Are Batteries Toast?

[skiman]

I checked the trailer this afternoon and no lights. The EMS was off line and my 2 year old Interstates batteries were below 12 volts. I had not checked the trailer for a couple of months so the power could have been off a long time. Probably only parasitic loads. I never thought about the EMS staying off.)

So now are my relatively new lead acids shot or will they still have some life? I don’t think the cells froze as the barn tend to stay above freezing but I can’t say for sure. Thoughts and suggestions at this point? Anyway to evaluate how badly degraded the batteries are at this point?

[Iowa Dave]

Check the water, get juice going to them and see what they come up to for a reading when they have taken as much charge as they can . Then you can load test them at many auto parts stores, battery dealers, etc . The load test will knock them back down and they will need brought back up. And the load test will tell how strong they are.
Iowa Dave

[HABBERDABBER]

It depends on how low below 12V.
Usually, lead acid batteries can survive 1 or 2 "too deep below 50%" discharges. It affects them, but doesn't destroy them. And it's all a matter of how deep, for how long, and at what temperature.

Charge 'em up and try them out is my best suggestion.

If they froze, in a deeply discharged condition, get your credit card out & at the ready.

[oldwave]

Most of the time when lead acids have been very deeply discharged they have failed. That’s one advantage to lithium. That said there is a Victron product I would recommend if you are keeping the deep cycle lead acids. It’s called battery protect. Essentially it will shut off any discharge to your12 volt loads at a threshold that you program and turn the loads back on at another threshold. It also doubles as a battery disconnect with the addition of a simple switch.

https://www.victronenergy.com/battery_protect

Moderate price and would have prevented your discharge problem

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by oldwave

Most of the time when lead acids have been very deeply discharged they have failed. That’s one advantage to lithium. That said there is a Victron product I would recommend if you are keeping the deep cycle lead acids. It’s called battery protect. Essentially it will shut off any discharge to your12 volt loads at a threshold that you program and turn the loads back on at another threshold. It also doubles as a battery disconnect with the addition of a simple switch.

https://www.victronenergy.com/battery_protect

Moderate price and would have prevented your discharge problem

John: I like these but not sure if they will work in a stock Escape that has a bidirectional DC wire - current can flow from battery to loads when off-grid or from converter/charger to battery when on shore power. From the website -"The BatteryProtect is a uni-directional device. It can only deal with current in one direction, so either current to a load, or current from a charger, but not both currents at the same time. In addition to this, current only can only flow from the Battery terminal to the Load terminal."

I believe it would work seamlessly in our custom installations with a combination inverter/charger wired directly to the battery and a DC feed out to 12V loads that is unidirectional.

[SageRpod]

Originally Posted by skiman

So now are my relatively new lead acids shot or will they still have some life? I don’t think the cells froze as the barn tend to stay above freezing but I can’t say for sure. Thoughts and suggestions at this point? Anyway to evaluate how badly degraded the batteries are at this point?

I had this happen to me on a previous trailer with a new Costco/Interstate battery. The battery was never the same afterwards. It would draw down quickly and eventually lose its charge in short order.

[oldwave]

Ok you have a good point
You would need to modify the wiring
Or install two
One for each way

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

John: I like these but not sure if they will work in a stock Escape that has a bidirectional DC wire - current can flow from battery to loads when off-grid or from converter/charger to battery when on shore power. From the website -"The BatteryProtect is a uni-directional device. It can only deal with current in one direction, so either current to a load, or current from a charger, but not both currents at the same time. In addition to this, current only can only flow from the Battery terminal to the Load terminal."

I believe it would work seamlessly in our custom installations with a combination inverter/charger wired directly to the battery and a DC feed out to 12V loads that is unidirectional.

I have a bidirectional relay that came stock with my rig, it’s a fancy battery cutoff switch though is rated for a great deal of amps. My realignment enable me to keep it as the loads cut off. With my monitoring while in my storage I can keep track of the charge status. It’s a mile away from home and I can shut off the inverter remotely if the parasitic loads drain the battery. (I was a network designer and installer for the Park Service and was used to remote management). Otherwise I would have installed the smart battery protect. I have no need of ignition protection as in a boat, so the relay is fine. I think relay i have is installed in giant rvs with huge power needs. I’m not sure if it’s ignition protected which might be an issue with lead acid depending on the placement. It also is manual only not remote. As I get deeper in the weeds I’m planning on a relay connected exhaust fan for cooling the inverter compartment. It will be triggered by temp ranges to turn on and off. Quite simple to program with the Cerbo system . As we are waiting for our three month grand tour with the new rig I’m closing in on all the systems. It’s been fun.

By the way skiman showed us his 21 as we bought our first trailer, both he and his wife were generous with their time. I hope Escape sent him his check!

[DanandDaphne]

I did that same thing when our escape was about two years old. Had the cover on it and it was buried in snow, forgot to switch the disconnect off and checking on the trailer sometime mid winter I found them dead but not frozen. I just plugged the trailer in and I also added distilled water to bring them up to full.
Two years later and they are still working just fine, they may be a bit diminished but it would be hard to tell if they are. They may not last as long as they would have but time will tell. I think most RV batteries die from abuse rather than old age but we do the best we can. I guess we got lucky, best of luck on your batteries.