Battery not chargin past 10.34V

quique
quique Solar Expert Posts: 259 ✭✭
I have an inverter, which might be damaged because as I said they were stored in a wet warehouse. I plugged it into the wall and it charged a pair of 6V dc batteries wired in series for being 12V. It charged them from 3 or 4V to about 10.40V but ever since that happened about 3 days ago, it has been plugged in and the batteries will not go past 10.40V.

When batteries get damaged, is it possible they only get charged up to 10.40V, or would the battery not charge at all? I want to see if the inverter is somehow damaged or if the batteries are faulty.

I know I could take the batteries to charge to a battery shop.

What else can I do to research the matter further?

Thx

Comments

  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V

    Any battery than has been discharge to less than half its normal Voltage is not likely to recover, so right there you have a problem.

    It is also quite possible that an inverter-charger which has suffered dampness has failed internal components that would not allow it to produce full charging Voltage and/or current, so there's another problem.

    The way you check either of these is to remove the unknown: try to charge the batteries from a known good charger, connect the inverter-charger to a known good battery.

    It is also possible that you have both problems.
  • Blackcherry04
    Blackcherry04 Solar Expert Posts: 2,490 ✭✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V

    I am surprised that it even did anything to them, maybe they came up on their own. Most chargers won't do anything to a battery below 9-10 volts these days. At 3-4 volts they are probably history anyway. If you want to try, take a 12 v good battery and a set of jumper cables and hook it the the 2 others and then plug in the Inverter and it will be tricked into a charge cycle if it's any good. Leave the other 12v battery connected until the others come up some or it will probably quit charging.
  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V

    sounds like the batteries are shot, but do try a known good battery such as a car battery if you have no other just to see if the inverter's charger will reach and maintain the proper voltages.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V

    10.3V is 2v short of 12.5V (nominal voltage) Sounds like a bad cell in one of the 6V batteries, check them individually, one will likely read 6v, the other 4v. If one is shot, the other will also likely be dead too.
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  • quique
    quique Solar Expert Posts: 259 ✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V

    One battery reads 5.34 and the other 5.30
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    Re: Battery not chargin past 10.34V
    quique wrote: »
    One battery reads 5.34 and the other 5.30

    That's pretty dead for a 6 Volt battery. Don't get your hopes up.