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toofewweekends
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# Posted: 22 Feb 2014 19:52
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Spend last week at the cabin, temps ranging from 0 to 25, and found my batteries starting to lag (they live outside the cabin). This time of year here (Alaska) I start getting some sun on the 90w panel, so it usually takes less charging to bring them up to snuff.
This week, though, even with charging, they seemed to drain pretty fast. Even saw a skim of ice on the top of the cells (when checking water level).
The batteries are a pair of 6v Costco golf cart, feeding an inverter, and then on to an assortment of lights, a small microwave, etc. They celebrated their 4th birthday recently, so I'm guessing it's time to buy new.
Any diagnostics I should do, or just bite the bullet and haul in new ones while I can take them in by snowmachine rather than bouncing along in a 4 wheeler?
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 22 Feb 2014 20:03
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You could try load testing them but at fours years age that will likely just prove they need replacing. If there is virtually no charging as they sit over winter it will probably difficult to get more than 4 years from GC2's. As they sit partially charged the cells will be forming hard sulfate crystals on the plates. Those degrade performance and is what naturally happens with lead acid batteries that sit partially depleted for extended times.
If the cabin is weekend use having the batteries inside won't really help as they will be "outside cold" or colder when the weekend starts and not much warmer when the weekend ends. Starting with 4 batteries might extend their useful life by not draining the 2 so much. Might, no promise.
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toofewweekends
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# Posted: 24 Feb 2014 01:24
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Thanks. I figured there was no magic bullet to nurse another year out of them. I try to leave them charged when I leave the cabin, but sometimes it's a month or more of sub-freezing temps before I'm back and putting them in service. Cost of doing business here!
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:39
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they will drain quick when they're that cold. try heating 'em with a little buddy or similar radiant heater. they'll perform better.
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Dillio187
Member
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# Posted: 24 Feb 2014 12:41
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keep in mind batteries have way less capacity when cold like that, so you could be drawing them down to almost dead, which certainly reduces their life. The 'sweet spot' for lead acid batteries is in the 70s F.
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expoman55
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# Posted: 29 Mar 2014 11:52
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I have a small solar powered heating pad that is on my batteries and I also wrapped my batteries and put them in an insulated cooler out under the cabin on a roller board ( easy access) I believe the the combination of the heating pad ( what little heat it gives under the battery and the heat from the battery charging off the solar panel should keep the battery at a 40+ F degree temp to keep them from freezing. My solar controller has a probe that attaches to the battery box and tells me the average temperature is 41 even in mid winter in upstate NY where this year we had the worse winter in 20 years with snow and sub 0 temps. and it has done well. seems to work well.
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expoman55
Member
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# Posted: 29 Mar 2014 11:54
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PS.. I use deep cycle Interstate 12v Outdoor utility batteries.
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spoofer
Member
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# Posted: 30 Mar 2014 19:32
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I think if you leave them hooked up to the panels when not in use they will stay warmer
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creeky
Member
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# Posted: 19 Apr 2014 16:31
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hey expoman55. that's a great solution. what kind of heating pad is that. plugged directly into a panel?
one great benefit of leaving your batteries hooked up and charging while it's cold is they're fully charged. the freezing temp for a fully charged battery is -70. if memory serves right.
the lowest manufacturer recommended operating temp for my battery pack is -18. I wonder what the effect on lifespan is. Could the cold, while it reduces useful power, also protect from sulphation?
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