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Old 04-27-2015, 08:29 PM   #11
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

keep mine plugged in at least two full days per week. had it replaced 4 months ago from smb. lasted 10 years, not bad! c ya!

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Old 04-27-2015, 11:31 PM   #12
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Quote:
Originally Posted by berns378
keep mine plugged in at least two full days per week. had it replaced 4 months ago from smb. lasted 10 years, not bad! c ya!
What did you have replaced? The charger/converter??
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Old 04-28-2015, 07:25 AM   #13
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

First you might want to make sure the isolator is still working.

I have also included instructions on how to test a isolator;
Instructions for testing a isolator,
INSTRUCTIONS FOR TESTING A SURE POWER ISOLATOR WITH OHMMETER*:
1. Remove all wires from the isolator.
2. Using a needle movement ohmmeter RX-1 scale or a digital ohmmeter diode scale, hold the Red* probe on the terminal "A" and with
the Black* probe touch terminal #1 and #2, and the "E" terminal for 3A isolators (group 2), and the "R" terminal for (group 3) isolators.
A good isolator will show a current flow from "A" to #1, #2 and "R", and no current flow to "E".
3. Next, hold the Black* probe on the "A" and with the Red* probe touch terminal #1 and #2 (terminal "E" and "R", if used). A good
isolator will allow no current flow from "A" to #1, #2 or "R" and will show current flow from "E" to "A".
4. Hold one probe on the aluminum heat sink, being sure there is contact by scratching through the protective coating. Then touch
with the other probe, terminals "A", #1, #2 (the "E" terminal for 3A isolators [group 2] , the "R" terminal for group 3 isolators). A
good isolator will show no current flow.
5. Colored terminal indicates "E" post on group 2 isolators and "R" terminal on most group 3 isolators.
*On some import ohmmeters, the red and black probes are reversed for these tests.
**If using a digital ohmmeter, a diode scale MUST be used.



Also, the converter is not a great battery charger, you may want to check if it has a charge wizard installed. If not you may want to look into one, or upgrade to a better charger.

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Old 04-28-2015, 10:35 AM   #14
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Despite the wide spread use of battery isolaters, they have some built in problems. The isolaters contain diodes that allow current flow in only one direction. The problem is due to the voltage drop caused by the diodes. It can be on the order of 0.6VDC to 1.0VDC. What we need to recognize is that the difference between a fully charged battery and one that is considered dead is between 0.8 and 1.0V As a result, a difference of as little as one tenth of a volt in alternator output (due among other things to regulator settings, resistance in connections, alternator design etc) will have a major effect on charge rates and times. Typical automotive regulators sense battery voltage for regulation purposes not at the battery but at the output terminal of the alternator. The regulator may sense for example 14.2v while the voltage at the battery may be only 13.6, a 0.6v drop. This causes the regulator to curtail the output long before the batterys are fully charged which can result in cronically undercharged batterys that will die prematurely from sulphation. Time to full charge can be over 6 to 8 hours. In addition, batteries that are deeply discharged (beyond 50% of rated capacity) will also contribute to premature death. I'm not saying this is what is going on, but it's worth noting. If your isolator has bad diodes, it gets ever worse. I would hope to see around 14. to 14.4VDC (at the battery, not the alternator) during the first phase of charging. Once fully charged I would expect to see a float voltage of around 13.0 to 13.6...............
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Old 04-28-2015, 12:25 PM   #15
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalf77
Also, the converter is not a great battery charger, you may want to check if it has a charge wizard installed. If not you may want to look into one, or upgrade to a better charger.

-greg
Mine is an older 9155 so no charge wizard. Rather not have to drop $200 on a new one but might have to.
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Old 04-28-2015, 12:33 PM   #16
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Quote:
Originally Posted by arctictraveller
I would hope to see around 14. to 14.4VDC (at the battery, not the alternator)
He's getting 14.0 at the house battery when engine is running - so the separator is doing it's job.. Not great, but should be sufficient.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arctictraveller
batteries that are deeply discharged (beyond 50% of rated capacity) will also contribute to premature death
It's possible this happened on the first set he had for 8 months, but not the last two sets.
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Old 04-28-2015, 10:34 PM   #17
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Maybe you're cooking the batteries. Charge parameters are specific depending on the battery type. Hard to say without some more info. Even a bad alternator (regulator) can overcharge a battery. And yes, some converters are poor chargers but I even had reasonable results with standard chargers on my bass boat batteries so I'm still wondering about the problems you're having.
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Old 04-29-2015, 10:45 AM   #18
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Quote:
Originally Posted by rallypanam
Quote:
Originally Posted by arctictraveller
I would hope to see around 14. to 14.4VDC (at the battery, not the alternator)
He's getting 14.0 at the house battery when engine is running - so the separator is doing it's job.. Not great, but should be sufficient.

Quote:
Originally Posted by arctictraveller
batteries that are deeply discharged (beyond 50% of rated capacity) will also contribute to premature death
It's possible this happened on the first set he had for 8 months, but not the last two sets.
I agree that in this case the batteries appear to be junk, but you always want to look at your charging systems to make sure you are getting everything out of it. I think you can purchase a charge wizard for a existing unit, for about $25.00 to $30.00. I know they also cost money but, a good Battery Monitor (Amp hour counter) helps with these kind of issues.

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Old 04-29-2015, 03:46 PM   #19
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Is there a charge wizard that can be used with other brands of power converter and charger?

I have Power Source Dual Voltage PC-45
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Old 04-29-2015, 04:11 PM   #20
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Re: On my third pair of house batteries in 9 months

Quote:
Originally Posted by gcvt
Mine is an older 9155 so no charge wizard. Rather not have to drop $200 on a new one but might have to.
A mere $25:

http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_deta ... _9105.html
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OR41UM/ref=cm_sw_su_dp
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