Battery won't take a charge, please help!!

[Mickey Bitsko]

When all this shakes out, for piece of mind, I would get a digital voltmeter and wire as close to the batteries as possible on a no load wire and use it as your guide.
For me, it's more important to know the status of the batteries than the charging system, especially if there is more than one system.
As suggested above, different chargers will have different charging settings.

 

[CampStewart]

I just bought a couple of group 31 batteries, One a Deka Extreme, the other marked Bright Group. They were in Arc Pak power units. Owner knew nothing about them and they were pretty badly discharged. I can't find date codes on either but they have not been used for a long time and I am sure they are far out of warranty. I put them both on old school 1 amp chargers. After 12 hours the Bright Group was up to 11 volts, I moved it to a Ctek 4.3 with reconditioning mode and it seems to be charging. The Deka is only up to 7.7 volts after 20 hours but is gaining voltage very slowly. I realize both may be toast but the price was very right as they were part of a larger deal.

I did a web search on trying to save these things and for every link I followed I found different and very conflicting advice, much of it was beyond bizarre. Wondering if you guys may have some methods that have worked for you?

 

[blacklbzbeauty]

I just bought a couple of group 31 batteries, One a Deka Extreme, the other marked Bright Group. They were in Arc Pak power units. Owner knew nothing about them and they were pretty badly discharged. I can't find date codes on either but they have not been used for a long time and I am sure they are far out of warranty. I put them both on old school 1 amp chargers. After 12 hours the Bright Group was up to 11 volts, I moved it to a Ctek 4.3 with reconditioning mode and it seems to be charging. The Deka is only up to 7.7 volts after 20 hours but is gaining voltage very slowly. I realize both may be toast but the price was very right as they were part of a larger deal.

I did a web search on trying to save these things and for every link I followed I found different and very conflicting advice, much of it was beyond bizarre. Wondering if you guys may have some methods that have worked for you?

For myself, batteries whether in the trailer or the tow vehicle are the same as tires. The newer and fresher the better.
2 less things to worry about.