New battery only 12v from shop?

[Tim Good]

I bought a new 12v Gel battery yesterday. I got in the car and I happened to have my multi meter so I checked the voltage. It was only 12v. I went back into the shop and they said because it’s new and hasn’t been cycled that it’ll be fine. Charge it for 13 hours and it’ll be ok.

So I took it home and put it on charge but the intelligent charger which is suitable for Gel, charged it for about 5 mins before saying it was full.

I checked the voltage and it was12.6 but dropping rapidly which is expected if it was only getting a 14.5v charge for 5 minutes.

Please don’t reply just saying take it back to the shop. I’m 2 hours from the nearest town ( France) so id like to hear from people who technically know if it’s probably goosed from sitting on the shop shelf for too long?

 

[sarabande]

There's a lot of info in the Battery University site where they talk about conditioning and cycling a new battery.

Learn About Batteries - Battery University

What is the make of battery please ? There may be some info deeply hidden on the maker's site we can dig out for you.

 

[Nauti Fox]

I recently had two gel batteries arrive from a supplier that were under 11 volts and wouldn't take a charge, got in touch with the supplier who checked his stock and there were several more the same, the batteries replaced free of charge with tested ones.
They are supposed to check them before being sent out.

 

[PilotWolf]

When I worked for the towing/ AAA battery compny here in the US they would have a bunch of stickers to put on batteries making them look like new... Not saying this is the case and this was regular batteries but worth considering?

W.

 

[Tim Good]

W

There's a lot of info in the Battery University site where they talk about conditioning and cycling a new battery.

Learn About Batteries - Battery University

What is the make of battery please ? There may be some info deeply hidden on the maker's site we can dig out for you.

Well it’s actually a motorcycle battery. I just knew I’d get sensible help on this forum

It’s called Poweroad Nano Gel

 

[sarabande]

I get a link to SHIDO Lithium batteries when I search for Poweroad Gel Nano..

They talk about having a "top charge" before using the battery. Not fully certain, but that means a full charge ? Can your charger select for lithium-ion and gel ?

Here's the 'resting' charge for the SHIDO batteries

Any more info about the battery in the last 24 hours please ? Do you know if Poweroad is a badged SHIDO ?

 

[bedouin]

It sounds as if your "intelligent" charger isn't intelligent enough - so was mistakenly thinking it was full. I would try giving it a couple of hours with a standard charger

 

[Tim Good]

It sounds as if your "intelligent" charger isn't intelligent enough - so was mistakenly thinking it was full. I would try giving it a couple of hours with a standard charger

I did think that so I connected it to my 350w solar panels via a Victron charger and updated the voltage settings for a gel battery. Same it went to float really quickly.

I could change the float voltage to 14.4 and force charge into it but that might not be a good idea

 

[KevinV]

I have had this with motorbike batteries before - I think it's caused by the battery being so small that the absorption is too small to register on a biggish charger - it just says it's full. Try a smaller charger (I use 2A chargers)
Conversely I've had "battery fault" when putting a small charger on a big empty battery.
The joys of "smart" charging

 

[bedouin]

I did think that so I connected it to my 350w solar panels via a Victron charger and updated the voltage settings for a gel battery. Same it went to float really quickly.

I could change the float voltage to 14.4 and force charge into it but that might not be a good idea

If it is at 12V now you aren't going to do any harm by charging it at 14.4 for an hour or two

I suspect the issue could be that the battery is incompatible with the charger (too small).

 

[Tim Good]

If it is at 12V now you aren't going to do any harm by charging it at 14.4 for an hour or two

I suspect the issue could be that the battery is incompatible with the charger (too small).

The charger I have is specifically for motorbikes so I’d think it was ok, plus the Victron MPPT control Units are pretty good. I take your point though.

 

[Humblebee]

There's a lot of info in the Battery University site where they talk about conditioning and cycling a new battery.

Learn About Batteries - Battery University

What is the make of battery please ? There may be some info deeply hidden on the maker's site we can dig out for you.

Interesting link, thanks for that Sarabande.

 

[Alex_Blackwood]

The charger I have is specifically for motorbikes so I’d think it was ok, plus the Victron MPPT control Units are pretty good. I take your point though.

Have you tried discharging it a bit more then re-charging?

 

[Yellow Ballad]

I work in the motorcycle trade and have sold the Dynavolt range in the past, they became hard to get, in the UK at least (last YTX9BS we sold was July 2019) so I would suspect they've had it sat on the shelf for a while.

Is it a blue case or black?

Are you using it on a bike or something else? I would put a heavy load through it (starter motor) for 10 seconds or so and see what the voltage drops to, shouldn't drop below 10.5v.

My gut says sulphation from being sat unused and not being maintained.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Does your battery chargerhave a "Repair" mode, if so you could try that.

 

[vas]

are you absolutely sure your multi is OK? got another to check against, or another battery (obviously have!) to test it?
my 5A Victron has a repair/maintain or something like that mode which has managed to revive a few dead car batteries in the past

V.