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Old 03-04-2017, 11:13 AM   #1
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Eagle HT 26.5BHS battery woes - Could it be my wiring?

Our Jayco 26.5BHS originally came with the one 12v house battery, and I have since relocated my battery set up to utilize two 6v batteries.

Our first set of US 6V batteries went bad, I think due in part because they were left in the trailer with the disconnect off (which I have since learned does not entirely disconnect the batteries). 2 months later, they were down to 2 volts. After hooking them up to a charger which read fully charged, the Hydrometer showed they were bad as in the float would even float. Took them back the dealer and fortunately they replaced them for me after confirming they were bad.

Here I am with two brand new US Battery 6 volts that are about 4 weeks old. Used them for the first time a couple weeks ago, and now that we are back they are sitting in the garage on an automatic charger.

My multimeter shows they are sitting at about 13 volts, however my hydrometer shows they are at about a 1.250 specific gravity per cell. I cannot seem to get them above that now.

So could I really have just gotten a set of bad batteries??? OR is is possible I screwed something up when I relocated the batteries? Currently they are wired in series, jumper from positive to negative so I know that's right. Battery negative is grounded to the trailer chasis, and battery positive is connected to a 40 am breaker, then to the battery disconnect switch.

I'm at a loss.....
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Old 03-04-2017, 11:36 AM   #2
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snip... Here I am with two brand new US Battery 6 volts that are about 4 weeks old. Used them for the first time a couple weeks ago, and now that we are back they are sitting in the garage on an automatic charger.

My multimeter shows they are sitting at about 13 volts, however my hydrometer shows they are at about a 1.250 specific gravity per cell. I cannot seem to get them above that now.
...snip
New batteries, fully charged with a specific gravity of 1.250 seems about right to me (but I am not a 12v guru). If you are trying for a higher specific gravity, could your hydrometer or temperature compensation be the difference?

I don't see anything in your posts that seem to indicate a problem with what you are doing with your new pair of batteries.
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Old 03-04-2017, 12:02 PM   #3
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New batteries, fully charged with a specific gravity of 1.250 seems about right to me (but I am not a 12v guru). If you are trying for a higher specific gravity, could your hydrometer or temperature compensation be the difference?

I don't see anything in your posts that seem to indicate a problem with what you are doing with your new pair of batteries.


I'm going off attached chart chart which seems to be pretty consistent with the other internet research I have done.

And confirming battery negative is supposed to be grounded to the chassis right?




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Old 03-04-2017, 12:46 PM   #4
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I'm going off attached chart chart which seems to be pretty consistent with the other internet research I have done.

And confirming battery negative is supposed to be grounded to the chassis right?
Right. On my TT a white cable goes to the chassis from the battery negative post. If you got that wrong, you'd blow reverse polarity fuse(s). IIRC, nothing on the 12v side of your trailer would work with those fuses blown (I haven't done that to know first hand).

I'm hoping a 12v guru will chime in soon. I'm asking questions that may help them to help you.... (I'm not the battery guru you're looking for. )

Since you have a hydrometer, did you check the specific gravity before you began charging them? Do you know how far down you pulled the voltage when you were using them?
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Old 03-04-2017, 01:58 PM   #5
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I am also not a self described battery guru but are you charging them and taking a gravity reading right away? I want to say you need to charge them slowly and then let them sit for a day or so before you can get a good reading. It takes a bit for the SG to kind of stabilize through the electrolyte solution. You can take a reading right away but just be aware that it may not be 100% accurate.

I would look more into the process to check the SG reading before running out and spending money on something as I want to say there is a specific procedure as well as how to read the gauges. I just want to make sure that you know there is more to it than how we used to test the strength of antifreeze.
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Old 03-04-2017, 02:58 PM   #6
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I am also not a self described battery guru but are you charging them and taking a gravity reading right away? I want to say you need to charge them slowly and then let them sit for a day or so before you can get a good reading. It takes a bit for the SG to kind of stabilize through the electrolyte solution. You can take a reading right away but just be aware that it may not be 100% accurate.

I would look more into the process to check the SG reading before running out and spending money on something as I want to say there is a specific procedure as well as how to read the gauges. I just want to make sure that you know there is more to it than how we used to test the strength of antifreeze.


Ok great, thanks for the advice! Looks like I'm taking readings way to soon. I'll get it fully charged and let it sit for 24hrs before I recheck and see if that makes a difference.


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Old 03-04-2017, 03:13 PM   #7
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Ok great, thanks for the advice! Looks like I'm taking readings way to soon. I'll get it fully charged and let it sit for 24hrs before I recheck and see if that makes a difference.


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I know you don't have a Trojan battery but I would imagine it is about the same no matter the brand when comparing 6v to 6v batteries.

Frequently Asked Questions | Trojan Battery Company

I guess they are saying letting them stand for an hour is enough for it to stabilize. I just remember reading that you can't get good results right away.
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How can I tell if a flooded battery is bad?
To determine if the battery in a system is experiencing a problem, disconnect all electrical loads, fully charge the batteries then disconnect all charging sources. Allow each battery in the system to stand on open-circuit for about one hour. Measure the voltage of each battery. If the battery voltage spread exceeds .15 volts for a 6-volt battery, or .22 volts for a 12-volt battery a problem is indicated. Battery voltage alone does not confirm a problem. When the voltage spread indicates a problem, confirmation is accomplished by taking electrolyte specific gravity readings using a hydrometer. If the specific gravity readings show a spread greater than .030 (30 points), give the batteries an equalization charge and re-test.
Quote:
6. What is the specific gravity of a fully charged flooded battery?
A hydrometer reading of 1.277 or greater indicates full charge for most Trojan batteries. This value is based upon a specified temperature of 80°F (27°C). For temperature correction values, see the “Temperature” section of this FAQ.
You mentioned you had 1.250. But they specifically state that this is at 80*F. What is the temp? Here is an example they gave on how to adjust for temp.

Quote:
Example: @ 90º F (32º C) the hydrometer reads: 1.250 the actual reading: 1.250 + .003 = 1.253.
For every ten degrees below 80º F (27º C) subtract 4 points from the hydrometer reading.
Example: @ 70º F (21º C) the hydrometer reads: 1.250 the actual reading: 1.250 – .003 = 1.247.
There is a bunch of other info on that page that may help diagnose your batteries so I hope it helps. I just wanted to point out a couple key points that may apply. You are at the 1.250 point which happened to be the example used for the temp differences. Assuming you are not somewhere where it is 100*F that means if you waited an hour and it is most likely colder than 80*F then you adjusted reading may be even lower.
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Old 03-04-2017, 09:49 PM   #8
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I know you don't have a Trojan battery but I would imagine it is about the same no matter the brand when comparing 6v to 6v batteries.

Frequently Asked Questions | Trojan Battery Company

I guess they are saying letting them stand for an hour is enough for it to stabilize. I just remember reading that you can't get good results right away.




You mentioned you had 1.250. But they specifically state that this is at 80*F. What is the temp? Here is an example they gave on how to adjust for temp.



There is a bunch of other info on that page that may help diagnose your batteries so I hope it helps. I just wanted to point out a couple key points that may apply. You are at the 1.250 point which happened to be the example used for the temp differences. Assuming you are not somewhere where it is 100*F that means if you waited an hour and it is most likely colder than 80*F then you adjusted reading may be even lower.
Today they were sitting in my garage which was probably around 50 degrees. I let them sit for a little more then an hour and obtained readings of 1.225. According to the math that would put the actual specific gravity at 1.213.....assuming I did the math right. Anyways this is all very helpful information so thanks for sending it!!!

I'll let them sit overnight and take a reading in the morning and see where we'll at.
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