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Old 09-13-2010, 06:55 AM   #1
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House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

I think my Lifeline 4D is dying but not sure. On recent camping trips by morning the battery voltage drops to around 12.2V even down to 12v with just the fridge running. I have solar that brings it back up to 13v during the day but the voltage seems to drop off rather quickly. Any thoughts? What voltages are you seeing in the morning?

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Old 09-13-2010, 08:06 AM   #2
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

I see the same 12.2v but I think mine needs replacing too. It is about 3 years old...
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Old 09-13-2010, 11:37 AM   #3
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

Usually we see 12.4-12.5 in the morning with both the refrigerator and furnace running. I don't think we have ever had the battery as low as 12.0 in the morning. Our battery is 2.5 years old now.

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Old 09-14-2010, 09:21 AM   #4
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House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

It sounds like the battery can't hold the charge as long as it used to or isn't getting enough charge during the day to reach full capacity.

Try plugging in your van for 12+ hours to get a good/full charge, then run the fridge overnight (or your normal overnight draw) and see where the voltage is in the AM.
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Old 09-14-2010, 10:12 AM   #5
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

there are also a couple of posts in the FAQ's
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Old 09-14-2010, 01:54 PM   #6
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

Do a battery load test.

FULLY charge the battery.

Attach a known load. Say a 60w or 100w load.....60w or 100w light bulb. Let it drain the battery for 10 hours or what ever it should take to use half the listed available power in the battery. Then check the voltage after the battery rests for 24 hours (again NO OTHER loads present). It should be clear if the battery is good or not. All batteries do age with time.
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Old 09-14-2010, 11:26 PM   #7
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

I think there has been discussion about "equalizing" the house battery(s) on the forum. This might help extend the life of your battery and is worth looking into. Equalizing the battery is basically increasing the voltage for a certain length of time (from your converter/charger or inverter/charger) to help de-sulfate the plates in the battery. Care must be used when attempting to equalize as you do not want to harm any other 12volt components with the increased voltage.

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Old 09-15-2010, 04:12 PM   #8
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

I was under the impression that you DO NOT want to equalize AGM batteries...
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Old 09-16-2010, 12:28 AM   #9
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

Actually, the folks at Lifeline recommend it. Of course it does need to be done properly.

Check out page 20 of their manual; http://lifelinebatteries.com/manual.pdf

John K.
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Old 09-16-2010, 09:40 AM   #10
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Re: House Lifeline Battery Question (again)

Isn't it's mismatched batteries that should not be equalized?
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