compare current values to) automatically warrant a battery trade out. I'm not the type of person who swaps out things for peace of mind, when there are no indications of needing to do so. At this time, I'll remind you that I'm giving you guys free reign on the "told you so" front if I'm wrong and post that my battery died on me 300 miles away from home, without any AAP coupon codes to use!
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
i dont replace things without good reason.
but low sg in 2 cells is a warning i take seriously.
this is from experience dealing with lead batteries in solar setups.
low cells usually progress to dead cells quickly.
Thanks for clarifying. What's your cutoff point?
i dont replace things without good reason.
but low sg in 2 cells is a warning i take seriously.
this is from experience dealing with lead batteries in solar setups.
low cells usually progress to dead cells quickly.
Thanks for clarifying. What's your cutoff point?
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
If you are depending so much on specific gravity you should get a good hydrometer and thermometer.
What would you recommend?
I'm doing this purely for information. I do like being able to help others, too, so spending a little extra in he pursuit of data collecting is fine by me. I do have a limit however.
Also, when I purchased the cheap hydrometer it was because it was very hard for me to determine he best tool for the job. I don't intend to spend $200 on a tool when a $40 one will work just fine. Heck, contrary to the above warning, and neglecting accuracy, the EZ RED has been read identical for each cell, each time I read it. All of the full cells were right at the dot and did so for each reading. The low cells were consistent, even after taking the reading three times in a row.
You've got me a temp, though. I have an IR gun, but a glass thermometer is probably more appropriate, right?
If you are depending so much on specific gravity you should get a good hydrometer and thermometer.
What would you recommend?
I'm doing this purely for information. I do like being able to help others, too, so spending a little extra in he pursuit of data collecting is fine by me. I do have a limit however.
Also, when I purchased the cheap hydrometer it was because it was very hard for me to determine he best tool for the job. I don't intend to spend $200 on a tool when a $40 one will work just fine. Heck, contrary to the above warning, and neglecting accuracy, the EZ RED has been read identical for each cell, each time I read it. All of the full cells were right at the dot and did so for each reading. The low cells were consistent, even after taking the reading three times in a row.
You've got me a temp, though. I have an IR gun, but a glass thermometer is probably more appropriate, right?
Here's one on Amazon with a built in thermometer.
Custom Accessories 41119 Compensating Battery Hydrometer
Custom Accessories 41119 Compensating Battery Hydrometer
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Here's one on Amazon with a built in thermometer.
Custom Accessories 41119 Compensating Battery Hydrometer
Looks like a lot of bad reviews due to its fragile thermometer, but what the heck - I'll give it a shot for $9
Here's one on Amazon with a built in thermometer.
Custom Accessories 41119 Compensating Battery Hydrometer
Looks like a lot of bad reviews due to its fragile thermometer, but what the heck - I'll give it a shot for $9
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