Hi David, >From my limited experience, the AGM batteries sound like they are toasted. >They are the most expensive so you are entitled to replacement. I'd pull em both, proceed to warranty, play dumb, say as little as possible and hope they replace them without a fuss. They may want to prorate them. They should read 12.4 or higher at all times.
AGMs are desireable because they hold a charge for months, while wet cells lose charge quickly. Gell Cells are in the middle. (You must pull the load off those batteries that are draining them.) Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Atlantic City, NJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Knecht" <davidakne...@gmail.com> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 10:14:18 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List Drained AGM battery As usual, thank you all for your thoughts. The battery is up to 11.3 volts after 1.5 days on the smart charger. I will definitely have it load tested when it is done charging. As to warranty replacement- the discharge was my fault. Would they still replace it under warranty under those circumstances? When I call Mid-state should I already have done the load testing? Do I need it at steady state on the recharge before I load test it? On Aug 27, 2013, at 8:17 PM, Chuck S < cscheaf...@comcast.net > wrote: Not sure I like this? You never answered if you or on a mooring? Mooring <blockquote> What are you charging with? </blockquote> Alternator on boat. Now at home using smart charger. Considering adding a solar panel since the boat sits a week at a time often with no power at the mooring just to be topped up without having to run the engine. I run the engine quite minimally because I can sail off and on the mooring, so this would seem a good idea. <blockquote> The engine alternator or shorepower? Is the battery completely isolated? </blockquote> Isolated from what? <blockquote> I think you should remove every wire from the batteries and charge individually with a good charger connected to shorepower. </blockquote> That is what I am doing at home. NO way to do it on the boat. <blockquote> Then let sit overnight to be sure it holds the charge on it's own. </blockquote> Before I return it to the boat, I will do that and load test it. BTW, if this is delayed, any reason I can't use one of my older wet cell batteries in its place, or is mixing AGM and wet cell a bad idea. <blockquote> Chuck Resolute 1990 C&C 34R Atlantic City, NJ ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Knecht" < davidakne...@gmail.com > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 9:22:00 AM Subject: Re: Stus-List Drained AGM battery I used a pair of jumper cables and hooked up the dead battery in parallel with an old but servicable battery I had at home and hooked up the charger to it. After an hour I had about 7 volts. Now the charger would recognize the dead AGM and is charging it. It was up to 10V overnight, so I am hoping it will finish the job. If so, then I am back to figuring out what drained it or if there is an alternator problem. I presume if I measure the voltage at each battery while the engine is running it will be the charging voltage? If I get 14.4 volts or so at both batteries, then presumably my alternator is OK? Then I would be back to the propane alarm issue as the most likely culprit. Does that plan sound reasonable? Thanks- Dave On Aug 26, 2013, at 11:08 PM, Russ & Melody < russ...@telus.net > wrote: <blockquote> Hi David, 1. - yes, a new battery can fail and a two month old battery is still on warranty. Give it back for a load test / replacement. 2. - The AGM will charge from an alternator if discharged but may not charge from a smart regulator as the have a dumb battery validation check. If you want to use a smart charge on a really flat battery then you need to jump start the process with a dumb charger or another battery. - you should see life in the battery after a half hour on the alternator but a few hours for a good bulk charge You may have a fried diode in the alternator which can deplete a battery when the engine is not running (and not isolated from the battery) and give insufficient charge voltage. Cheers, Russ Sweet 35 mk-1 At 07:04 AM 26/08/2013, you wrote: <blockquote> I am beginning to feel that I have bad karma with my new boat. First the good news: based on all the advice I received, the Universal starting issue seems definitely fixed- since I cleaned the ground connection, it has started smoothly every time. The only strange thing is that all the directions I have read say that you should continue to push the glow plug button while pushing the start button. However, on mine, the engine will not turn over unless I release the glow plug button. Also, the GPS restarts each time I start the engine, which may mean there is still some electrical issue, but neither is a serious problem at this point. Also, the black smoke etc. is largely gone since I cleaned the bottom and prop as best I could. The shaft and prop were completely crusted with barnacles, so clearly my Pettit zinc coat did not do its job. I may try Velox next spring based on the advice of a local old timer. So yesterday I go went to the boat and found that my #1 battery is completely dead. This is the battery that is wired for the auto-bilge pump switch and propane fume alarm (that is all I know of). The batteries are 2 month old Power-tech AGM group 27's. I could not get much of any charge after a day of running the engine for a few hours totals. Questions: 1. do new batteries fail at some rate? 2. Will an AGM charge from the alternator if fully discharged? If so, roughly how long would it take? I brought it home and tried to use my smart charger and that is not charging it at all (the charging light does not come on). Perhaps related- I twice was on the boat briefly during the week and found the Xintex propane fume alarm going. Both times I checked the propane system and the tank shutoff was closed and all switches were off. So I don't believe there were really propane fumes in the cabin. So could the sensor have failed? Could the alarm going for many many hours drain the battery (I don't think the bilge pump is doing it). David Knecht Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT <pastedGraphic.tiff> _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com </blockquote> _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com </blockquote> David Knecht, Ph.D. Professor and Head of Microscopy Facility Department of Molecular and Cell Biology U-3125 91 N. Eagleville Rd. University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269 860-486-2200 860-486-4331 (fax) David Knecht Aries 1990 C&C 34+ New London, CT <pastedGraphic.tiff> _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com </blockquote> David Knecht, Ph.D. Professor and Head of Microscopy Facility Department of Molecular and Cell Biology U-3125 91 N. Eagleville Rd. University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269 860-486-2200 860-486-4331 (fax) _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
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