12.4 volts........

[SameGuy]

I picked up a used FWC Hawk a couple weeks ago, 2 years old, like new condition. It came with 2 Everstart 24MS2 batteries. I assumed that the batteries would be low after sitting for a while but the morning after I returned home with the camper, (6+ hour drive) the voltage was reading 12.4 volts. The ALT. is charging the batteries when the truck is running, so I figured I'd be in a little better shape after the long drive. I put an Optima smart charger on the batteries for a few days but was surprised to find that it never progressed past 75% charge. After resting, they show 12.4 volts. I know these batteries are some of the cheapest you can buy, and don't know if they came from FWC, or the previous owner put them in. I also realize they are not true deep cycle batteries. I haven't checked the water level in them yet as it has been freezing here, but assume if they are low enough to only give 12.4 volts, they are probably not going to come back to full capacity with a fill up. (am I wrong on this?) My last ditch effort is to hit them with my BatteryMinder maintainer with Desulfator function to see if that has any affect. Not holding my breath for a miracle.

Any suggestions or is it time to replace these seemingly abused batteries?

 

[john61ct]

yes, good for core charge

 

[dreadlocks]

sure sounds like you got a dead cell internally.. if so, there aint no saving em.

 

[SameGuy]

Thanks for the info, I haven't checked each battery individually for voltage, will do that in a minute here. Not that I really want to replace them with them with new versions of the same battery but I may see if Wallyworld will switch them out for new. No receipt or dates on them so I'm guessing that may not work.

 

[dwh]

Fill 'em up, full charge, a few EQ cycles and a few months on the desulfator...might bring 'em mostly back.

I wouldn't bother.

 

[SameGuy]

I just yanked the charger off and separated the batteries. I'll give them a test in the morning and see where they wind up. If there is a bad cell in one, maybe the other is OK and I'll leave it, if both are toast I'll just take them out and run the camper off the second battery in my truck for now. We have pretty low power requirements so won't be an issue for the short term, and it won't hurt my feelings to drop the extra 90lbs.

 

[Bayou Boy]

Duracell Golf Cart Batteries are too cheap at Sams Club to keep marginal batteries in a camper. $90 each for the GC2 size with 215AH.

 

[patoz]

Personally, I would use them as cores towards a new set of good quality AGM Deep Cycle batteries. You will thank yourself later on, or in the middle of the woods one cold, raining, night.

 

[SameGuy]

that is a LOT of power for the money!

 

[dreadlocks]

If you got a dual battery setup, the best bang for the buck is a pair of 6v golf cart batteries (most lead for least money).. AGM's benefits in small mobile battery banks are minimal and not worth the cost.. you'd rather have batteries you can use, abuse and replace without it hurting the wallet so much.. good ole GC deep cycle batteries can stand up to some pretty serious abuse and neglect that most people subject recreational setups too.. ie, in 2-4 years the'll crap out anyhow, even if they only have a few hundred cycles.. so do you really have a case for premium price batteries? nope

AGM's are for full timers, with big banks, big loads, big charge supplies, and big cycle counts.. then the premiums might be justified, and the investment taken care of and monitored properly.

 

[SameGuy]

It looks like they are a lot for power for the $, but they are also big and heavy. I've already got a 100AH flooded 'house' battery mounted under the bed of my Tundra. When I found out the camper had 150ah of batteries I was thinking I didn't need 250ah total. Weight is a big issue with the Tundra so I may just see how things go with the house battery I already have if the 2 that came with the camper are toast. I'm with you on flooded batteries being a good deal. My $100 100AH deep cycle house battery is running strong after 4 years, it doesn't get massively abused but it does get used often and is showing no signs of dying. Hard to beat that bang for buck, especially with the price of AGM, or LFP which I have been lusting over for the past week or two.

 

[dreadlocks]

yeah go out and use it with what you got and get a feel for how much capacity you need vs how often you drive to recharge it.. mebe your fine within your budget for now but looking at the equipment in those campers you may desire more and use the vehicle house as a reserve, those RV style furnaces for example tend to drain batteries pretty quick and you might not be interested in driving every day.

unfortunately with lead based batteries (including AGM/SLA) mass/weight is capacity, pound for pound it all equals out.. GC batteries have less cells and thicker lead, this allows them to provide affordable dense capacity while making them truly deep cycle, as they take less wear and recover better when abused and neglected.

I also had weight concerns and went lithium, 30# of LiPoFe after efficiency gains across board is leaps and bounds better than 125# of lead.. except well you know, it cost >4x as much.. time will tell how long its service life is, if it lasts 2x as long or better it might start looking more like a better deal but its still pretty niche and gimmicky because they are not really drop in if you want em to live to their potential.