dwaviation Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 My brand new NUMAX 110amp leisure battery fitted in August is flat as a pancake... and won't take a charge; my voltmeter gives a reading of 5.5v :'( and the charger doesn't display any charge readings at all (0.0 amp) Is it dead as a dodo? or is there hope? (The charger is an intelligent 4 stage 30amp Black & Decker - Nice bit of kit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Better search out the receipt and lug it back to vendor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euroserv Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hello. This will be very controversial but bear with me..... I have had a number of batteries that have been discharged below even the voltage that you can see on yours; perhaps one or less volts remaining, and have been able to get them back to normal. The 'intelligent' chargers are too intelligent for their own good! What i do is first make sure that the electrolyte levels are ok and leave the caps (if there are any) a little loose to allow venting. Then I give the battery a boost charge with a 120A or more charger on maximum for about half an hour. Then I disconnect the boost charger and attach the trickle charger (I have a 10A one that works very nicely over about 36 hours) and let it do it's job. The battery has been calcified to the point where your charger thinks that things are hopeless. A sudden boost charge will loosen the calcium deposits and expose clean(er) electrodes. This method will probably be frowned upon but it works for me and I have yet to blow myself up! OR.... Take it back. But this works for the older batteries that are out of warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 As your battery's voltage has dropped that low, there's a fair chance that it has a shorted or open cell. And, with the voltage being so low, a modern 'smart' battery-charger may well not commence charging. I would have thought it's had it, but it would be sensible to get a 2nd opinion from a local battery supplier before making an under-warranty claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 Thanks Chaps The 'Intelligent Charger' certainly won't play ball so I guess I shall contact the supplier and see what they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerC Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 Is your battery/vehicle used regularly or left laid up for winter? If it is laid up for winter is the battery on charge? If it is the case that it is laid up, not used and not on charge then it will be 'dead'. If not used/charged they self discharge to a level that causes internal damage and consequently will not take or hold a charge. However if the foregoing is not the case then receipt/supplier would be my next course of action as has been said previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Hi Working from memory and, at times, it is not that good :-S Numax batteries are warranted for three years, so you must have a claim there. They should be able to trace it with, or without a receipt. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul- Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 It probably won't charge as your battery charger needs a charge from the battery to tell it to work, your battery could be too low. Connect the charger to the flat battery then couple some jump leads to a charged battery, this should trick it into working. To keep a battery in good condition it should be charged frequently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Various ways are suggested for reviving dead batteries. For example http://www.ehow.com/how_5029492_recondition-automotive-leadacid-battery.html It's likely that David's Numax 110Ah battery is sealed, which would make checking its electrolyte level and topping this up impracticable if 'supercharged' as Nick described. (I remember seeing, years ago, batteries on high-power charge merrily boiling away in the corner of a local garage.) The battery was fitted in August 2013, so sulphation really should not be the culprit. Even if it proved possible to persuade his battery-charger to cooperate and begin charging the leisure-battery, David would be a brave (and optimistic) man to believe that this would restore the battery to pristine health and that the problem would not reoccur. There's a useful summary here http://www.solar-facts.com/batteries/battery-failure.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Strachan Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Very much agree with Derek, get your battery replaced and look at a proper charging pattern in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Even the best manufacturers make an occasional dud, it's the manner in which they deal with the occasional problem that sorts the good guys from the bad ones. It would simply not be possible to make 100% good ones, the statisticians amongst us can probably give you the maths, so just take it back whence it came. I've driven many millions of miles over the years, and operated fleets of vehicles during the past 30 odd years, and I've had just two duds. They usually seem alright at first, and then just fail. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Thanks chaps, sadly I bought the battery from eBay and part of the warranty is to pay the return postage to Glasgow 8-). There is a battery shop near me who have offered to have a go for free using their 'uber' charger.. So I'll give that a wizz on Monday. Kind of getting fed up with my leisure battery... Always seems to be flat. It's almost as easy to remove it from the vehicle and just use the Vehicle battery for occasional lighting down the back and fit the Leisure job when I go on holiday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 My local battery shop have just managed to revive it - Hurrah! (and they did it for free...) :-D :-D :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brambles Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hi, Fit a beefy switch (30 Amps or more) in series with the negative lead and disconnect it when not in use. Job done. Or just disconnect the negative battery connection. The battery will not have recovered fully but if it was in new condition when left discharged they are easier to recover and with high voltage pulsed charger can be desulphated reasonably succesfully but never guaranteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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