battery condisation

[wtthacker]

hello everyone i gotta question i just bought 3 new everstart batteries last week and fished all weekend sat night i charged the batteries up went out sun came home and pluged the charger up well today i was out checking everything out and when i lifted up the lid my trolling batteries were all wet so i checked my other battery and it was wet as well 2 batteries are for 24volt tm and other battery is for cranking i have a 3 bank onboard charger that i was told to leave pluged in all the time so should i leave it charging all the time and what caused the batteries to sweat so bad i do have the boat cover on all the time also so does this sound norma?l thanks 4 taking the time to help

[wtthacker]

hello anyone out there please help

[psj706]

I know many will leave the charger plugged in all the time but I ruined two Trojan batteries last winter leaving it plugged in. Now I will plug in until charged and during storage only recharge once a month.

[SoonerFan]

The batteries might have been too full of water and boiled over when you charged them. Pop the tops and check the water level. I'm sure you already know to only... <U>ONLY</U> use distilled water in your batteries. There is usually a ring or a fill to line on batteries. Only fill to that line and no higher or they will overflow when you charge them.

As far as leaving the charger on all the time. I think it depends on the brand of charger and how much you trust it. I have a Guest charger and I don't worry about leaving it on all the time. If it were an automotive type charger or some el cheapo from BPS I would only charge the batteries and then un-plug it.

I'm bad about remembering to do it but if you do keep the charger plugged in try to remember to un-plug your trolling motor just in case you have a power surge or a lighting strike. I bought a Minn Kota surge protector and I always use that.

[psj706]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SoonerFan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The batteries might have been too full of water and boiled over when you charged them. Pop the tops and check the water level. I'm sure you already know to only... <U>ONLY</U> use distilled water in your batteries. There is usually a ring or a fill to line on batteries. Only fill to that line and no higher or they will overflow when you charge them.

As far as leaving the charger on all the time. I think it depends on the brand of charger and how much you trust it. I have a Guest charger and I don't worry about leaving it on all the time. If it were an automotive type charger or some el cheapo from BPS I would only charge the batteries and then un-plug it.

I'm bad about remembering to do it but if you do keep the charger plugged in try to remember to un-plug your trolling motor just in case you have a power surge or a lighting strike. I bought a Minn Kota surge protector and I always use that.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The one I had was a Dual Pro and the manual said it could be left plugged in all the time.....go figure......With the cost of these batteries I figure better safe than sorry

[SoonerFan]

Dual Pro is a good charger. You probably just had too much water in the batteries.

[psj706]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SoonerFan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Dual Pro is a good charger. You probably just had too much water in the batteries.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree Dual Pro does have a good reputation. It has been a couple years back but now that I think about it one battery was a Trojan and one was a Deka. Both were only used one season and water was never added. Strange thing was that both were bulged after being on charge for the winter. It was like they were just over cooked.

When I contacted Dual Pro they said the battery was most likely bad and when I contacted Trojan they said the charger most likely fried the battery. Tough to pinpoint the culprit I guess......