Battery issues

[tatoweb]

Hi friends,

I purchased my 2016 C28 brand new in March 2016. It came with Centennial batteries from factory.

In March 2018 the generator/thrusters’ battery died so I replaced it with an Exide Marine battery because it was impossible to get a Centennial again.

My boat is always in the water, always connected to shore, battery charger always on.

Since June 2019, this generator/thruster battery is bad again. Before going out I turn my generator on without issues, but then I hear thrusters don’t work with full power and after a short normal thrusters use they completely die and generator turns off.

My almost zero knowledge about electrical tells me the battery needs to be replaced again and Exide is not the best brand to use.

I have two questions:

1) I would like to learn how to see this battery needs to be replaced using a multimeter.

2) I’m planning to replace this battery and engine battery (to be on the safe side) with 2 Optimas Blue Top Group 27. Does anybody have any experience with this ones?.

Any other recommendations?.

Thank you.


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[bill46]

Seems like very short life.
I like Duracell AGM from Sams Club.

 

[marcham]

I presume the new batteries were flooded? Did you check the water level, perform an equalization every 6 months and confirm the ac charger voltage is correct for the battery type?

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[Dale777]

tatoweb,

Not having a C28, I am not sure of your battery configuration, but I surmise it is as follows, based on how my R31S is set up:

Three banks of batteries (Engine battery, House batteries, and Generator/Thruster battery) with a single charger that is provided power from a shore based pedestal. Those 3 banks are connected together with two Automatic Charge Relays (ACRs).

The charger begins charging Bank 1, then when voltage rises to a set threshold, the ACR between bank 1 and bank 2 CLOSES to charge both banks until together voltage rises to a set threshold, then the ACR between bank 2 and bank 3 also CLOSES. When that happens, all three banks are being charged at once. If any bank causes the voltage to drop below a set threshold, then the ACR connected to that bank is OPENED.

Why is this important? There are 2 issues to consider:
1. The charger can only be set to charge one battery type (typically flooded lead acid, AGM, or Gel). If you mix battery types within or between your 3 banks, one or more will be improperly charged, thus shortening it's life. There should be a switch of some type on your charger that designates flooded lead acid, AGM, or Gel. Check that.
2. If you have any battery in the 3 banks that is bad or weak, then it potentially can drain other batteries within its bank or between banks when the ACR is closed.

Your Centennial batteries from the factory appear to be flooded lead acid, sealed batteries. Not knowing the exact designation of your replacement Exide marine battery, I would guess it is either flooded lead acid or AGM, so there could be a charging issue. The Optima Blue Top group 27 batteries are AGM.

If not replacing all of your batteries at the same time, you need to be sure they are all compatible with a single charging type.

Whatever replacement batteries you choose, you also need to look at the post placement and the physical dimensions to be sure the batteries can be securely tied down and the cables attached properly with no chance of shorting out in some way. The Optima Blue Top batteries appear to have completely different physical shape and dimensions from the factory batteries.

Without first fully charging your current batteries and then removing all loads and letting them set for 24-48 hours, I am not aware of any way to simply use a volt meter to test them for a good or bad condition. Without doing that, any voltage reading is likely showing a surface charge only, which is not indicative of a good or bad condition.

 

[tatoweb]

Dale,

Thank you very much for that great explanation and saving me the error of mixing AGM batteries with flooded lead acid.

I guess I have two options:

1) Try again to get a Centennial to replace the bad Exide.
2) Check if my charger will charge all 4 AGMs and replace them all with Optimas (their size is very similar to the factory ones).

tatoweb,

Not having a C28, I am not sure of your battery configuration, but I surmise it is as follows, based on how my R31S is set up:

Three banks of batteries (Engine battery, House batteries, and Generator/Thruster battery) with a single charger that is provided power from a shore based pedestal. Those 3 banks are connected together with two Automatic Charge Relays (ACRs).

The charger begins charging Bank 1, then when voltage rises to a set threshold, the ACR between bank 1 and bank 2 CLOSES to charge both banks until together voltage rises to a set threshold, then the ACR between bank 2 and bank 3 also CLOSES. When that happens, all three banks are being charged at once. If any bank causes the voltage to drop below a set threshold, then the ACR connected to that bank is OPENED.

Why is this important? There are 2 issues to consider:
1. The charger can only be set to charge one battery type (typically flooded lead acid, AGM, or Gel). If you mix battery types within or between your 3 banks, one or more will be improperly charged, thus shortening it's life. There should be a switch of some type on your charger that designates flooded lead acid, AGM, or Gel. Check that.
2. If you have any battery in the 3 banks that is bad or weak, then it potentially can drain other batteries within its bank or between banks when the ACR is closed.

Your Centennial batteries from the factory appear to be flooded lead acid, sealed batteries. Not knowing the exact designation of your replacement Exide marine battery, I would guess it is either flooded lead acid or AGM, so there could be a charging issue. The Optima Blue Top group 27 batteries are AGM.

If not replacing all of your batteries at the same time, you need to be sure they are all compatible with a single charging type.

Whatever replacement batteries you choose, you also need to look at the post placement and the physical dimensions to be sure the batteries can be securely tied down and the cables attached properly with no chance of shorting out in some way. The Optima Blue Top batteries appear to have completely different physical shape and dimensions from the factory batteries.

Without first fully charging your current batteries and then removing all loads and letting them set for 24-48 hours, I am not aware of any way to simply use a volt meter to test them for a good or bad condition. Without doing that, any voltage reading is likely showing a surface charge only, which is not indicative of a good or bad condition.

 

[AZtoVA]

a quick question. Is there an AGM starting battery? would it start my D6 VP engine? also are the regular Universal batteries ok for the thrusters?

 

[knotflying]

Before you start replacing batteries I would make sure there is not a problem causing your issue. Batteries do not like to be discharged and that shortens their life by a lot. First I would charge the batteries up and let them rest and then do a load test and get the results. If they are shot, then why? As Dale said, is the charger set correctly for the battery type. If they are flooded, did you top them off regularly with distilled water? If that checks out okay is your charger working properly? Is it not charging or "frying" the batteries? The other problem could be one bad battery killing the others. A bad cell in a flooded battery can be detected using a hydrometer. Then there is the dreaded parasitic draw. There could be something drawing the batteries down. That is a game of seek and destroy.