Batteries: Why didn't you guys tell me this?

[Scott G.]

Oh boy I screwed up. I've had Trojan batteries in the boat for my deep cycles for over a year now and have never checked the water levels. I simply didn't know I was supposed to. After some investigating last night I did it. Every cell in both batteries took about 5 oz. of water to fill up. I couldn't believe how much they were down. Plugged them in to the on board charger after this and this morning everything is green lights ready to go. They seemed to be fine before this to as far as performance. Did I screw something up or will they be ok? I did notice as usual, when they charge there is some bubbling going on but I thought that was natural.

I really was kicking myself when I was pouring all that water in.

[cbprov]

did you use distilled water

[REW]

If your batteries are using a lot of water, it it typically an indication that the batteries are being overcharged.
If you are using a manual charger, get a timer, so that you can regulate the time.

If you are using an automatic charger, you need to check the settings, to see if it is set for the wrong kind of battery.

If it continues to occur with your charger; it is possible that you have a defective charger.

If you have on on board charger, it is possible that your charger is defective or not set up properly.

Bottom line, it is a good idea to check the fluid level at least once a month, and keep the battries at the correct level, using distilled water.

Take care
REW

[Scott G.]

I did use distilled water. I have a 3 bank CSI charger. 2 to these batteries and one to the starting battery. I'll be checking them monthly for sure now that I know to do it. I'm pretty particular about my gear.

[Trailerguy]

[font color=green size=3][b]Once a batery has been run with the fluid below the top of the plates, that part of the plates become sulfated and they are "dead". Adding water will not bring them back. Your battery's total amp. hour or cranking abilatiy has been reduced.

[Battery guy]

We use Trojans in our OEM application and we charge the heck out of the batteries. It is good to give the batt's a good charge you want the electrolite to boil at first charg this cleans the plates. It is posible that you will not see much change in the perfromance of your batteries but it is not good to let them get to dry. I would check them once a month and more if you charge once a week for extened time. Your charger should have a built in regulator to monitor battery voltage my guess is you charge these offten so the first part of the charging process is to cook the batteries and good for you that tells me you get out and uses the rig more than I do.

[nickt]

What would happen if you used reverse osmosis treated water?

[wow]

reverse osmosis water?

You all are way smarter than me. I think i heard that once in a biology class in college. D's get degrees I guess.

[nickt]

Its the house water that gets filtered by the culligan filter (reverse osmosis system)for drinking.It goes through a filtration to remove all the minerals, etc for drinking.Elliminates going out and getting bottled water.

[vetspet.ind]

there is a product ...i think called thermoil...you add it to the top of each cell and it will drastically reduce the amount of water which evaporates after each charging.....you can buy on net or from basspro...or cabellas...not sure which co......it is an inert waxy substance which the bubbles must pass thru and which removes most of the water which will bubble out normally....i have not used it but there have been many posts on here who thought it worked well...steve

[Scott G.]

There was thermoil in my batteries.

[Pitts]

Reverse osmosis water is fine for filling batteries because all of the minerals and other solids have been removed which is why everyone says to use distilled water.
Be carefull some RO units do not completely take out all of the contaminants especially if the filters are plugged or torn.

A lot of drinking bottled water is RO water and if they do not add nothing back for taste it would work fine for filling the batts.

Pitts

[Miami Vice]

At the golf car company where I work we are happy if our customers just use tap water as long as they keep the water level over the plates. Of course distilled water is best, but when distilled water isn’t available using tap water is better than nothing. We use reverse osmosis water, which is almost as good as distilled water. Reverse osmosis water is not Culligan treated water. Culligan treated water uses salts to remove minerals. All Culligan treated water does is make water soft, so it’s easier to clean clothes in the washing machine, and it’s easier to get the soap to lather up when you are taking a shower. Reverse osmosis is like what they use on a ship to convert salty sea water into fresh water. A typical R/O system in a private home can only make 5 gallons of water a day, and it makes it very slowly, therefore it has to be stored in a small storage expansion tank. R/O systems are wasteful of water. For every 4 gallons of water you make you waste 1 gallon. The 1 gallon you waste is used to clean the membrane in the R/O system.
Miami Vice

[Trailerguy]

[font color=green size=3][b]A good RO system uses a water softener ahead of the RO membrane. Softning removes a large % of the particales, therefore the RO membranes pass a greater volume of water between reverse flushing to clean the membranes. Most systems sense when the flow diminishes through the membranes and that initiates the flush cycle. In theory an RO sytem can use almost any water source, but the efficancy suffers in poor quality water.

[Stealth 1]

As REW said check the water often. Heat kills the battery so understanding this and rigging your setup accordingly will go a long ways for more life out of your batteries. Conventional battery chargers have driven voltages high for years to try to release sulfation from the battery as charging. As has been mentioned here. The problem is that also creates heat and that’s not good. Boiling of the battery crystallizes the sulfation and a barrier forms, hindering the electrolyte from the plates and gassing also. Those batteries will sulfate more intensive as you discharge them and ramming the power back into them with intensive sulfation on the plates will crystallize that stuff as they cycle. The Stealth technology will give battery life extension as well as keep you on the water charging from the alternator on the boat, vehicle (pulling the boat), 110AC, Solar and Wind. Stealth keeps a constant monitor on the input from the crank battery and on the output batteries 12/24/36/48 totally isolating them treating them as 1 bank of batteries. They do not exceed 13.7 to 14.2 per battery therefore creating no boiling of the battery (no heat) and no crystallizing of the sulfation. Since the battery does not deep cycle as intensive it does not allow intensive sulfation therefore keeping the batteries ready to receive the electrolyte. You can read about the technology at the web (www.stealthcharging.com) or just post any questions. I hope this will help.

Danny

[curt]

So let me understand. You should try to charge you batteries after every use even if they don't need it???? Is that correct or should you wait until the battery meter goes down.

[Suzuki]

It's just best to keep them at full charge as much as possible. Even if you use it a little or if it sits for a length of time it will discharge some. The guys with onboard chargers like myself have found this out because it's so easy to plug in and charge. My last set lasted 5 seasons which is pretty darn good. If I were using a manual charger I might not be as diligent.