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Old 12-16-2021, 06:37 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by kidharris View Post
I was thinking that they looked like 3 sealed no maintenance lead acid marine batteries and 1 regular maintenance vented lead acid marine battery by the same manufacturer. Was wondering if that made a difference. Thanks for the reply.

PS....?


Question for the folks who know. If in use the 4 batteries used up the same amount of electrolyte and then someone noticed that the unsealed battery was a little low and added some h2o could/would this result in the charging problem that is happening here? or cause/contribute to the boiling problem?


Just thinking, assuming that the system worked in the past, what could have caused it to change? Could the odd wiring be an attempt to compensate for the 1 battery that was different (maybe a different internal resistance)?

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Old 12-16-2021, 07:30 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kidharris View Post
PS....?


Question for the folks who know. If in use the 4 batteries used up the same amount of electrolyte and then someone noticed that the unsealed battery was a little low and added some h2o could/would this result in the charging problem that is happening here? or cause/contribute to the boiling problem?


Just thinking, assuming that the system worked in the past, what could have caused it to change? Could the odd wiring be an attempt to compensate for the 1 battery that was different (maybe a different internal resistance)?
The batteries were chosen by someone who didn't know the proper battery type for our purpose. The wiring was done by someone who didn't know the proper way to wire for our purpose.

FWIW, I believe what happened is the batteries (probably not properly sized) have been deep cycled unbalanced and not completely topped up so many times that at least one of them kicked the bucket, which exaggerated the unbalanced issue.

Without further information on the state of the batteries, the loads you are running, and really how thoroughly they are being charged, there's nothing else we can tell you. We certainly can't diagnose any further issues until what we've said has been completed.
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Old 12-16-2021, 07:44 PM   #43
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And batteries do just wear out

much faster under the above conditions, can even last only one season
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Old 12-17-2021, 01:54 PM   #44
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With how it was wired it's a possibility. But for the record, the 4 batteries are all essentially the same, the 3 that look sealed are just designed different. There is still a cover you can pop off and monitor electrolyte strength and levels on the 3.

IMO, too deep of discharging, coupled with not properly recharging, coupled with the unbalanced design of the system is what did this in. I'd bet that the battery that's boiling has a dead cell, and is bringing the voltage of the paralleled cell down.

I'm not a fan of systems with parallel strings of batteries unless each string is monitored and balanced often, either automatically through a bms, or manually. If you want a set and forget type system, IMO use a series only type system. It's not fool proof, but too often I've seen one bad cell in a string drop the voltage and drain the rest of the paralleled strings.
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