Well i got 6 Trojan 6V Deep cycle batteries are they any good?

[AaronG]

I got 6 for $30 from my work and they were previously used in a riding floor cleaner. it was only used for a couple of hours like every other night and on the charger when it wasnt in use most of the time.

The batteries in question are This model exactly http://www.trojanbattery.com/products/J305E6V.aspx When i checked them with a volt meter they all had 5V on the dot. They are also less than a year old.

Figured for 30 bucks and being less than a year old they should still be good right?  Also what the heck could i even use them for?

i have been trying to find a calculator online to see how much i could run from them and how long at a full charge but i suck at math and the ones where i can manually plug in the numbers from the batteries and usage dont seem to work or something.

EDIT: Any advice? Like Keep em sell em recycle or if they are even good batteries to start with anyways.... My dad has 2 45W kits from harbor freight and im thinking of just letting him use them with his panels but i have no idea what to expect.


ALSO i just realize that these could be vented batteries? If so it would be dangerous to have them in a house while charging or use?

[madlabs]

Well, for starters you need to see if you can get 'em charged back up. Then you can see if they hold a charge. Some auto chargers can so 6V, if not hook them up in 12V pairs.

If they do, then you can think about what to do with 'em. Hook them up in a 12V  bank and get a cheapie inverter to run some loads. Yer Dad's 2X45 watt panels will take quite a while to charge that much battery.

[AaronG]

Well, for starters you need to see if you can get 'em charged back up. Then you can see if they hold a charge. Some auto chargers can so 6V, if not hook them up in 12V pairs.

If they do, then you can think about what to do with 'em. Hook them up in a 12V  bank and get a cheapie inverter to run some loads. Yer Dad's 2X45 watt panels will take quite a while to charge that much battery.

Sounds interesting! The only cables i have right now are Jumper cables they ought to be a big enough gauge. i also have an old 140W Inverter i could hook a laptop or TV or something up to.

For 12v should i just put em up on a trickle charge and monitor the voltage till it hits 12V? whats a good 12(.)something to go to?

[madlabs]

Jumper wires will work for charging but not for running much.

First, check the water level in the batteries. If it is close to the plates, put a little in but DON"T fill them. Just make sure the plates are covered. Use DISTILLED water ONLY!! If you fill a battery when discharged it will over flow and make a nasty acid mess when charged.

Do NOT charge in a confined, un-vented space. Hook up the charger on its highest setting and then wait until it is says charged. Then disconnect everything and wait at least overnight. Then when you read the voltage it will tell us something about the condition of the battery. Without the wait the voltage tells us essentially nothing.

If the batteries are usable, and for goofing around with non-critical loads there will prolly be something left in 'em, then you can figger what to do.

Jonathan

[dnix71]

I has a talk with a DEKA rep yesterday at work. Our 6v forklift batteries don't hold up as long as we would like. 6v in a string means they don't equalize very well. The rep said he has customers replacing their batteries every year if they work the equipment all day and recharge.

The solution he offered was to go back to the steel case 2v stack that lifts used to use.

I suspect at 5v your batteries are sulfated, that's why they were dumped. 250AH at 5 hours is a pretty good sized six volter. Those were not cheap.

[AaronG]

Jumper wires will work for charging but not for running much.

First, check the water level in the batteries. If it is close to the plates, put a little in but DON"T fill them. Just make sure the plates are covered. Use DISTILLED water ONLY!! If you fill a battery when discharged it will over flow and make a nasty acid mess when charged.

Do NOT charge in a confined, un-vented space. Hook up the charger on its highest setting and then wait until it is says charged. Then disconnect everything and wait at least overnight. Then when you read the voltage it will tell us something about the condition of the battery. Without the wait the voltage tells us essentially nothing.

If the batteries are usable, and for goofing around with non-critical loads there will prolly be something left in 'em, then you can figger what to do.

Jonathan

Just a quick question. You say hook the batteries up the charger on the highest setting. the only charger i have is one for a car and the highest setting would be the engine start setting and it doesn't have an auto off. just a volt meter showing what the batteries are at.

i looked around at work and there is a brand of charger/maintainer that specifically lists its for deep cycle batteries and will charge them and then stop at a certain voltage and then will re charge them back up once they bottom out at a certain voltage.


BTW will i allways halfto have verification to post on here because its such a pain.

[XeonPony]

no it is just till you have X amount of posts.

All car chargers have an auto shut off now days so less it is from the 60ies! use the 15Amp seting.

[madlabs]

Xeon is right, any auto charger made in the last 40 years or more will be fine. Don't use the start setting, just whatever the highest charge setting is. Don't even think of buying a deep cycle charger for these batts, they are probably hurt and may be fun to play with but not worth spending $ on.

[RandomJoe]

If they're really at 5V - and have been there for any length of time - they probably are unrecoverable.  If you can, they'll likely have little capacity.  A 6V lead-acid is considered "dead" or 100% discharged at 5.25V!  It's very hard on a lead-acid to be discharged that low, and they sulphate rapidly if left there.

However, if you only paid $30 for the set,  you'll still come out ahead should you decide to purchase new batteries to play with.  There's a core charge applied to any new battery you purchase, you get that back if you turn in an equivalent-size battery.  I just bought a replacement battery bank and L16-style cores are $30, T105-style cores are $20.  I upsized my bank from T105 to L16, so my total core charge was $240, and I was credited $160.  (8-battery 48V bank.) 

I don't know if anyone will pay you that just for the batteries, you might have to take them directly to a scrapper if you want to get the cash without buying new batteries.

I got six L16s the same way you did - a place I was working at had pulled them from a floor polisher.  I got them for free, this machine had sat unused - and off the charger - for several years.  They were worth exactly what I paid.  I did have a few hours of fun tinkering with them.  They actually took some charge, but would collapse at the first hint of load and you could watch the voltage steadily drop on the voltmeter as soon as they were taken off the charger.

[Simen]

I'd just want to add a note to the discussion here...

Everybody says to charge them with a car battery charger, and you say you have one...

*Fine, just remember to connect 2 and 2 in series before you charge them!, so the batterybank that you're charging are 12V; presuming your charger doesn't have a 6V setting.

Edit;
I got some 2V cells, 240Ah@5h 6 years back, and those cells was at 1.5V each (lower than yours) when i got them. They're still at service here, though, they have a lower rest voltage and capacity than rated, but they still serve me well for light duty. They are maintained with 90W of solar power, and a 200W wind generator (when the wind decide to blow... ) I'm guessing they're around 200Ah@20h now.