Batterys ran dry

[Raymond smith]

After storing my deep cycle batterys in the basement for the winter,they dried up on all the cells.All the water was gone so i refilled them with tap water but they will not come back to life.is there anything i can do to fix them.They hold around 7 volts Thanks

[Dave5Cs]

Are they sitting on concrete? because that will drain them very fast. Always put them up on the bench or at lease up off the slab. You should always use Distilled water only, never tap water. It has to many minerals in it. Are they 6 volt batteries if so they should put out around 7.6

[Raymond smith]

They were sitting on 2x4 wood.They are Trojan 12 volt deep cycles

[Dave5Cs]

7 Volts toast. If they were on a charger it may of been a standard charger? with no float charge or you didn't desulfate them every 3 months and or frozen if cold and dried up. Caps left off. You get that these are just possibilities.

[Raymond smith]

No charger on them,they were just sitting there,went dry on their own.never been frozen either. Raymond

[eagle19952]

When you put the charger on one battery, measure the charge voltage that your charger is applying.
What is that number ?
When you are charging do the batteries percolate/boil ?
What kind of charger are you using ?

[gus]

It is worth a try by using a high amp charger (10+ amps) for just a few seconds at a time, then try about 2-4 amp charging to see if you can get them up to 10v.

If so you can use a smart charger which will pulse charge them possibly back to a full charge.

There are a lot of maybes in this method but it sometimes works.

As a last resort I've even used the Start Boost on a charger which can be from 50-100 amps, but only for a very short time -seconds. Just be sure you don't stand too close to the batts when you do this!!

Overall, the chances are not good.

Next winter invest in a small smart charger and keep it hooked up all winter. Do not use a cheap float charger, it will dry your batts too.

[Mex-Busnut]

Ray:

Sorry to hear about your batteries.

Please check these threads. Perhaps you might have success in resurrecting your batteries:

https://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=22583.0

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=22462.msg246862#msg246862

I wish you success, my friend!

[Mex-Busnut]

Here is another method:

http://www.thediyworld.com/ssg-battery-restorer.php

[TomC]

Those batteries are probably bad. If you have the caps on the cells, and just sitting there, they should not loose water for months on end. Sounds like you have a bad, or shorted cell in the battery. Or perhaps they froze, cracked the case then the electrolyte leaked out? Does it hold water? Sounds to me they are toast. Even if you were to bring them back to life, I doubt they would have much reserve power left. Probably time for new ones. Good Luck, TomC

[John Broadhead]

For sure, filling with unfiltered tap water will kill them, maybe not immediately, but it's definitely a bad idea. Expensive, too.

[Raymond smith]

the batterys went dry just sitting in my basement for the winter. They were never frozen and they hold water,the caps were on the whole time.Thanks for all the replys,Raymond  p.s.  -30 here tonite,-38 wind chill  C,mon Summer

[Barn Owl]

Nothing will bring them back to anything you would want to live with. I have said many times in other posts that batteries start to die as soon as they are manufactured and have a finite life (just like a person). The only variable is how well they are maintained. That is also why I don't like the Interstate "Refurbs". I have posted about those also, a complete waste of money and Interstate goes laughing all the way to the bank. Most of us have been in your shoes and it really sucks to pony up for replacements at current battery prices. The only thing other than a hole that I know that causes that condition is overcharging. I cooked a good set of house batteries that way in short order one time.