2nd batt won’t stay charged
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=64540
Printed Date: May 01, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Topic: 2nd batt won’t stay charged
Posted By: ragoal12
Subject: 2nd batt won’t stay charged
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 4:55 PM
so my problem is that my second battery will not stay charged... im running an optima red top under the hood and i have a stinger 800 batt. in the back... i have grounds on my front battery to the motor, chassy, and body.. the back battery is grounded just to the body.. all the wiring is 4 guage and the alternator lead is also updated to 4 guage... r my grounds not good enough??? or do i have a bad battery?? any help is greatly appreciated guys..
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S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Replies:
Posted By: EM12986
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:03 PM
Do you have power wire from the front to the back.
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:27 PM
EM12986 wrote:
Do you have power wire from the front to the back.
yes its 4 guage wire... kinda hard to power it without wiring... ------------- S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: KarTuneMan
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:28 PM
How do you know it's not staying charged? Is it isolated from the front battery? If I were to guess....the battery is T.U. But I'm not a guessin man..... How are the 2 (batteries) connected to the alternator? -------------
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:28 PM
I assume you have the second battery connected in parallel with the front battery? Could be your alternator simply does not have the capacity to charge them both. A second battery is not a substitute for a HO alternator. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:40 PM
KarTuneMan wrote:
How do you know it's not staying charged? Is it isolated from the front battery? If I were to guess....the battery is T.U.
the 2nd battery is connected in parralel to the front baterry.. it is isolated by a stinger 200 amp relay... what is T.U.??? never heard that before... i know the 2nd battery is not a replacement for an ho alternator.. im looking into getting one of those here very shortly... i was guessing that not having an ho alternator was my problem but i wanted to check with some people who have a little more expierence then me with this stuff.. thanx guys ------------- S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:41 PM
ragoal12 wrote:
it is isolated by a stinger 200 amp relay...what is T.U.??? never heard that before...
If it's isolated, how is it being recharged? TU = "tits up." Dead. ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 5:59 PM
its isolated with a stinger sr200.. so its still being charged according to there website as follows: First, no two batteries are exactly alike. Because of this, they will slowly discharge each other when connected together. Installation of the SR200 will allow simultaneous charging, but will separate the batteries while the vehicle is not running. Secondly, if there should be a battery failure while connected to the bank no discharge of the good batteries will take place. This is because they will only be connected while the vehicle is charging (running). i have my batteries hooked up as diagramed on there website.. if this is wrong please let me know.. or my alternator my be TU is what im thinking...
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S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 17, 2005 at 8:10 PM
OK, if you have it hooked up correctly so that the two batteries are connected together only when the car is running, then if the second battery is not being charged it's because your alternator cannot handle the load. If it charges up OK but then it discharges when the car is off, then you have a short in the second battery system somewhere. Where are your amps connected: which side of the isolator are they powered from? ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: October 18, 2005 at 9:02 AM
Read this thread.
I ranted a little bit in there, but the information is still valid. Replace both batteries right now, with IDENTICAL batteries, and my money says you will not likely have any more problems. ------------- It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 18, 2005 at 9:38 AM
dyohn the amps r powered from the side of the isolator where the second battery is.. so it would go front batt. - isolator - 2nd batt. - then to my amps... the battery held a charge just fine before i put itin my truck.. i have had to charge it once as my circuit breaker triped when i didn't have my subs in my truck.. so it drained after about a month.. .but i recharged it and it held a charge and that was about 3 weeks ago.. but i happen to be a very hard user on stereo equipment.. as i do have the volume up most of the time.. so this may be causing my 2nd batt not to charge.. thanx haemphyst but it is virtually impossible for me to have 2 identical batteries in my truck.. i don't have the room for a full size optima where my 2nd battery is... oh ya and the money i happen to be a college student so money is tight.. im sure u guys know how that goes ------------- S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: October 18, 2005 at 10:29 AM
Haemphyst is (as usual) correct. Even the Stinger propaganda that must have come with that isolator recommends identical batteries. Having mis-matched batteries causes circulating currents between them as they try to equalize with each other, and one will inevitably be parasitically drained by the other. Also, since your audio gear is on the downstream side of the isolator, it is possible that something in that setup is simply draining the 2nd battery every time the vehicle sits with the engine off. Do you ever operate the stereo with the engine off? I vaguely remember college... ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 19, 2005 at 4:09 PM
thanx for all the help guys.. i called stinger and they said its a bad battery and that it probably sat to long or something like that.. so taking it to the car audio store so they can send it back... thanx god for warranties...
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S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: Mad Scientists
Date Posted: October 19, 2005 at 5:54 PM
There's nothing inherently wrong with using an isolator in your circuit.. if the trunk battery isn't staying charged then you might want to look for problems elsewhere. As suggested, check to make sure that something isn't draining the trunk battery when the engine is off. I would also suggest measuring charging voltage at each battery when the engine is running. Having a different battery on each side of the isolator isn't a problem either.. however, if you have more than one battery in the trunk (ie - you're running a battery bank) it IS important to make sure that not only are these batteries the same size but also do the best you can to get batteries with the same date code. Best is to get some from the same manufacturing run. I *am* making an assumption here.. the assumption that when the engine is running and the batteries are connected together that charging system voltage doesn't drop below around 13.5 vdc... at least not for long. As long as the batteries are seeing 13.5 vdc they aren't discharging. What I'm attempting to say is that using an isolator with two different types of batteries (say, a starting battery and a deep cycle battery) is extremely common and very trouble free. If you are having problems, it's likely you *have* a problem. Jim
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 19, 2005 at 6:12 PM
mad scientists i know that there is no problem running an isolator... the system usually doesn't drop below 13.5v but i cant say that it hasn't cause i know it has but its not for long times.... usually only on bass hits at very low frequencies.... as i stated above i called stinger and they think its the battery.. plus i know i need an ho alt. just trying to wait till i can afford a good one.... does anyone have a preference on like an irraggi alt or one from www.alternatorparts.com ... the guy at this site said his r just as good as ohio generater since there dual rectifier but im not an alternator guy so i don't know... any opinnions r great... thanx again guys ------------- S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: KarTuneMan
Date Posted: October 19, 2005 at 6:37 PM
What I'm attempting to say is that using an isolator with two different types of batteries (say, a starting battery and a deep cycle battery) is extremely common and very trouble free. If you are having problems, it's likely you *have* a problem. This says it all.....it's been a tested, tried, and true solution for YEARS to needing more juice, and making sure you can start your rig when it's time to go home. Get a good deep cycle for the second battery, or better yet a kinetik power cell. If you have the isolater hooked correctly....your problem should be solved! Good luck -------------
Posted By: Mad Scientists
Date Posted: October 19, 2005 at 7:47 PM
If your charging system voltage holds around 13.5vdc or better then your alternator is holding up.. what I was thinking of was wiring, connection, or isolator problems not allowing the second battery to charge. Jim
Posted By: ragoal12
Date Posted: October 24, 2005 at 11:15 PM
so i took my battery to the shop i bought it from and they called stinger and stinger is trying to pull some shhh saying that the battery is out of warranty according to that date code on the battery.. which makes no since as i bought that damn thing only 10 months ago and it has a 24 month warranty.. so hopefully the shop can get this figured out cause i don't want to be screwed out of a battery.. on the same side as the second battery i have a stinger 1 farad cap (got it dirty cheap that the only reason i use it)... could this be draining power from the battery?? is it possible that i did not hook the cap up right with the initial charging of the cap?? that is that only thing left that i can think of that would cause the battery to go dead... during some bass hits the voltage on the cap will drop into the 12 volt range but its only at high volumes so most of the time the charging stays about 13.5 volts... ------------- S.O.B custsoms.. South Omaha, Nebraska
Posted By: Mad Scientists
Date Posted: October 25, 2005 at 4:49 AM
WRT the battery age.. probably the shop had the battery sitting around for a year+ before they sold it.. I can go into the local BJ's club and see batteries there over a year old, but being sold as new. As for the second battery, first you need to determine *why* the battery goes dead. Is it being charged - is it being drained - is it bad? Until you determine this it'll be hard to fix any possible problems. If the cap's ok it's not discharging the battery. Gotta go to work... Jim
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