Looks like my batteries have died

[PeterCr]

Hi all, so our domestic batteries are about 5 or 6 years old. I've wondered how long they will keep going.

 

We've had a sudden precipitous drop in voltage over the last few hours, even with good solar it's dropped down from mid 12 volts to now 11.3. I'm no expert but I'm assuming that's terminal, given their age. We're not really using much power other than the 12v fridge. They were fine up until just recently.

 

We're on the Thames just near Bray lock. Anyone know a good place near here which will offer good quality domestic batteries and help put them in? 5x105 ah batteries.

 

Thanks
Peter

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

5 minutes ago, PeterCr said:

Hi all, so our domestic batteries are about 5 or 6 years old. I've wondered how long they will keep going.

 

We've had a sudden precipitous drop in voltage over the last few hours, even with good solar it's dropped down from mid 12 volts to now 11.3. I'm no expert but I'm assuming that's terminal, given their age. We're not really using much power other than the 12v fridge. They were fine up until just recently.

 

We're on the Thames just near Bray lock. Anyone know a good place near here which will offer good quality domestic batteries and help put them in? 5x105 ah batteries.

 

Thanks
Peter

 

 

 

No, and things are likely to be expensive on the Thames. It is probably just one battery with a shorting cell, so disconnect them all, take a voltage  reading, and in a few hours take another. That should show the faulty one as the one with a very much lower voltage. then reconnect the rest, give them a good long alternator charge, and wait until you get back on the canals.

 

Immediate thought, give Bray Marina a ring, just below Monkey Island.

[PeterCr]

Thanks Tony, I'll give that a go. Annoyingly these things always happen at or on the weekend!

Cheers
Peter

[Rob-M]

Good just be a bad connection, we had this one morning.  After I removed all connections and checked voltages of each battery they were all 12.5 so connected it all back up and everything was fine again.

[Tony Brooks]

30 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Good just be a bad connection, we had this one morning.  After I removed all connections and checked voltages of each battery they were all 12.5 so connected it all back up and everything was fine again.

Could be, but if the drop was at a steady rate over the "few hours" rather than a sudden drop, I think a shorting cell is more likely. especially as the OP has five batteries, presumably, connected in parallel. It is unlikely that all five batteries would suffer dirty post connects within a few hours. If it has clamps with studs on them, or threaded battery connections rather than posts then a loose or dirty one just might give the symptoms, but I feel it less likely.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Could be, but if the drop was at a steady rate over the "few hours" rather than a sudden drop, I think a shorting cell is more likely. especially as the OP has five batteries, presumably, connected in parallel. It is unlikely that all five batteries would suffer dirty post connects within a few hours. If it has clamps with studs on them, or threaded battery connections rather than posts then a loose or dirty one just might give the symptoms, but I feel it less likely.

 

Also, if its a shorting cell then the energy must be being absorbed from the other batteries by the guilty cell means one of them batteries must be getting hot. Possibly REALLY hot. 

 

So perhaps no need to muck about measuring falling voltages, just find the one battery that is hotter than the others and disconnect that one.

 

 

 

 

[Ronaldo47]

Do your batteries have removable plugs for topping up water, allowing you to inspect the acid? The acid of a shorted cell will most likely  be muddy brown instead of clear.  That was what happened with the battery used for lighting in our camper van.   Fully charged plates will look chocolatey-brown..Discharged/sulphated  plates will be grey.

[MtB]

6 hours ago, PeterCr said:

We've had a sudden precipitous drop in voltage over the last few hours, even with good solar it's dropped down from mid 12 volts to now 11.3. I'm no expert but I'm assuming that's terminal, given their age.

 

 

You may be "no expert" now, but in my experience it's episodes like this that turn you INTO an expert. 

 

Either that or into a very poor boater.

 

 

 

 

[PeterCr]

So I've identified the faulty battery. They're sealed lead acid, 105 ah's. Vetus SMF energy

 

I'll replace the lot, it's about time. I need to buy from a retailer that delivers. Any suggestions on a good retailer and brand? I've had a look around and find rebranding and house brands, and it's difficult to know which to look at. Along with brand I need to find ones that fit in the available space of course. Any ideas to just replace what I have now? A friend says he's been happy with Tayna.

 

And any suggestions on getting rid of the current ones? I've probably got that covered as I have a quote to do that from a recycling place, but always happy to take suggestions.

 

Cheers

[Rob-M]

I've purchase Numax batteries a couple of times from Tayna, they normally have some sort of deal on multiple purchases.

[BWM]

16 minutes ago, PeterCr said:

So I've identified the faulty battery. They're sealed lead acid, 105 ah's. Vetus SMF energy

 

I'll replace the lot, it's about time. I need to buy from a retailer that delivers. Any suggestions on a good retailer and brand? I've had a look around and find rebranding and house brands, and it's difficult to know which to look at. Along with brand I need to find ones that fit in the available space of course. Any ideas to just replace what I have now? A friend says he's been happy with Tayna.

 

And any suggestions on getting rid of the current ones? I've probably got that covered as I have a quote to do that from a recycling place, but always happy to take suggestions.

 

Cheers

Dead batteries have a scrap value so you shouldn't have any problem getting rid of them. Last time I changed ours, I bought some Trojans via ebay and the seller delivered and carried them in to us.

  You may as well keep using the remaining batteries until you can shop around comfortably, they may last a few months. 

Edited June 10, 2023 by BWM

[MtB]

24 minutes ago, PeterCr said:

A friend says he's been happy with Tayna.

 

Tayna are however a retailer, not a brand of battery. 

 

It's a bit like recommending Tesco for for the quality of the Kellogg's Cornflakes they sell.

 

Or do Tayna sell 'own brand' batteries?

 

 

 

 

[tosher]

I have used Tanya 3 times over recent years and found them very good with next day delivery. They delivered direct to the boat then I fitted them. I have always used Varta which I found to be excellent batteries.  I took my old 3 x 270 amp/hour batteries to the scrap yard and got £90 for them.

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, tosher said:

I have used Tanya 3 times over recent years and found them very good with next day delivery. They delivered direct to the boat then I fitted them. I have always used Varta which I found to be excellent batteries. 

 

 

Do you keep needing new batteries?!

 

 

[PeterCr]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

Tayna are however a retailer, not a brand of battery. 

 

It's a bit like recommending Tesco for for the quality of the Kellogg's Cornflakes they sell.

 

Or do Tayna sell 'own brand' batteries?

 

Sorry I should have been clearer. Yes they are a retailer, he just said he's used them several times and found them friendly, easy to deal with and good delivery. I've rung them and had a good chat, though a monday delivery is looking unlikely at this stage so we'll have to sit a little longer and wait. I've headed back to Windsor now so we can sit on shore power while we wait. Also looking at Varta.

[MtB]

10 minutes ago, PeterCr said:

Sorry I should have been clearer. Yes they are a retailer, he just said he's used them several times and found them friendly, easy to deal with and good delivery. I've rung them and had a good chat, though a monday delivery is looking unlikely at this stage so we'll have to sit a little longer and wait. I've headed back to Windsor now so we can sit on shore power while we wait. Also looking at Varta.

 

Why not just disconnect the dodgy battery you've identified, and carry on with the remaining good ones? That way you can carry on cruising instead of hanging about at Windsor for two days.

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

27 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Why not just disconnect the dodgy battery you've identified, and carry on with the remaining good ones? That way you can carry on cruising instead of hanging about at Windsor for two days.

 

 

 

He ought to do that anyway, unless he fancies a battery explosion or hydrogen sulphide gas poisoning.

[n-baj]

I’ve used advanced battery supplies, fast delivery and no issues with the batteries.

 

https://advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk

[GUMPY]

Disconnect the duff one and carry on as normal. Sort the rest out when you get home.......

[Jak]

4 hours ago, Rob-M said:

I've purchase Numax batteries a couple of times from Tayna, they normally have some sort of deal on multiple purchases.

I’ve done the same. The 1st set lasted 6 years 👍

[Rob-M]

10 minutes ago, Jak said:

I’ve done the same. The 1st set lasted 6 years 👍

Our Numax leisure batteries are coming up to 10 years, the other purchase was another Numax battery ssca starter.

[Jak]

29 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Our Numax leisure batteries are coming up to 10 years, the other purchase was another Numax battery ssca starter.

Wow. I was happy with 6 years. Then a major issue. The bank stopped holding charge and there was a nasty rotten eggs smell. I’ll admit I was impressed to get that far with basic cheap sealed led acid batteries. So I replaced all 3 with the same batteries. If I get the same performance over the next few years I’ll be very happy!

 

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Jak said:

Wow. I was happy with 6 years. Then a major issue. The bank stopped holding charge and there was a nasty rotten eggs smell. I’ll admit I was impressed to get that far with basic cheap sealed led acid batteries. So I replaced all 3 with the same batteries. If I get the same performance over the next few years I’ll be very happy!

 

 

Pot luck I reckon. 

 

I had some Numax batteries that expired after a year. Under pressure I bought more el cheapos from the chandlery (now gone) at the bottom of the Braunston flight which turned out to be physically identical to the Numax, just with different labels. They were fine for a few years.

 

 

[Rob-M]

10 minutes ago, Jak said:

Wow. I was happy with 6 years. Then a major issue. The bank stopped holding charge and there was a nasty rotten eggs smell. I’ll admit I was impressed to get that far with basic cheap sealed led acid batteries. So I replaced all 3 with the same batteries. If I get the same performance over the next few years I’ll be very happy!

 

We weren't massive power users but now I regularly work from the boat we had solar installed which keeps up with our demands.  We keep the 12v fridge running 24x7 and use a few hours of 240v TV on an evening and a 240v router.

[roland elsdon]

1 hour ago, GUMPY said:

Disconnect the duff one and carry on as normal. Sort the rest out when you get home.......

His home is in rural australia. The boat sat for 2 years during covid, solar was on but…..

we had same problem with our van in aus. Battery died suddenly after a few weeks  back home, gassing like mad.

 

By the way Peter  if you read this we are giving up selling up and going back to Gippsland.