dead batteries and freezing weather

[OPCOM]

I drove it about 1.5 months ago, then parked it.. No charging issues at all. Last week, has several days of freezing, but otherwise upper 30-s and better. Yesterday, it was 60 degrees and I go to start the deuce and just got a few cranks and volts were 22.2 after cranking it a little. seriously discharged

The electrolyte nd all were fine, but to be sure i also cleaned and re-tightened the cables, etc. I put the charger on overnight starting at 5A and by morning, it was down to 1/2A and I read 27.4V. The truck fired right up.

This never happens in the summer.

Would the cold weather just suck the life out of the batteries or what?

 

[mangus580]

Very much so!

 

[gimpyrobb]

A solargizer should have kept this from happening. You got one?

 

[papercu]

If the battery has lost the charge they can freeze and burst the case. Cold weather is rough on batteries. Wayne

 

[scooter01922]

It is amazing how the cold sucks the juice right out of them, no idea why but even the best batts don't last long when its COLD.

 

[cranetruck]

Batteries need to be fully charged in cold weather.

Self discharge is much less in the cold so batteries last longer, but they must be fully charged.
Use a charger maintainer, Solargizers won't help, read the small print, they will restore sulfated batteries, which occurs when they are stored less than fully charged, but they will not recharge the batteries.

My conclusion: Keep batteries fully charged and the Solargizers will not be needed.

Store batteries cold and use them warmed up for best performance.

 

[KaiserPower]

I mounted one of these dual bank charging systems, available from Eastwood, behind the passenger seat and hid the plug behind the external 24V port housing. I got a few pictures of the process if anyone wants them posted.

 

[emmado22]

Solargizers keep sulfation from forming. They do not charge batteries. Yes, the batts need to be kept fully charged, but the Solargizers do help a lot in keeping them ABLE to take a full charge, as it keeps sulfation from forming.

 

[cranetruck]

Solargizers keep sulfation from forming. They do not charge batteries. Yes, the batts need to be kept fully charged, but the Solargizers do help a lot in keeping them ABLE to take a full charge, as it keeps sulfation from forming.

Mark, I didn't edit your post above....hit the edit button instead of the quote...


What you state is the correct interpretation. I have a solargizer panel here and would estimate the power output to be 1 Watt max.
My Chargetek puts out 5 amps (more than 100 times the current of the solargizer) when it is first turned on and drops from there to a trickle charge.

 

[JasonS]

Mark, I didn't edit your post above....hit the edit button instead of the quote...


What you state is the correct interpretation. I have a solargizer panel here and would estimate the power output to be 1 Watt max.
My Chargetek puts out 5 amps (more than 100 times the current of the solargizer) when it is first turned on and drops from there to a trickle charge.

My understanding is that the way to prevent sulfation is to keep the battery fully charged. If the solargizer can't charge the battery, how can it prevent sulfation?

 

[grounded]

I mounted one of these dual bank charging systems, available from Eastwood, behind the passenger seat and hid the plug behind the external 24V port housing. I got a few pictures of the process if anyone wants them posted.

im interested

 

[cranetruck]

My understanding is that the way to prevent sulfation is to keep the battery fully charged. If the solargizer can't charge the battery, how can it prevent sulfation?

Jason, it doesn't prevent sulfation, it removes it, so that the battery can perform as new, but it takes time.
Like you state, keep the battery fully charged and keep sulfation from taking place. Problem is that most batteries are allowed to run down some, so sulfation will occur.
I like the maintainer approach, but it requires 120VAC at all times and it would take some pretty large solar panels to replace it.
Just measured the power output of the one Solargizer panel I have here and it put out about 0.2 Watts under hazy skies. Meanwhile, the Chargetek 500 remains plugged in....

 

[dittle]

A couple things you can do to help out as well w/out spending money on a solarizer. More than likely you have a small energy drain that you don't notice in the summer.

A. Unhook your ground
B. Put a ground disconnect on your battery post

 

[drgreg]

How are you plugging this in? Is this 120 Volts?

 

[KaiserPower]

Sorry it took so long to get back on line... had to run and get a ton of coal this morning...

The conversion isn't difficult at all. I drove out the rubber block and center pin with a brass drift to get the outside housing ready. Then get yourself a female pulg end, the type with the the metal shock ring is what worked best after fooling around with a few different types. Take the plug apart and you'll need to split the metal ring away from the lower black end of the plug... a cut off wheel in the dremel worked well. Once the black plastic is free from the metal ring, you'll have to remove a few fractions from the diameter thickness. I just slowly took it off with a bench grinder till it fit into the housing... go slow or you'll have a melted ball of plastic to deal with. Once it clears the end, run your wire and assemble it before you epoxy it into the housing. The yellow end has plenty of room inside the housing so vice it and secure everything while the epoxy sets up.
Then figure the length for the the other end which was about a foot, and install another female plug on this end. You'll need to mak a second short piece with two male ends to complete the hookup. One of the reasons I did the plug ends this way was to keep anyone from doing me any favors and plugging my rig in for me when I wasn't around... can't be done without the other short piece or "pig-tail" to go with it... and second, I was still able to put the original cover cap back on. The plug on the exterior is 120 volts that goes to the dual bank battery charger behind the seat. You still need to unhook the center battery cable before plugging in the charger but I have an idea how to get around that... should have that resolved shortly.... I think that covered it.... If I left any unanswered questions, shout out or PM me.

Eddy

 

[drgreg]

K.P., you did a nice install but the power cord with 2 male plugs is dangerous. If some how the cord gets unplugged from the truck you will have "live" prongs that may damage personel or equipment.

 

[KaiserPower]

Roger that Greg... I put the 90 degree plug on the one end to help that somewhat... maybe I'll install a small bungee to help prevent that... thanks for the observation.

Eddy

 

[dittle]

Its a little late for you to change this, but you could have used a twist-lock connector and then you wouldn't have had to worry about the cord coming out so easily. Just a thought...

 

[drgreg]

Roger that Greg... I put the 90 degree plug on the one end to help that somewhat... maybe I'll install a small bungee to help prevent that... thanks for the observation.

Eddy

It would be best if you plug your cord into a GFCI protected outlet. For future reference, the part on the truck should be a male receptacle and the cord should have a female cap. These parts are readily avialable from old computers, monitors or fax machines.

 

[tm america]

kaiserpower love the use of the slave rec great job mounting the charger