Re: House batteries
Reply #5 –
If you have a battery with a dead cell chances are all of them may be getting old. As batteries age they lose capacity. What started out as a 100 amp-hr battery may only be 20 amp-hr after several years. By removing or isolating the bad battery you have actually improved the situation as it is not discharging the good batteries. If you find that the 1 or 2 remaining batteries do not completely discharge when no power is available such as when dry camping for a day or two, then you may be able to get by without replacing them. For long battery life they should not be discharged below 50%. Most battery manufacturers will publish a chart that shows what the voltage should be for full charge, 75%, 50%, etc. You should be able to find this on the internet. All the batteries in a set should be the same type, and the inverter/charger charge cycle should be set for the type of batteries you have. All the batteries in a set should be approximately the same age, but if just one fails in the first year or two it is okay to replace it and not all of them.
I saved some money by searching around on the internet for a low price on the batteries I wanted. The seller was in a different state (Idaho) so that got rid of state sales tax. Seller contacted distributor (Dallas) and had them shipped to me on a pallet. Trucking company had a lift gate and dropped them off in front of my house. Some trucking companies charge extra for this, check before purchase. The potential problem with doing this is that there is no dealer to correct any future problem. And make sure you are getting the battery you want IE AGM, GEL, etc and size. House batteries are very heavy, so I rented an engine hoist to take the old ones out and put the new ones in. You can sell the old ones to a metal recycler.
Jerry Whiteaker
96 U270 36' Austin, TX
Topic: House batteries