Can someone explain to me please...

Will be going to my boat tomorrow to un-ship the rib for Winter. Was meant to be going out, but the weather is looking awful. If you want I can pop over with my hydrometer and multimeter and show you how to check them. Will be around on mine after 9 until about lunchtime.
 
Will be going to my boat tomorrow to un-ship the rib for Winter. Was meant to be going out, but the weather is looking awful. If you want I can pop over with my hydrometer and multimeter and show you how to check them. Will be around on mine after 9 until about lunchtime.

Thanks Trev, much appreciated but Tom's coming over on monday and he said he'd check them while he's here so I'll have a nose while he's doing it to see what he does.
Ta muchly tho
L
:)
 
The first set of batteries on FP worked well for about 6 years, then started to degrade rapidly.
The major shocker was that when I investigated to see what was going on, one battery had half the liquid inside that it should have had!! Not good!!

Newer sealed batteries have "magic eyes" that you can look at (green eye is good, anything else = "please go battery shopping") but extracting electrolyte for a tester can mean breaking the top of the battery. If dodgy, probably best just to chuck the batteries and invest in another set.
 
Hmmm....gonna seek out my batteries tomoro and check them. Great help as always guys...thankyou. Got a feeling it's time to replace them. heyho...that's boating :D

I thought the same last year when our domestics didn't hold much of a charge and dropped voltage overnight. It turned out they were low on water (electrolyte) caused by charger being left on by accident the previous winter in the storage shed (ie battery fluid slowly boiling off over a few months on trickle charge). I filled them with distilled (purified) water half expecting them to not to recover, but they did and have worked perfectly since. I put nearly TWO gallons of distilled water into them at the time.
 
Lisa if you need new ones I use barden up the road near junction 9 ,

Lisa - Phil @ Fareham 01489 570770 is the guy to speak to - He did me a cracking deal on rolls domestic batteries earlier this year - Do you keep your battery charger on 24/7 as most modern ones on boats are designed to be run this way so the batteries are always in tip top condition just like you :cool:
 
Lisa - Phil @ Fareham 01489 570770 is the guy to speak to - He did me a cracking deal on rolls domestic batteries earlier this year - Do you keep your battery charger on 24/7 as most modern ones on boats are designed to be run this way so the batteries are always in tip top condition just like you :cool:

Wow you smoothy you!................ ;)
 
I thought the same last year when our domestics didn't hold much of a charge and dropped voltage overnight. It turned out they were low on water (electrolyte) caused by charger being left on by accident the previous winter in the storage shed (ie battery fluid slowly boiling off over a few months on trickle charge). I filled them with distilled (purified) water half expecting them to not to recover, but they did and have worked perfectly since. I put nearly TWO gallons of distilled water into them at the time.

OF my dad came into last season thinking he would have the replace the domestics on our 38, said he'd see how the season went after topping up with distilled water.. They were still going strong all this season and are now being more regularly monitored!
 
Lisa - Phil @ Fareham 01489 570770 is the guy to speak to - He did me a cracking deal on rolls domestic batteries earlier this year - Do you keep your battery charger on 24/7 as most modern ones on boats are designed to be run this way so the batteries are always in tip top condition just like you :cool:

You flatterer you!! lol. Yes Tel...batt chargers on continually (except that 2 weeks on the hard obviously). Thanks for the contact.
L
:)
 
OF my dad came into last season thinking he would have the replace the domestics on our 38, said he'd see how the season went after topping up with distilled water.. They were still going strong all this season and are now being more regularly monitored!

Yes same here. There is a popular misconception that modern chargers can be left on permenantly without any effect of battery fluid levels. By all means leave the charger on but batteries will need topping up every three months or so. During six months of winter storage if a modern charger is left on continuously fluid will be very slowly boiled/evaporated off. Checks every three months will avoid permenant battery damage. We seemed to have escaped. We normally leave the charger off for the winter as the batteries hold a good static charge.
 
Yes same here. There is a popular misconception that modern chargers can be left on permenantly without any effect of battery fluid levels. By all means leave the charger on but batteries will need topping up every three months or so. During six months of winter storage if a modern charger is left on continuously fluid will be very slowly boiled/evaporated off. Checks every three months will avoid permenant battery damage. We seemed to have escaped. We normally leave the charger off for the winter as the batteries hold a good static charge.


checked the batteries I removed from Bizzy Bee (still in the garage) and you're right, the levels are down to zero which is probably when they went kapput 6 months ago.. have filled them with de-ionised water and have them charging to see if they can be recovered but don't hold out much hope
 
Batteries checked today and out of the 4, two are a bit down on their luck and will need replacing but will leave that til next season coz they're not at deaths door just yet. Of course they are sealed so no top up option here :(.
Oh well...par for the course I guess.
L
:)
 
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