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Smudger

  • Posts: 13438
Battery Testing
« on: January 27, 2023, 01:14:39 pm »
What do I need to test the condition of a battery?

With the cold snap I have 2 110 AH Batteries that go flat pretty quickly - but when on charge the the charger after an hour or so displays the battery is 100% charged

I also have several knocking about the unit - I think its time to dump but only if I know they are sh@gg£d

Lastly if the battery is no good - one is only a year old - what do you yhink my chances are of a replacement under the 5 year warranty   ;D

Darran
Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4364
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2023, 02:28:50 pm »
What do I need to test the condition of a battery?

With the cold snap I have 2 110 AH Batteries that go flat pretty quickly - but when on charge the the charger after an hour or so displays the battery is 100% charged

I also have several knocking about the unit - I think its time to dump but only if I know they are sh@gg£d

Lastly if the battery is no good - one is only a year old - what do you yhink my chances are of a replacement under the 5 year warranty   ;D

Darran


If they are charging that quickly then they are knackerd , although it’s showing fully charged it’s not holding charge , it’s probably  sulphate up. Spruce is the man to describe the technical terms with this .

Don Kee

  • Posts: 4878
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2023, 04:54:38 pm »
There isn’t really a way to determine how much charge capacity is holding really, other than running the battery and seeing how long it holds the voltage for.
Most digital controllers have a voltage reading on them these days if you dont have a multimeter.
You’ll soon know by the voltage reading though, how long the charge is holding.

Why don't you have a quick google before making stupid comments?

Small but perfectley formed

  • Posts: 1744
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2023, 05:51:33 pm »
What brand of charger are you using
Spit and polish

Smudger

  • Posts: 13438
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2023, 06:14:18 pm »
I think one is a c-tek the others I cant remember the make

we don't usually do much charging as the split relay usually does enough - but if we have a run of large works then sometimes need a top up - in the case of one van the earth had come adrift so battery was drained down to 6.5V on the controller - took a couple of days to get it back to 14V

im not usually concerned about a battery replacement - they have been quite rare - lasting 3 or more years but I changed a couple last year (summertime) and now looks like more (or in one case) need doing again - just wanted to confirm that they are knackered

Darran
Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience

Splash & dash

  • Posts: 4364
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2023, 06:45:36 pm »
Batteries can be tested by a specialist they fully charge the battery then it’s put under a variable load for several hours depending on the print out results will tell you the state of the battery on a cell by cell diagnostics I have AGM batteries in my vans 400 amp ones they are very expensive I had a problem with a pair of them they were tested this way and the  manufacturers replaced them under warranty as the failed one had failed on 2 cells and this caused an imbalance in the charge which affected the other battery so they replaced both at a cost of nearly £600

windowswashed

  • Posts: 2577
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2023, 06:51:39 pm »
Everyone rates CTEK battery chargers to be the best but they won't charge a lithium battery when it's too low to start charging but a Victron battery charger will and it's bluetooth so can check float charge on phone with a downloaded app.

If a battery isn't holding a charge very well then some battery chargers let you recondition a battery by desulphinating the battery before a normal charge but it does take a long while to desulphate. Reconditioning dead batteries bring them back to 70 percent of normal charge.

I have a bank of batteries that were dead that I reconditioned and use for solar dumping juice for running lights and small things in garage and shed, lasted for years trickle charging other appliances.

Spruce

  • Posts: 8462
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2023, 07:39:52 pm »
There isn’t really a way to determine how much charge capacity is holding really, other than running the battery and seeing how long it holds the voltage for.
Most digital controllers have a voltage reading on them these days if you dont have a multimeter.
You’ll soon know by the voltage reading though, how long the charge is holding.



I agree. If the batteries are quick to charge and then go flat quickly, the batteries have lost capacity, probably due to sulphation.
Although CTEK have a battery rejuvenation mode, it very rarely works to expectations.

Starter batteries can be charged and then put on a load test to identify its condition. A standard lead acid battery can't be tested this way.

You could try for warranty, but most manufacturers won't action the warranty on a lead acid battery used for wfp. Basically, the batteries are worn out.

A lead acid leisure battery needs to be fully recharged asap after use to maintain it in a healthy condition. The trouble is that alternator charging doesn't fully recharge a leisure battery. I appreciate that the flatter a leisure battery gets, the higher the recharge rate in amps, but recharging at a high amperage will not do the battery any good. Numax told me once that a leisure battery shouldn't be charged any faster than 10% of its capacity. So a 105 amp Numax should only be charged at a maximum of 10 amps.

My experience is that if we have used 20amps of battery charge by the end of the day, my alternator will only be charging the leisure battery at around 8 amps on the way home. If I'm10 miles away from home and my journey takes me 20 minutes, I have only replaced 3 amps, leaving a deficit of 17 amps. If I return to the same area the following day, theory says that I should charge my leisure battery by another 3 amps, but this would still leave me in deficit before I started my first job. The trouble is, we are taking out a little more each day than we are returning. In time the glass is going to be empty, although it might take time, as a flatter battery charges quicker than a nearly full one.

And here's the next problem; The closer a battery is to full charge, the lower the charge rate the battery will accept. We can't get away from the article in an Australian RV magazine. It will take a road trip of 750km to fully recharge a leisure battery in a motor home.

You put up a photo of the batteries you use once. Back then I checked the battery spec on the NCC verified battery scheme, and if I remember correctly, the manufacturers gave it 80 recharge cycles at a depth of discharge of 50%. I'd be looking at a battery with 200 recharge cycles at 50% DOD.
Success is 1% inspiration, 98% perspiration and 2% attention to detail!

The older I get, the better I was ;)

Smudger

  • Posts: 13438
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2023, 07:43:18 pm »
Cheers Guys

yes they are the Monbatt 110 AH leisure battery

I will replace (well as soon as I can find something in stock  ::)roll - and get the others down to the tip

Darran
Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience

Ched

  • Posts: 441
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2023, 10:19:10 pm »
Cheers Guys

yes they are the Monbatt 110 AH leisure battery

I will replace (well as soon as I can find something in stock  ::)roll - and get the others down to the tip

Darran
Don't take duff batteries down the tip, take them to the scrap merchants - probably get £5 each for them.

Small but perfectley formed

  • Posts: 1744
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2023, 07:21:21 am »
Try the Running bull brand top quality had mine 5-6 years although they are always charged with smart charger.
Spit and polish

AuRavelling79

  • Posts: 25382
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2023, 05:54:31 pm »
Cheers Guys

yes they are the Monbatt 110 AH leisure battery

I will replace (well as soon as I can find something in stock  ::)roll - and get the others down to the tip

Darran
Don't take duff batteries down the tip, take them to the scrap merchants - probably get £5 each for them.
Yep. You weigh them in and get a rate per kilo.
It's a game of three halves!

Ggh

  • Posts: 1776
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2023, 05:27:05 pm »
Don’t you need a license for weighing in scrap these days? Taken the joy out of it.

Ched

  • Posts: 441
Re: Battery Testing
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2023, 06:58:11 pm »
Don’t you need a license for weighing in scrap these days? Taken the joy out of it.
I don't think you do if it's your own scrap. You do need proof of ID like photo driving licence and bank details for them to pay in - I don't think they are allowed to do cash any  more.

If you where to go round collecting other people's scrap then you need a waste transfer licence.