"John H." wrote in message
...
I'm keeping the battery from the new boat in the garage so I can put a
charger on it every so often during the winter. The battery is a Nautilus
Gold Marine Deep Cycle, NG-27.

Yesterday I attempted to charge the battery with an automatic charger set
at 2 amps, 12 volt, deep cycle setting. The little green light began
blinking as though all was going well.

About 24 hours later, I noticed the little red light had come on,
indicating I should check the battery. I disconnected everything.

I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

If your charger is a "smart charger" meaning it will automatically go
through a 3 stage charging process, the battery may be too low initially and
the smart charger thinks there is a problem. It's a characteristic of the
charger.
A way to get around this is to initially use an old fashioned, voltage only
charger to bring the battery up to a level where the smart charger can do
it's thing.

Other possibilities is having the charger set for the wrong type of battery.
Many have settings for regular lead-acid, deep cycle, AGM, etc.

This is one reason I leave a good, "float" type maintainer on the battery
all winter, not to be confused with a "trickle" charger.

Eisboch

"John H." wrote in message
...


I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

One other thing. If the battery is low on charge (which it could very well
be if it is brand new but has been sitting around) the initial charge
should be at a lower, slower rate ... the 2 amp setting, not the 10 or 15
amp. There may not be enough activity going on in it to take the higher
charge rate.

Batteries are weird.

Eisboch

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:37:16 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .


I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

One other thing. If the battery is low on charge (which it could very well
be if it is brand new but has been sitting around) the initial charge
should be at a lower, slower rate ... the 2 amp setting, not the 10 or 15
amp. There may not be enough activity going on in it to take the higher
charge rate.

Batteries are weird.

Eisboch


I changed it from deep cycle setting to the regular setting and that
worked. At a 15amp rate, it took about an hour for the flashing grreen to
become continuous, indicating a full charge.

Thanks to all for the tips/advice.

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:29:25 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:35:13 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I'm keeping the battery from the new boat in the garage so I can put a
charger on it every so often during the winter. The battery is a Nautilus
Gold Marine Deep Cycle, NG-27.

Yesterday I attempted to charge the battery with an automatic charger set
at 2 amps, 12 volt, deep cycle setting. The little green light began
blinking as though all was going well.

About 24 hours later, I noticed the little red light had come on,
indicating I should check the battery. I disconnected everything.

I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

Is this a Schumacher smart charger? If so, a BLINKING green light
indicates the battery is sulfated and the charger is attempting to
correct the problem. If it goes to red after that, I would suggest
disconnecting the charger, checking electrolyte levels in all cells
and then trying to charge it again.


Actually, it's a Diehard made by Schumacher. The green light has always
blinked when hooked up to any battery, unless the battery was totally shot
and the red light never went off.

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:45:49 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:23:43 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:58:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
[email protected] wrote:

John H. wrote:
I'm keeping the battery from the new boat in the garage so I can put a
charger on it every so often during the winter. The battery is a Nautilus
Gold Marine Deep Cycle, NG-27.

Yesterday I attempted to charge the battery with an automatic charger set
at 2 amps, 12 volt, deep cycle setting. The little green light began
blinking as though all was going well.

About 24 hours later, I noticed the little red light had come on,
indicating I should check the battery. I disconnected everything.

I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

An inexpensive "trickle" charger can do more damage than good. You
really want to charge the battery with a smart charger, that will turn
itself on and off as needed.

No, mine's an older version of this one: http://tinyurl.com/24e7r7

It's a 125/15/2 fully automatic. I said 10 amps earlier, but the actual is
15.

That's not a 3 stage smart charger. You will have a tough time
properly charging a deep cycle battery using that. Walmart sells a
smaller Schumacher "smart charger" for about $75 that is actully
pretty good. It will also properly charge AGM's and Gell Cells if you
ever have the need.


I think you may be correct. This charger has been around for a while. Maybe
I owe myself a present for being a good boy. I'm thinking of something like
this: http://tinyurl.com/2nbjqy

But, I don't see anything there about '3 stage smart charger'.

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:01:11 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 10:38:06 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:29:25 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:35:13 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I'm keeping the battery from the new boat in the garage so I can put a
charger on it every so often during the winter. The battery is a Nautilus
Gold Marine Deep Cycle, NG-27.

Yesterday I attempted to charge the battery with an automatic charger set
at 2 amps, 12 volt, deep cycle setting. The little green light began
blinking as though all was going well.

About 24 hours later, I noticed the little red light had come on,
indicating I should check the battery. I disconnected everything.

I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

Is this a Schumacher smart charger? If so, a BLINKING green light
indicates the battery is sulfated and the charger is attempting to
correct the problem. If it goes to red after that, I would suggest
disconnecting the charger, checking electrolyte levels in all cells
and then trying to charge it again.


Actually, it's a Diehard made by Schumacher. The green light has always
blinked when hooked up to any battery, unless the battery was totally shot
and the red light never went off.

I saw the link you posted. That's not a 3-stage "smart charger", which
works far better on deep cycle batteries. As people have pointed out
in the past in various threads, charging a deep cycle battery is not
just a simple matter of cramming a bunch of volts and amps into it.
It's a process with stages. The charger you have is really not going
to properly and fully charge a deep cycle battery, even though it has
a switch that says it can.



Gotcha. Thanks. Maybe I'll take a ride to Wal-Mart, but promise not to tell
Harry. I don't want any long winded speeches.

HK wrote:


It pays to buy from a reputable dealer who actually checks out the boat
BEFORE the customer takes delivery.

Harry, I've have to agree that the battery could be bogus. Most
batteries come pre"charged" whick is a good deal, but I've always put
a new battery on a charger for at least a half hour before
installation. I've had brand new Delco batteries be dead right out of
the box. Some would crank a few times then just "quit".

conclusion: seperated cell.

Just because it's NEW doesn't mean it's going to be "good". That's
what warrenties are for.

Tim wrote:

HK wrote:

It pays to buy from a reputable dealer who actually checks out the boat
BEFORE the customer takes delivery.

Harry, I've have to agree that the battery could be bogus. Most
batteries come pre"charged" whick is a good deal, but I've always put
a new battery on a charger for at least a half hour before
installation. I've had brand new Delco batteries be dead right out of
the box. Some would crank a few times then just "quit".

conclusion: seperated cell.

Just because it's NEW doesn't mean it's going to be "good". That's
what warrenties are for.


Did I post anything contrary?

My dealer checked everything out prior to letting me climb aboard and
point out where I wanted X, Y, and Z installed. That included testing
the batteries.

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:54:38 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:16:29 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:45:49 GMT, wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 07:23:43 -0500, John H.
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:58:49 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
[email protected] wrote:

John H. wrote:
I'm keeping the battery from the new boat in the garage so I can put a
charger on it every so often during the winter. The battery is a Nautilus
Gold Marine Deep Cycle, NG-27.

Yesterday I attempted to charge the battery with an automatic charger set
at 2 amps, 12 volt, deep cycle setting. The little green light began
blinking as though all was going well.

About 24 hours later, I noticed the little red light had come on,
indicating I should check the battery. I disconnected everything.

I'm thinking that 2 amps is not enough to charge the battery, and that I
should try it at 10 amps. But, I don't want to damage a brand new, never
used battery!

Ideas anyone?

An inexpensive "trickle" charger can do more damage than good. You
really want to charge the battery with a smart charger, that will turn
itself on and off as needed.

No, mine's an older version of this one: http://tinyurl.com/24e7r7

It's a 125/15/2 fully automatic. I said 10 amps earlier, but the actual is
15.

That's not a 3 stage smart charger. You will have a tough time
properly charging a deep cycle battery using that. Walmart sells a
smaller Schumacher "smart charger" for about $75 that is actully
pretty good. It will also properly charge AGM's and Gell Cells if you
ever have the need.


I think you may be correct. This charger has been around for a while. Maybe
I owe myself a present for being a good boy. I'm thinking of something like
this: http://tinyurl.com/2nbjqy

But, I don't see anything there about '3 stage smart charger'.

Here's the one you want. As I said, Walmart has this one for about $75
or maybe a bit less.

http://store.schumachermart.com/ssc-1000a.html

I'll have one before the day is out. Thanks!

(And thanks to the Fed for printing money.)

HK wrote:
Tim wrote:

HK wrote:

It pays to buy from a reputable dealer who actually checks out the boat
BEFORE the customer takes delivery.

Harry, I've have to agree that the battery could be bogus. Most
batteries come pre"charged" whick is a good deal, but I've always put
a new battery on a charger for at least a half hour before
installation. I've had brand new Delco batteries be dead right out of
the box. Some would crank a few times then just "quit".

conclusion: seperated cell.

Just because it's NEW doesn't mean it's going to be "good". That's
what warrenties are for.


Did I post anything contrary?

My dealer checked everything out prior to letting me climb aboard and
point out where I wanted X, Y, and Z installed. That included testing
the batteries.

No Harry, I never said anything like that. But stuff does just happen,
and like Richard said that batteries are strange things.

I know I jumped intot he conversation with out reading the full
thread. Glad it's ok for you John. and yes, in cold weather the
electrons don't want to move very quickly. the colder the battery the
longer the time and more amperage needed.