Any tricks to get more out of. A battery - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

SmellyCat · 08-05-2012, 12:27 PM

You told me not to run this battery Down, but I would not listen. It's about three months old and it used to go 1-2days before it ran out. Now I can't hardly go 30minutes before it drops below 11 volts. Any restore tips? Sc

Ryland · 08-05-2012, 01:31 PM

Buy a new battery?
You can try, after charging it up fully, put it on a lower amp charger for at least 12 hours if not 24 hours without touching it to give it an equalizing charge, this will also make sure that it's absorbed every bit of energy that it can, make sure that the water (distilled water) is up to the correct level both before you do anything as well.
But your bottom line is that your batteries life has been drastically shortened and if you are running it down to 11v then you are running it dead and that is one of the worst things you can do to a lead acid battery, if you only want your battery to last a year then running it to 11.6v (80% DOD) is where you should stop, if you want it to last 2-3 years then only running it to 12.1v (50% DOD) will be ok and is the most common, my deep cycle batteries I only use the top 20% to 30% as much as I can and let it get down to 50% once a week or so and I expect my deep cycle batteries to last 5+ years, I had my charger fail, short out my batteries and drain them dead and I can see the effects still but keeping a close eye on the batteries and charge them fully as often as I can leaving a trickle charger hooked up whenever I can and I check the water once a month.

MGB=MPG · 08-05-2012, 01:35 PM

3 months old ? go back to where you got it and say . battery will not hold a charge and say you have no idea why it is that way.
perhaps they will replace it

SmellyCat · 08-05-2012, 01:49 PM

"3 months old ? go back to where you got it and say . battery will not hold a charge and say you have no idea why it is that way.
perhaps they will replace it"

I decided to do the alt delete after eating a a jalpeneo tuna subway at the Walmart. The marine battery did not fit, so we had to rig a longer Pos cable. After the Walmart Tech saw what I was doing he said they would not warrantee me and the Volvo Super MPG mobile. Sign. SC

Ryland · 08-05-2012, 06:42 PM

It sounds like you've learned the lesson of owners of electric cars, that is how to or more so, how not to take care of your lead acid batteries, it's common for electric car owners to destroy their first set of batteries in a very short time, often a year or so, by not charging them enough, not watering them enough and by over discharging them, it would be the same kind of learning curve if you kept running out of gas because you had black tape over your gas gauge, you need to know how much energy you have, how far it will get you and plan in a good size buffer so you don't do damage, 11 volts is like running your gas car until the fuel pump is making a dry grinding sound with sparks shooting out of it.

SmellyCat · 08-05-2012, 07:24 PM

half the fun, is the adventure of screwing up. Now that I can turn the alternator back on when I get low, my driving pleasure is greater since the car does not start dying while try to get home. In retrospect, a volt meter and a way to flip the alternator back on is a sweeter way to perform the Alt Delete mod. live and learn..... Next will be the powers steering delete. stay tuned. SC

MetroMPG · 08-06-2012, 11:36 AM

FYI, switching the alternator back ON after running the battery down may well negate any fuel savings (depending on how far you're going).

Why? Because now the higher alternator load is using extra gasoline to re-charge the battery (replacing the energy you "saved" by not running the alternator earlier).

ksa8907 · 08-06-2012, 12:24 PM

My opinion on alternator deletes is they aren't worth it, we had an oem battery in our last car, was 12 years old and was fine. Mine is 5 years now and very strong still, don't let the battery die and it should last the life of the vehicle, 10+ years.

MetroMPG · 08-06-2012, 01:09 PM

Alternator delete is worth it provided you either:

- minimize DOD (depth of discharge) by (a) doing only very shallow discharges (ie. short commute, immediate grid recharge); (b) constructing a larger/different pack so as to prevent serious damage, or,

- you have a ready supply of free/cheap batteries you're prepared to kill.

3-Wheeler · 08-06-2012, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Alternator delete is worth it provided you either:

- minimize DOD (depth of discharge) by (a) doing only very shallow discharges (ie. short commute, immediate grid recharge); (b) constructing a larger/different pack so as to prevent serious damage, or,

- you have a ready supply of free/cheap batteries you're prepared to kill.

And to add to what Metro said...

Add a solar panel setup to the car, to trickle charge the battery while you are at work.

Jim.