Abused 12V Deep Cycle ... Renewed? Toast? May 23 10 Update .

[BC Dave]

I replaced my car battery with a marine deep cycle battery that i had been using for an electric trolling motor that wasn’t getting much use; car battery died so I just replaced it with the marine one ....

2 yrs later; Noticed that the marine battery was getting weak ... meant to check it; got busy ... but didn’t have a chance until I was in a hurry and it failed ... so took it out and over the weekend checked it ... it read 11.7 V! Yipes!; I looked inside and couldn’t see any liquid in any cells (I know; I was busy ...grrrr) .... topped it up with distilled water and checked the voltage and "Voila"; I was shocked (pun lol) to see it read 12.7 V! .... set it on the charger and it seems to hold a charge; also set it on high 10A charge for a couple of hours and .5 hrs on 60A (start mode on charger) to boil off any scale on the plates ...

Comments thoughts; will it be as good as new with the abuse it went through? ... good as new? or will it fail again soon? (toast?)
-------------------------------

May 23 10 .... I topped up the wet cells a week ago with a couple of ounces of distilled water ... all seems well ... (cross fingers)

[Shadow Catcher]

My experience with Deep Cycle batteries is limited but it was one of the things I went after information about. One of the potential problems is sulfating and some of the three step chargers use a 17V period, (for the Progressive Dynamics they use 15 min every 21 hours). I have used the PD charger to restore a couple of car batteries.
I have read of additives that can be used, no idea if they are snake oil. I will be interested in what others with long time experience have to say

[madjack]

...good as new...not hardly...how long it will last is hard to say...the "scale" you are "boiling" off will collect on the bottom of the battery and the build up will eventually reach and short out the plates...plan on a new battery before too long a period...as always with such things YMMV..........
madjack

[bobhenry]

The life span of a wet cell auto battery is 3-5 years. You have gotten 2 years of daily service from a battery that had previously sat for God knows how long.

I have always looked at to this way the tow is $85 to $100 bucks if you crap out any distance from home. The new battery is $50 to $75 depending on what you get.

Just replace the poor tired thing it is trying nicely to let you know it just wants to die

[Dale M.]

Its not the voltage the battery puts out ...Its it amperage capacity.... And amperage capacity diminishes over time as chemical action eats away at the plates..... Seems once battery is badly abused, it never "recovers".... It's life span is shortened and will fail sooner....

A "abuse" of a battery is sort of like having a heart attack.... You are never quite the same again....

Some good reading in links supplied here....

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=18904

Dale

[BC Dave]

thanks for the enlightment.

it sat with little use for 5 yrs while I was restoring my 100 yr old house ...

I bought a fresh marinine 120 ah battery for my CT conversion.

I was hoping that it was a matter of the depleted water level; but I'm not sure what sort of damage this does to a battery ... insight welcome.

The old battery site in the garage resting and the new CT battery is in the car at the moment ....

[Arne]

I had a friend with a boat. When I visited him, he could not get it started. I checked his several deep cycle batteries and could not see any liquid, so we added water and it started right up....

Your battery is older, so I'm not sure how much luck you will have with longevity, but I'd give it a try.... and only replace if necessary.

[bobhenry]

If I am doing the math right 5 years of storage and 2 years in ths car we are talking about a 7 year old battery.

As I said earlier let the poor thing die a respectable death !

[BC Dave]

I had a friend with a boat. When I visited him, he could not get it started. I checked his several deep cycle batteries and could not see any liquid, so we added water and it started right up....

Your battery is older, so I'm not sure how much luck you will have with longevity, but I'd give it a try.... and only replace if necessary.

If I am doing the math right 5 years of storage and 2 years in ths car we are talking about a 7 year old battery.

As I said earlier let the poor thing die a respectable death !

Yes better safe than sorry; but, the battery has had little use; so If I can get it to a point where theres some assured reliability (where I think its at) I'll ".... only replace if necessary". I'll try and see what happens. I was wondering if there was an expert in wet cell deep cycle marine ?

[bobhenry]

With over 10 years experience as a mechanic .... 7 years on a wet cell auto battery( marine or not) is a miracle. I don't care if you fill it with holy water from church you are done for. Please post and let us know what day it died next month.

[reiltear]

I have a 2000 F250 built in April of 1999(according to the sticker on the door). I finally replaced the original battery this past June... Must have won the battery lotto or something...

[pete.wilson]

Hey

Does it seem like batteries don't last as long or hold up in cold weather like they used to. I remember my Dad buying the Sears Diehard series which you could buy a 36 month standard one or 60 month Diehard one (he always bought the 60 month battery thinking it was better). He never had a battery fail, even in MI winters and when he changed them, there was never anything really wrong with them. Now it seems like your kind of lucky to get 3 years out of anyone's battery (4 years is like borrowed time). Does any one brand stand out in reliability anymore. Maybe they are all made in China nowdays.


Pete Wilson

[chorizon]

Hey

Does it seem like batteries don't last as long or hold up in cold weather like they used to. I remember my Dad buying the Sears Diehard series which you could buy a 36 month standard one or 60 month Diehard one (he always bought the 60 month battery thinking it was better). He never had a battery fail, even in MI winters and when he changed them, there was never anything really wrong with them. Now it seems like your kind of lucky to get 3 years out of anyone's battery (4 years is like borrowed time). Does any one brand stand out in reliability anymore. Maybe they are all made in China nowdays.


Pete Wilson

I never had an Interstate MegaTron fail until last year. It fried at 4-1/2 years old. The new battery was around $100. After they pro-rated my old battery the new one cost $25! I grabbed it and left as quickly as possible!

[teardrop_focus]

I looked inside and couldnt see any liquid in any cells

My vote is for toast. I have never been able to bring a battery back to reliable service once the above-quoted condition has occured.

Now, of course, thanks to the info I've been linked to from this great T&TTT forum, I am reminded to monthly inspect the electrolyte levels in my car battery.



When I am ready to install my teardrop's miniature RV 12V DC electrical system, I will purchase and use a Lifeline AGM (absorbed glass mat) RV deep cycle battery. A 105-amp hour Lifeline weighs almost 70 lbs, but I'll be able to boondock for days if I'd like to (using a solar panel to aid the battery's state of charge...)

[BC Dave]

I heeding the warnings; I’m thinking because its a deep cycle marine battery; there better made; its I think 120AH / 700 ca. It was stored in a cool dry crawl space for the 5 yrs; and put on the charger for several days before using it from storage. I know this isn’t ideal; but now I'm curious to see how long it will last ... but then again I don’t want to get stuck ...

This is one month ok and counting ...

Any others that have done this pls post.