s/v Ninaa Ootakii - Batteries and classic settings

[Stone]

Okay, new volt meter, bank has been sitting for a couple days, no charging, no loads.

Results:
 |[ 3.86][ 6.00][ 5.79][ 6.03]|+
-|[ 6.51][ 4.24][ 6.45][ 4.48]|

I'm considering taking 1 and 3, making a 12v bank out of them and doing a recondition charge on them, then doing the same with 6 and 8.

Thoughts on this?

Also: is the classic going to lose it's settings if I disconnect it from the bank?

[boB]

Okay, new volt meter, bank has been sitting for a couple days, no charging, no loads.

Results:
 |[ 3.86][ 6.00][ 5.79][ 6.03]|+
-|[ 6.51][ 4.24][ 6.45][ 4.48]|

I'm considering taking 1 and 3, making a 12v bank out of them and doing a recondition charge on them, then doing the same with 6 and 8.

Thoughts on this?

Also: is the classic going to lose it's settings if I disconnect it from the bank?

I would charge at 6V.  You can put 2 or 3 of those  6V batteries in parallel so that you can reduce the time in trying this.

If the 6V charger doesn't quite have enough current capability to charge 2 or 3 batteries in parallel, then you will have to try this with one less battery until it works.  You can also parallel 6V chargers.   However it might just take some time before the battery voltage rises to a good level.

But yes, make sure the plates are all covered electrolyte.  Have a few distilled water bottles handy.

Is the Ninaa Ootakii located where there is good size town or Amazon deliveries ?  You could be in Timbuk Tu where there is hardly any services.

boB

[Stone]

My reconditioning charger is 12v.

I can totally Amazon stuff.

(I'm in Port Townsend boat haven, just across the water from you)

If I need to spring for a 6v reconditioning charger for this. Is there one you recommend?

[boB]

Is their a Harbor Freight nearby ?  They have 6/12 Volt chargers.  And cheap too !

I am in Phoenix, AZ right now and would give you the two I have here if you could just float on over   

Those chargers are inexpensive too.  I don't remember how high of voltage they are and I would hook it up and measure but I don't have a 6V battery here.  I would try one of those.  I know that the V is high enough for your bad batteries though.  IF the current doesn't come down eventually to a reasonable level (< 5 A or so ?) then one of the 3   2V cells is probably un-recoverable.  I mean possibly a couple/few hours of time.

I LOVE Pt. Townsend !

boB

[Vic]

Hi Stone,

Is it too soon to ask how your batteries are doing?

Good Luck with whatever you do choose to do.   Vic

[Stone]

I have a 30@ DeWalt bench charger that has a reconditioning mode.

I took the two lowest voltage batteries, put them in series, lowest one first, and told it to recondition them.

It takes 24 hours to run a cycle.

First run, it gave me incomprehensible errors after completion.

Second run, I found it charging @ 30.5a

I aborted that, told it to run a 3rd time, and when I check on it, if it's charging, I'm going to let it keep doing it's thing and then test it.

I'm hoping for the best.

[Vic]

Hi Stone,

Thanks for the update,  good luck !!  Please let us know how you are doing with this process.   Vic

[boB]

Yeah, trying to recondition 2 batteries in series probably won't work.

You need to go to Harbor Freight and buy one of their chargers that works at 12V.

I know they have them.  Probably won't do an equalize charge though.

EQ might be done with 2 in series but for sure, two dead batteries are just not going to share for charging when wired in series.  That has been my experience.

You might even find something from Amazon that works for this.  Just check to make sure that it will work for 6V batteries too.

boB

[Stone]

I can't seem to find a 6v reconditioning charger anywhere, figured since 12v reconditioning chargers are everywhere, and 2 6v chargers in series make 12v, it was worth a shot.

I'll hit harbor freight this week sometime and see what I can do.

[Stone]

I found a 6 volt charger!
(should have asked my 79 year old stepdad to begin with, lol)

Currently have it set to:
[6 Volts] 12 Volts
Auto [Auto Deep Cycle] Manual
2 Amp [10 Amp] Engine Start

As these batteries are 435ah @ 20 Hr, I'm guessing this is going to take roughly 48 hrs (maximum) each?

I disassembled the bank, plan is to individually charge each battery, and see what the results are.

Am I doing this correctly?

Also, I have one of these, and this is a 24 volt bank... : https://no.co/gx2440 it does have a desulfate repair mode... thoughts?

[Barry Fields]

Assuming the charger will go to float, it might be interesting to compare final float currents for each battery. See my posts in LEAD ACID category.

It should give you an idea as to each batteries relative health.

[boB]

These chargers usually don't tell the user what it is doing.
But De-Sulfate mode would/should  be, basically just an EQ cycle.   Your Classic has that.

OR you can bring the Absorb voltage up to an EQ setting which is somewhat higher than the typical Absorb voltage.

What was your nominal battery bank voltage ?  Was it 24V ?  If you have 4 of those 6V batteries in series for 24V total, then that charger you showed could work BUT ONLY AFTER you have run each battery (or 2 or more 6V in parallel), you can run the 6V charger on those and after ALL batteries are up to 6V+ for several hours, you might be able to hook them back to 24V bank and run a 24V charger (OR the Classic) on that bank of 4  6V batteries in series to get them equalized.  That will mean running them  in EQ mode for a few hours probably.  MAKE SURE that all batteries have water/electrolyte covering and slightly above the top of the battery plates !  That is because EQualizing the batteries for hours will boil and the plates will certainly be uncovered.  You do use sterilized water, right ?

AnyHoo...  The best thing to do is to run each 6V battery for a few or couple hours at least but the voltage applied to them from that should be at or slightly higher than the recommended Absorb voltage.

I would look up the specifications from your battery manufacturer and see what they recommend for Absorb, Float and EQ voltages and go by that document.

boB

[Stone]

Talked to my local wizard (Colin @ pt electric, where I got the batteries to begin with) we called manufacturer tech support, and they said that they're probably toast, but there's one thing we can try.

Top with distilled, leave the caps off, and charge it at 40a or better and see what happens.

Battery 1 is currently in process.
The first 2 cells are still, the 3rd is bubbling, and the charger is showing 60a @ 6v.

I'm hoping this doesn't turn into triage and a new main bank. :/

[Stone]

60a @ 6v, cycle time 1 hour

Battery 1:
Start: 3.86 cell 3 bubbling.
End: 6.05v after 4 cycles.

Battery 5:
Start: 6.29 cell 1 and 3 bubbling.
End: 6.30v after 1 cycle.

notes: cell one acid is dark brown and I can't see the plates, cell 3 is a bit murky.

Currently working on #2