posted
Hey everyone, I'm a noob to this forum. I came across it while searching for info on a battery issue I am having.
Little background info. I am running 3 Kinetik HC2000 in my car. I do not have a competition stereo, but I do have a decent electrical demand. I am runnning 2 Kicker 1500.1 and a 850.4. I am also running a couple headrest montiors as well as 6 compressors for my air system.
My issue is after taking the car out of winter storage, my Kinetiks will not hold a charge. The car would not start even with a jump start. Pulled the batteries and tested each one individually. The highest of the 3 batteries was 4.21v, the other 2 were at 3.40v and 3.83v. I hooked one up to my battery charger and charged it for a few hours at a 10 amp charge. I got it up to around 11.4v, but after taking the cables off and waiting a half hour, it had dropped back down to 10.85.
Now for the questions LOL. Are these batteries toast? Someone local said they might need to be charged at a lower amperage to build the charge up properly.
If they are toast, what would be a good replacement for them? These didn't even last a year and half, so not sure I want to go with Kinetik again.
Also, am I running battery overkill? Is there a way to determine how much electrical demand my car has and what is needed for batteries?
I am running a stock alternator that I believe is rated at 140 or 160 amps. I plan to upgrade to a bigger alternator, but so far have been quoted around $800 for a 250 amp alternator or around $1K for a dual alternator setup. And if I need to replace my batteries, then that is going to cut into my alternator fund.
Any help or advice is appreciated. If I am leaving out any important info, let me know. Not thinking very clearly with being frustrated about my battery issues.
posted
definitely a slow charge from a good charger, being done in cycles MIGHT bring them back.
You should have disconnected the batteries before letting them sit for a long period. or better yet, do that and bring them into a climate controlled environment
Posts: 5494 | From: Columbus, OH - formerly FL | Registered: Oct 2003
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posted
and a battery tender would be good during storage
keep it on the charger, it might take a day
-------------------- another 152.9+ HHR
SoundStream/XS Power 5th place SS N/W World Finals 08 Reigonal 5th place SS N/W World Finals 09 N. America Posts: 1134 | From: Yorktown, IN | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
Thanks for the input guys. I was going by about twice a month while it was in storage to start the car and let it run for 15 minutes or so. But I guess that wasn't enough to keep the batteries charged.
My current storage area doesn't have power in it, so the battery tender is out for now. I will just have to start pulling the batteries from now on.
Should I charge it all day at a 10 amp setting? Also, Do I charge it till it reaches 12 volts or so, then take it off the charger till it runs down again and then recharge? Or once it reaches 12 volts, set the charger to maintainer?
This part of charging is new to me. I have always put a battery on a charger for a few hours, threw it in the car and let it charge up while driving.
Thanks for the quick replies. Hoping this will save me some money rather than get new batteries.
posted
Sounds like you have a semi large parasitic load with the vehicle off sitting. I know people (one is a local friend) who pull their batteries out for the winter and after 5 months with no charger their kinetiks still read 12.7v. I would use an AGM mode charger as well.I would contact Kinetik when you can.
[ 04-12-2009, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: amish power ]
posted
X2 on what Amish said. You should never store batteries for a long period of time without fully charging them first and making sure there are no parasitic loads on the bank. I would recommend picking up a good AGM battery charger and charge them fully. Once they are charged, have them load tested to see if they will hold a load. If not, the plates are probably sulfated. If this is the case there is very little you can do to bring them back. If after a few charge, and slow discharge cycles they do not come back to life, then you will need to recycle them and buy new ones. Let me know if you have any further questions.
-------------------- Scottie Johnson Sound Pressure Technologies
posted
How big of a load tester should a person get for those and others of that size and bigger? I have seen 50,100,500 amp.
-------------------- TEAM GORILLA AUDIO
2005 SLAP FINALS 3rd place SS2 2005 IASCA FINALS 1st place adv. 2 2005 MECA FINALS 2nd place M-7 2006 received an A$$ kicking 2007 4th(at indy) Street B 2008 taking a vacation 2009 still on vacation Posts: 509 | From: canton il usa | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Depends on what your goals are... if you want to confirm HCA, CA, or CCA 30 second tests you'll need a big one... 500A+. If you just want to verify if the battery is good or bad, a 100A load is sufficient.
-------------------- Scottie Johnson Sound Pressure Technologies
posted
Buy a Powermaster battery charger. The best battery charger in my opinion. I charge my batteries with the Powermaster charger very often and it pays off.
-------------------- Team Kicker Team Cactus Sounds Team Powermaster Loud & Clear Comp. Group 2005 Usaci World Champ. 2006 Usaci World Champ. 2007 Usaci World Champ. 2008 MWSPL World Champ. 2008 Usaci World Champ. Posts: 274 | From: Kansas City | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
Hey Guys, A little update. I spoke to Kinetik today. They will be getting exchanged. Which is a huge weight off my shoulders.
I learned alot from talking with Jon at Kinetik today. No where near a battery pro, but have a much better understanding on why things happen.
We did determine that a higher output alternator or even a dual setup should be in my near future. Just gotta start researching that stuff now. He also gave me some pointers on how my batteries should be wired up. So I will get that stuff changed over per his recommendations. I will also be ordering a Kinetic power supply/charger very soon as well. That way I will know for sure that they are being charged properly.
Once the new batteries get here I will be able to get my car moved and start work on it again. Got quite a bit of glass work to finish up, some uphoulstery work(that should be interesting), and hard line my compressors.
Huge thanks to everyone that offered advice and input.
BTW, is the email notification not turned on for this forum? I didn't see where I can turn it on or off other than the part for threads you have subscribed to. And I don't see a spot to subscribe to a thread. I assumed it would automatically add the threads you have posted in. So I appologize for not getting back to everyone sooner. I didn't even know others had posted on this thread.
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