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Date:         Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:20:16 -0800
Reply-To:     Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Just hibernating & a battery mystery
Comments: To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <BAY152-ds1257F43C526172D7F5BC5CA0890@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Can anyone point me to a easy to build DIY load-capacity test rig for a largish (130 aH) deep cycle battery?

I'd rather test this thing in the garage than when camping.

-- Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott Bend, Ore. 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people. 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.

Sent from my kitchen.

On 01/25/2012 08:41 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote: > Over discharging battery one time does not necessarily kill it. Especially > a deep cycle constructed as well as the Trojan. The biggest danger to a > discharged battery is the possibility of freezing but if that did not happen > you are likely OK. While holding voltage is a good sign the real proof is a > load-capacity test. > > Dennis > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of > Rocket J Squirrel > Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 4:14 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Just hibernating& a battery mystery > > In case anyone is wondering where the heck I've been. Admit it, you have > been. > > My Westy is dozing under a Just Kampers vehicle cover (Vanagon content!) for > the duration of the Bend, Oregon, winter. I have many projects which I was > unable to get around to completing last year that I hope to get to in > spring. Camping got in the way. Boo hoo. > > Until camping weather returns, Mrs Squirrel and I are snugged away in our > little house with the nuts and firewood (four cord!) we gathered last > summer. > > My mainly non-Vanagon postings are at<http://socal2bend.blogspot.com/>, > for those interesting in Keeping Up With The Skuirrels. > > In the past 24 hours, Mt. Bachelor ski area has picked up 8'' of snow for > those who ski (me? no: pot-metal knee). Snow's at something like 100'' of > depth. > > For Westy-related fun I like to spot Vanagons in town. Yesterday I saw four, > one of which appeared to be a 1984 ivory Westy just like ours. > > I may have killed my expensive Trojan deep-cycle 130 A/h battery. The van > had been parked for a few weeks, slumbering, with a light (200mA) load on it > (the load is primarily the Xantech battery monitor thingy). > > But the smart charger I usually keep connected to the battery had come > unplugged, unbeknownst to me. So the load drained the battery. > > When I climbed into the van last week to take a bunch of boxes of seasonal > decorations down to our storage facility, I saw that the battery was showing > less than 7 volts. This should mean that the battery is so deeply discharged > that it is damaged beyond recovery. > > I popped over to Sears and picked up a 10A "not dumb" charger, pulled the > battery, and put a charge on it. In about 12 hours it showed a fully-charged > battery. Now, one week after the charger has been removed, it still shows > 12.48 volts (50 degrees F), and the float-type hydrometer says "100%." > > Does this make sense? Shouldn't this battery be pretty much a lead and > sulfur-filled brick? > > -- > Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott > Bend, Ore. > 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people. > 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in San > Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia. >


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