Help w/ fully dead bat's

[RiskIt]

Hello all, I've been away for a bit..
I had a couple teenagers staying in the AS last couple of weeks. They ran the bat's in the ground. I have (2) 6v's up front and (1)12v in the back. I'm using an Intelipower w/ the wizard. Anyway once I saw that they where dead(dead) got shoreline power going and have been using the intel'y to try and recharge them. I've never really used the batterys hard and usualy just run shoreline. My question is with this much battery is it just going to take a while. I'm going on my second FULL day and no reading on the batt's yet. So now I'm starting to worry.
I know alot of you have way more experience then me.
Thanks all.

(2) Trojan T-125 (488@25amp/132@75amp 5hr@195/20hr@240)
(1) Trojan 30xhs (225@25/57@75 5hr@97/20hr@130)
80amp intellipower
*Everything was working/running in ex. condition.

[thecatsandi]

Is there any water left in them?
If they are not holding a charge after two days they are shot.

[HiHoAgRV]

MY SOB RV had a charger/inverter and for the life of me I cannot remember the brand but it was a hoss with 100 amps of charging. Anyway, once the batteries were dead it assumed there was nothing to charge so it wouldn't kick in. The only way to get the thing going was to toss a car charger on the battery. The inverter would then sense the voltage and kick in.

on edit - it was a Trace Inverter.

[azflycaster]

I agree.
I think that once a battery has been discharged below a certain level the "smart" charges will not work. You could try to charge them with a "dumb" charger and see if they will hold a charge.

Remember to follow all of the safety rules when working around batteries!

[RiskIt]

ok, makes sence..... The wizard (brain for the charger) is showing a fast beep/flash (means charging) and you can over ride it and make it kick to full boost (steady light)... Makes me think it's working..??

Water = yes

Another thing.... with it connected to landline I thought that the charger would have enough juice to run everything (12v) and still charge the batt's. Right now there is very low/no juice anywhere.

Batt's where also only a yr old and well taken care of.


I can get deeper into it tomorrow (weekend). Just thought I'd throw it out here and see what people think.

[Fyrzowt]

As was mentioned, I would give a charge with a standard battery charger. I don't know much about the Intellipower, but it's my understanding that they charge at a lower voltage than a std charger.
If it didn't keep up with the teenagers, perhaps the Intellipower isn't working properly. Assuming it was plugged in at the time. ??
Dave

[RiskIt]

You can see my trailer/set-up in an old post I had (with pic's). Just scroll down alittle and you'll see my post's.

If you read what I wrote it sounds like I'm a pro... I shoulda just killed the kids like I wanted to. I'd be fine now instead of getting ready to test everything, bla bla bla. On fathers day weekend I'll be doing what I like best. . . .

If anyone has a thought on this that could save me some time I'd love to hear it......

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...ics-17642.html

[RiskIt]

It wasn't hooked up. They where in the house most of the time..... I forgot that they would run the radio ALL night and the fan in the overhead vent (someone was smoking...!! who knows what ) What can I do, I was a punk too. They had no idea. I did check in on it once but when I saw how they where living out of it - it broke my hart to see my little baby such a mess. Dirty clothes everywhere, wet shorts from the beach,etc. I just kept telling myself I'll worry about it after they leave. I didn't want to be the uptight guy ruining the fun..... MY BAD.
Well, now I'm worried

[guy99]

I admit I'm having a little trouble following this very well (my bad, I'm sure - I got some very bad news this morning).

In case it is relevant let me tell you about my experience with an Intellipower PD9180. After about a couple of years our PD9180 failed on us. The symptom was that the voltage was normal UNTIL you put a load on it, then the voltage would plunge.

Here's the whole story:http://www.airforums.com/forums/f37/...ory-29733.html

Randy (at BestConverter - Inteli-Power Converters, Inverters, Solar Chargers) is a great resource for this kind of issue. His forum handle is 68 Overlander.

[RiskIt]

Just an update.. I put a regular (cheep-o) charger on the 12v and right away I got a reading or over 10amp on BOTH set of batterys. I had it set at 10amp charge but it was about 11/11.75 on the meter. Actualy both batterys showed a charge??? I thought I had them set up so they were stand alone... now I'm confused!!! I have a battery switch/stop and have them set up as Bat1= 12v in the rear & Bat2=(2)6v's.... but like I said when I checked the volts after connecting the charger they BOTH showed over 10amp's.....

Its getting dark and I need a beer.... anyone have an idea why the intelli didn't do squat after 48hr's or running and why both batterys would show a charge when I thought I had them seperated???

Thanks all

[RiskIt]

Bump.... help???

[overlander63]

1-You have something miswired so the batteries are all charging, and being used, at once.
2-You have the charging system set up to charge all batteries at once, even though you are only drawing off one.
3-Your charge wizard will not turn on the Intellipower if the voltage is below a certain level, after you get the batteries to that voltage, the charge wizard will start the charging process.

[lewster]

Risk-it,

Your dis-similar batteries will not charge properly if you have them all connected together on the same charging circuit. Most battery chargers will charge multiple battery banks, but they must be the same battery. Case in point: you won't charge your 2-6VDC batteries along with the 12 VDC single unit.

You should isolate them, charge the 2 6VDC batteries as a 12 VDC unit (connected in series) using the + terminal of one battery and the - terminal of the other battery as the charging posts.

When they are completely charged, then charge the rear 12VDC battery. You should also install IMMEDIATELY a 2 bank battery switch (Blue Sea Systems) to isolate the banks and allow the converter to only work on one bank at a time.

[thecatsandi]

Guess I misunderstood the problem.....

[RiskIt]

I do (I'm pretty sure) have them isolated and I do have a "blue sea" switch. The (2) 6's are connected in series.

Why "I'm pretty sure" is how I have the intelli connected to the bat's. I have the 6's in series to the switch then the 12 to the switch.... That should make them ISOLATED. I forget how I connected the intelli to the system. I'll have to look tomorrow in the light. I've been out a couple of times tonight and the "cheep-o" charger has put a charge (that keeps) to ALL bat's... SO I guess they arn't Isolated as I thought.

How should the Intelli be conected to a system like this???? Where in line?? Direct to the bat's or some other way?

Now we are getting someplace,thanks

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, on completely dead, or close to it, batteries you want to charge for 24 hrs at 2 amps or less. Dead batterries resist a fast / high amp charge; And dead batteries can and will burn out fast chargers and alternators.

[RiskIt]

So I had time to look into the bat's today. Turns out the neg. ground had blown. How many times you read that here..... Easy fix. Replaced fuse and power up scotty.
I still wonder why when I charged the 12v the 6's where charging as well. I have them isolated. The only place they could connect is at the intellipower. The intelli has 2 pos out-puts and 2neg.'s and I have a set going to the 12v and the other to the 6's. I guess that how????

Should everything be fine with the bat's now that they are getting charged. Thats why you use a deep cycle bat. in the first place - right. I know there's only so many times you can recharge them and its never a good idea to run them dead... but sh#t happens. Somplace I read something on how to test your run time so you know how long you can boondock.

Anyone know what causes the neg. ground to blow?? (most com. reason??)

Thanks all

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, "Anyone know what causes the neg. ground to blow?" [most com. reason??] Not sure with your system, but on cars, a fuseable link blows if you connect a jumper or charger backwards.

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by RiskIt

Anyone know what causes the neg. ground to blow?? (most com. reason??)

Positive battery lead or wire touching ground will cause the fuse to blow.