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Batteries and solar


JackShaftoe

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Due to a gas issue I had to put my 60ft boat into a boatyard for most of November. Since then the solar panels haven’t worked at all and this last week the batteries are not holding any charge after running the engine. Last winter I could run the engine for 20-30 mins and have power for charging phones laptop etc for a good 3 or 4 hours. Now lucky to get an hour. Is it just the time of year. Should I be getting something from the solar panels as I am getting nothing. The batteries are only a year or two old but I guess they could be on the way out. Any help appreciated.

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Its very dark In January so you will get next to nothing on the solar most days.

Your batteries are toast.  Not on the way out but dead.

Your charging regime is not sufficient to keep lead acid batteries in good order, you need to charge to an end current of a few amps, 20 to 30 minutes is simply not the way to do it.

All the battery nerds will turn up soon.............................................

Edited by Tracy D'arth
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4 minutes ago, JackShaftoe said:

Due to a gas issue I had to put my 60ft boat into a boatyard for most of November. Since then the solar panels haven’t worked at all and this last week the batteries are not holding any charge after running the engine. Last winter I could run the engine for 20-30 mins and have power for charging phones laptop etc for a good 3 or 4 hours. Now lucky to get an hour. Is it just the time of year. Should I be getting something from the solar panels as I am getting nothing. The batteries are only a year or two old but I guess they could be on the way out. Any help appreciated.

 

 

You get vitually nothing out of solar panels Nov to Feb, Leaving your batteries discharged and only charging them 20 20-30 minutes will kill them in a matter of a couple of weeks.

 

You will need a new battery bank and (ideally) read up on how to maintain batteries to maximise their life.

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Sounds like you spent last winter slowly ruining your batteries. The sunshine months disguised this reality, but the damage has become apparent this winter.  Normal leisure batteries will typically only last 2-3 years with reasonable charging.  Bursts of charging for 20-30 minutes will knacker them much more quickly.

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If you can plug into mains, or take the batteries off the boat, a smart battery charger might breathe some life back into your batteries. I bought a 12amp Ring smart charger from Halfords which has a pretty good desulphation process. Takes about three days per battery though and there's no guarantee it'll work but I've had reasonable success so far.

Also, if they're not sealed, there's some magic pills, 'Granville bat-aid', which, with a good charging, might help your batteries last a few more months.

 

Rob

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1 hour ago, p6rob said:

 

Also, if they're not sealed, there's some magic pills, 'Granville bat-aid', which, with a good charging, might help your batteries last a few more months.

 

Rob

 

'Granville bat-aid', :banghead:

 

there are also lots of ideas for making faulty batteries good on UTube/Google but how long they work for, if they work at all is open to question.

 

No data on size of solar and admittance of few running hours so almost certainly batteries ruined by undercharging and sulphation. Even in high summer at least once a week run at around 1200 rpm for battery charging until the charging current has dropped well under 10 amps. In winter run for at least 3 to four hours a day EVERY day and 10 to 12 hours once a week/ until the charging current at 14.2 volts plus stops dropping over half an hour.

 

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