does trickle charging kill marine batteries?

[CarLuver]

went with a friend today to have his RV battery tested. battery is 14 months old. size 31 marine . they told him that it had a dead cell. to my surprise it only comes with a 1 year warranty, which seems pretty standard after some research.

while researching why it would die, one of the reasons out forth was that trickle charging them kills them . never heard of such a thing. also, what is the reason they only come with a one year warranty while a car battery usually comes with a 3 or more year one .

 

[Snagglefoot]

Exactly correct in that observation. I’m going to venture two things:

1. The battery gets pounded with a large amount of G -Force from hitting the waves, making it more prone to damage.

2. If it’s being used in the higher latitudes, it’s common with lax boat owners to forget their battery across the winter while it discharges and freezes. The owner shows up with a bulging case looking for a free replacement battery. If they are on the ball enough to remove the battery some still forget top up the charge or use a modern smart trickle charger.

 

[CharBaby]

Although I only use a marine battery for our "Battery Back-up Sump Pump", the battery doesn't take the shock of boating.
I keep the battery on the maintainer that came with our submersible pump. This battery is over 11 years old. I keep a check on the acid level every few months and top-up if needed.

 

[dlundblad]

Exactly correct in that observation. I’m going to venture two things:

1. The battery gets pounded with a large amount of G -Force from hitting the waves, making it more prone to damage.

2. If it’s being used in the higher latitudes, it’s common with lax boat owners to forget their battery across the winter while it discharges and freezes. The owner shows up with a bulging case looking for a free replacement battery. If they are on the ball enough to remove the battery some still forget top up the charge or use a modern smart trickle charger.

Marine battery, but it was used in an RV.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Marine batteries have lesser warranties as they are much more.likely to be drawn to low.states of.charge and left there.

Any charging.of.an undercharged battery is good..mbut the 'trickle' charger must be of a high enough potential amperage to.overcome.parasitic loads. Which on an rv can be quite high with propane.and CO detectors and owners who.willy nilly tap.the.first.live wire.they find when needed.

Group.27 29 and group 31.flooded marine batteries are notoriously inefficient at reaching very high states of charge. They take much longer being held at 14.7 to.14.8v before.specific gravity stops rising, indicatimg a true full charge. Often they , even when new and healthy. Cannot.reach true full.charge on a charger that only allows a maximum of 13.8v, no matter how long they are held up there.

Returning a.lead.acid battery to a true 100% charge.with minimal overcharge, promptly, after any level.of.discharge is how.to make them last.

A starting battery drained to 50% state of charge and promptly and fully charged can do so about 100 times.
This is referred to as a ' lab cycle.'
As that is the only placebwhere it will be discharged exactly to 50% then promptly and properly recharged.

A flooded marine battery would be lucky to achieve 400 ' lab cycles'
A Flooded.deep.cycle.battery should be good for 1000+ lab cycles.

Marime batteries are often.marketed as deep.cycle. marketing BS.

Very few true deep cycle 12v flooded batteries exist. Most are just marine/dual purpose and much closer to starting than deep.cycle.in construction.

The trojan t-1275 is a true.deep.cycle.12v flooded battery with 150 amp hours capaity and no CCA rating last time.i checked. They are about the same footprint as a.group 31 but about 2 inches taller and weight 83 lbs where as most g31 flooded.marine batteries are well under 60.lbs and claim upto 130 amp hours capacity.

The more durable marine battery has lower Ca, Cca and Mca.ratings, but no.lead.acid.battery is immune to overdischarge and chronic undercharging.

 

[Donald]

What is the OP's definition of a "trickle charger"? Older trickle chargers were just 1 or 2 amp chargers that were not smart. For winter storage most people use a float charger or battery maintainer. They keep the battery fully charged all the time. Some like the BatteryMinder also do desulfation. And the better ones are temp compensated.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

I have a flooded group 27 marine battery in my pickup. It sits on a float charger all winter. Either still installed in the truck in the garage, or in a closet plugged in. Didn't think it was too bad.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Marine battery, but it was used in an RV.

Yep, but he is wondering why marine batteries typically have only a one year replacement guarantee. It’s because the seller expects the marine battery is going to be used on a boat, so only provides the one year guarantee. The seller dosen’t care it went into an RV and won’t alter the guarantee based on that.

 

[Silver]

This is such a myth-laden mystery to me. I see articles saying slow charging is best, then fast charging is best. They say slow charging is gentler, and gives a longer run time. Then they say slow charging doesn't desulphate, whatever. They say to cycle the battery, then to always top the battery off after any use (marine). I honestly don't think the correct answer is obtainable.

 

[wrcsixeight]

Athe big problem regarding lead acid batteries is false info, always false, which grandpa once erroniously spouted, which then gets repeated adnaseum as absolute unalterable fact, hardened with each retelling.

In this age of 'alternative facts' and peoples incessant need to portray themselves as a victim, who then cannot be wrong, about anything, ever ...nothing is true.

All lead acid batteries should be returned to highest possible states of charge after any level.of discharge. The deeper the discharge the more important it becomes.

The word 'trickle' anywhere near the word 'battery' should be viewed with ultimate suspicion.

A so called trickle.charger that lost its.voltge limiting ability and holds a battery at 15.8v is destructive.

One which is applied.to a deeply discharged battery but never gets above 13.2v is also destructive to the battery.as.it will never get fully charged.

But facts dont matter anymore.
Nor does accurate data or tools.

Nowadays , the only factor in a batterys longevity is apparently the sticker slapped onto its side and how many people like the sticker, and give it a thumbs up.

 

[CarLuver]

thanks for the info .

 

[sky jumper]

"trickle chargers" don't kill marine batteries per se... improper charging kills batteries, marine or otherwise. I suspect your friend's trickle charger failed to proper charge the battery --- either overcharged it like a cheap basement watchdog charger, or undercharged it like the many cheap "smart chargers" on the market that go straight into 12.7v "standby" mode after a short 13.4v absorption phase.