Batteries

[D Bell]

2000 340 7.4L V drives - 4 Battery set up (I assume stock). Twice now our power at the dock has gone off and the refrigerators ran the house batteries down, way down, 0 on the Voltmeter. No start on Port engine. Restored power and generator on the hook recharged and they seemed to operate fine, although not holding a charge this weekend as long as they used to. My question, should/can batteries be rotated when something like this happens? Seems my house group gets lots of use vs. the other two.

 

[km1125]

Driving a battery dead will definitely cause damage to it. How much life comes off is always a question. You might want to disco them and test them independently. How old are they? If more than a couple years you might just consider changing them now.

Wondering what brand and model fridge you have. Some have low-voltage cutoffs so that they'll wear the battery down but not kill it entirely.

 

[Stee6043]

I'm not sure most batteries can recover from being drained all the way to 0V?

I've never rotated batteries. My experience is that they are good for 3 or 4 seasons and then they need to be replaced.

If you continue to have power issues at your dock perhaps consider disconnecting the DC side of the fridges and keep the stuff that would spoil at home. You don't want to keep cooking batteries...

 

[D Bell]

Driving a battery dead will definitely cause damage to it. How much life comes off is always a question. You might want to disco them and test them independently. How old are they? If more than a couple years you might just consider changing them now.

Wondering what brand and model fridge you have. Some have low-voltage cutoffs so that they'll wear the battery down but not kill it entirely.

Thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned in my "Overheating" thread, batteries would be pre 1/21 as my history was limited. Trying to establish a baseline maintenance schedule as best I can.

Cabin fridge is a new Isotherm Cruise. Cockpit fridge packed with beer is the original Norcold. I hear that one running all night long. Waiting on a West Marine sale to get the same Isotherm model for the cockpit.

 

[km1125]

Thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned in my "Overheating" thread, batteries would be pre 1/21 as my history was limited. Trying to establish a baseline maintenance schedule as best I can.

Cabin fridge is a new Isotherm Cruise. Cockpit fridge packed with beer is the original Norcold. I hear that one running all night long. Waiting on a West Marine sale to get the same Isotherm model for the cockpit.

As I suspected, the Isotherm does have a low-volt cutoff. The Norcold might too, but it depends on the model. Were there other loads that could have been pulling the batteries down? If power reliability might be an issue, you might think about a remote monitor so you can get an alert if/when you lose power.