New T105s WTF???!!!

[jckm2000]

Hi folks,

I just took a look inside a few of my new T105s, and am shocked to see that the plates have warped on some of them.

After the 10mins of running my DC genny (see earlier thread) at 30.2v I switched to my 240v Hyundai through the Victron multi and not seen voltages above 29.4v.

 

What on earth has stressed the plates out on the new batteries? Are they screwed?

C.

[by'eck]

Were the plates warped when you first installed batts?

 

The lower voltage from Victron is surely it regulating to pre-set absorb voltage (eqiv of 14.7 volts on 12 volt batts) so why would you expect more?

[jckm2000]

Plates were not warped when I installed them, it's happened in the last 2 days.

Was not expecing more voltage from the Victron but explaining that it was not providing too much.

C.

[by'eck]

Could the DC genny have caused the damage? how is its voltage regulated?

 

30.2 volts (on 24 volt system) although high doesn't sound excessive but has it been higher? Did you monitor battery temp when charging at these higher voltages?

[jckm2000]

These batts are new, only been charged via DC genny for ten minutes, plates were ok after that.

 

Batteries have only been charged by the Victron since.

C.

[dmr]

I suspect this is normal.

Its only the very top of the plates, and mostly the outer plate, which is not very well supported.

 

One of mine did exactly the same after a few days, and another one or two have now done the same after two years of hard use.

I have never put more than about 90 amps into mine (450 amp-hours) so can not be overcharging.

 

.........Dave

[smileypete]

Interesting, I've always thought that the US Battery US2200s are a bit better than Trojan T105s, but people always seem to prefer the latter.

 

Why is that, is it because of the catchy name, or the nice maroon cases, or is the Trojan website easier to use? Can any buyers of T105s please enlighten me?

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

Why is that, is it because of the catchy name, or the nice maroon cases, or is the Trojan website easier to use? Can any buyers of T105s please enlighten me?

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

They were the ones my local suppler stocked and the price charged by a Lowestoft Battery Supplier was very competitive against chandlers

[Ex- Member]

Interesting, I've always thought that the US Battery US2200s are a bit better than Trojan T105s, but people always seem to prefer the latter.

 

Why is that, is it because of the catchy name, or the nice maroon cases, or is the Trojan website easier to use? Can any buyers of T105s please enlighten me?

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

 

I'm of the same opinion and have noticed the same with regard to the T105's. When a thread pops up there's generally good feedback on both.

 

What swung me to the 2200's was the reviews from the U.S RV users who seem to almost rave about U.S2200 and it's durability. I thought Red and White was rather fetching Also the single action removal of all 6 cell caps. or do the T105's have that too?

Edited November 17, 2013 by Julynian

[dmr]

Interesting, I've always thought that the US Battery US2200s are a bit better than Trojan T105s, but people always seem to prefer the latter.

 

Why is that, is it because of the catchy name, or the nice maroon cases, or is the Trojan website easier to use? Can any buyers of T105s please enlighten me?

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

 

When I got mine the supplier had both in stock and suggested that the Trojans were regarded as the better battery whilst the US were a good copy.!

The good documentation and various technical press releases do give the impression that Trojan are developing batteries rather than just making them, but this might be just a clever marketing department.

 

Not sure about the maroon, its more a brown-maroon, but i expect it does set them above all those nasty black leisure batteries that only last a year

Elecsol were a lovely bright orange and look what happened to them!

 

...........Dave

[jckm2000]

Wierd thing is that batts 1 + 2 in string 1 have gone 'frilly' but batts 2 + 3 on sting 2

The others look ok.

C.

[Naughty Cal]

 

When I got mine the supplier had both in stock and suggested that the Trojans were regarded as the better battery whilst the US were a good copy.!

The good documentation and various technical press releases do give the impression that Trojan are developing batteries rather than just making them, but this might be just a clever marketing department.

 

Not sure about the maroon, its more a brown-maroon, but i expect it does set them above all those nasty black leisure batteries that only last a year

Elecsol were a lovely bright orange and look what happened to them!

 

...........Dave

Oi!

 

Ours are a silvery blue thanks!

[smileypete]

 

When I got mine the supplier had both in stock and suggested that the Trojans were regarded as the better battery whilst the US were a good copy.!

The good documentation and various technical press releases do give the impression that Trojan are developing batteries rather than just making them, but this might be just a clever marketing department.

Hmm, maybe the supplier was just trying to make a sale there!

 

US Batt have some good articles in their download section, including the magazine articles.

 

http://www.usbattery.com/usb_pdfs.html

 

Also a video of their factory on youtube, some of it is still manually done and quite skilled

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=DFtepc9Tpmc

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[Tony Brooks]

Are you sure its the plates? Usually the separators are taller than the plates and stick up above them. When people talk about the plates they very often actually mean the separators.

 

If anyone has been topping up with a spout on a bottle then the separators often go wavy where the spout forces them apart but they are fine between the plates.

 

Separators can be almost any colour but if you push them with a screwdriver at the top they bend easily (clean the acid off the screwdriver) and often have ridges running down each face. They may be 1mm thick plus the ridges. The plates are either reddish brown or grey and may be 2 or 3mm thick. They may also be in a glass fibre pocket on that type of battery but this will probably have similar dimensions to the plates so would be difficult to see.

 

Give your "plates" a gentle prod and I bet you will find they are separators.

[jckm2000]

Lol, it's the separators!

Have I failed the idiot test?

[Tony Brooks]

Lol, it's the separators!

Have I failed the idiot test?

 

 

You and about 99.9% of the population. Don't worry the batteries are fine, the parts up above the actual plates are only decoration and a guide to how far to top up in the absence of a proper level mark (3mm above the separators).

Edited November 21, 2013 by Tony Brooks

[Beaker]

Lol, it's the separators!

Have I failed the idiot test?

 

No, you passed with flying colours!

[smileypete]

Good to hear all is well.

 

Here's a piccie of a batt cell through the filler well, the thick positive plates are chocolate brown lead dioxide, the separators are the gray wavy things in between, and in between those you can just see the thin negative plates of greyish spongy lead.

 

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited November 21, 2013 by smileypete

[Rich]

 

 

You and about 99.9% of the population. Don't worry the batteries are fine, the parts up above the actual plates are only decoration and a guide to how far to top up in the absence of a proper level mark (3mm above the separators).

 

On the Trojan website it suggests that the batteries are filled " Add water until the electrolyte level is 1/8" below the bottom of the fill well". This is well above the separators according to the dipstick I used, or am I missing something?

[Tony Brooks]

 

On the Trojan website it suggests that the batteries are filled " Add water until the electrolyte level is 1/8" below the bottom of the fill well". This is well above the separators according to the dipstick I used, or am I missing something?

 

 

So Trojans "level mark" 1/8" below the filler well. The 3mm/1/8" has always been a general guide to topping up and most automatic top up bottles work at about that level. However most, if not all the batteries I have seen over the last 10 years or so have a level mark of some type as part of the filler neck.

[dmr]

I suspect that Trojans are designed to have rather more acid above the plates than ordinary leisure and starter batteries.

They are intended to work had and to loose a little water during normal charging whilst ordinary batteries are usually optimised for minimum water loss..

It is thus a good idea to have a bit more "spare" acid. Trojans are taller than ordinary batteries!

 

I do find it rather difficult to judge (or even see) the level when topping up, especially on the batteries at the far end behind the engine, and I have no intention of sticking my fingers or tape measure down those holes.It would be nice if Trojan could provide a little bar like other batteries.

 

...........Dave

[Rich]

 

 

So Trojans "level mark" 1/8" below the filler well. The 3mm/1/8" has always been a general guide to topping up and most automatic top up bottles work at about that level. However most, if not all the batteries I have seen over the last 10 years or so have a level mark of some type as part of the filler neck.

So I have got it right then, thanks Tony.

 

It's not very easy to judge the level below the well and so I use a glass tube (thanks to Ditchcrawler) with a length of heatshrink fixed on about 3mm higher than the required level. So far this has worked well.

[Ex- Member]

I made up a simple gadget to top up batteries spot on and quickly, as I can't see into each cell due to the batteries being close height wise to the stern deck. I've Just done my 6 x 6v batteries in 4 minutes.

 

It's basically a rubber science cork so acid doesn't affect it, Although testing this with a champagne cork wasn't a problem anyway. It has 2 x 5mm holes through it, it's set to enter the battery so the bottom of the cork is at battery water level. With some rubber O'rings glued/attached at the top, the cork sits the perfect height in each cell.

 

I found the Domestos bottles perfect to use to squeeze water into the cell, as it's sturdy enough to spring back into shape and suck any overfill out of the cell leaving the correct level.

 

The clear hose is just some cheap 8mm OS diameter 5mm ID hose.

 

I just 3/4 fill the bottle squeeze for a second and let the bottle spring back, If the cell is over full it sucks back the excess and you're left with the correct level, If there's not enough water it sucks air so you squeeze again and just repeat until full.

 

TBH I reckon It makes battery topping up easier even if you can access the fillers.

 

Edited November 22, 2013 by Julynian

[jckm2000]

Nice, I like that!