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Recharging batteries

2K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  gow589 
#1 ·
We have a floor washing machine at work with 6v deep cycle batteries. Supposedly batteries are dead and won't even take charge. I took caps off and most of the cells in the batteries (4 of them) were low to where liquid was below top of the plates.
Is there a way to refill them (with distilled water of course) and hopefully they will take charge? Should I do hydrometer test or?
 
#2 ·
bad connection

The batteries could be bad just because they are not maintained in a charged condition. Or because they have been cycled to their limit and simply need to be replaced.
How many (6 volt) batteries are in the machine?
How are they connected together?
What is the operating voltage of the machine?
Get the manual for the machine. There may be a procedure the charge it or a special charger designed just for the machine.
Check for a bad connection on the battery cables by removing and cleaning all connections then try to charge them.
What is the brand and model #?

vicrod
 
#3 ·
#4 ·
Actually looked up on their site and it looks like they're either 24 or 36V batteries. Not sure where guys at work got their info at.
We do have a special charger for it with a plug. They're 4 batteries plugged in parallel.
 
#6 ·
The batteries need to have water added to the proper level, then recharged. You might get lucky and they hold a charge and operate normally. If they still don't work, you need to disconnect each one and test them individually with a tester that will put a load on them. Sometimes only one battery is bad and it will bring down the whole pack. The batteries in the picture are connected in series (red to black) that will give 24 volts. The specs for the Magnum machine say the charger is 24 volts, so the batteries would need to be connected in 2 series pairs, then those pairs connected in parallel. How they are connected is irrelevant, just service them, charge them, then load test them individually.
 
#7 ·
Their website says it is wired as a 24v system.
It is said to always replace the batteries as a set but many people change just a single bad battery and get decent results, its up to who ever is paying for them,lol.

I would disconnect a lead of each battery and then attempt to charge each with a 12v 25a charger. You will find out which battery(s) are shot and which might still work for a while.
 
#8 ·
In the old days when car batteries would fail and not charge there was a solution which fixed about 80% of them. The problem was the scale and debree from the platelets would be gathered at the bottom of the battery touching the plates. You could never get them to charge or they would discharge as quick as they were charged.

By emptying the battery and flushing it, putting in new electrolyte the batteries would then again last many more years.

To a small degree, back then we came to the belief that often expensive batteries had more clearance at the bottom while cheap batteries often had less clearance.
 
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