I've got the inverter using bank 2, which is an 8D battery. Bank 1 is a pair 1000 CCA truck-size batteries. Bank 1 is clearly almost new, Bank 2 could be 15 years old for all I know.
The inverter/charger is powered on, so it should be covering the basic house loads, which at this point are just a few lights most of the time. It appears to be working, mostly the "float" light is lit but it goes to "accept" from time to time, and "charge" after I put a load on for a while with the shorepower off. I can switch the house loads between bank 1 and bank 2.
Bank 2 is reading 14+ volts at the power panel. Bank 1 shows a little high at 13+ volts, too. I figured maybe the inverter's gauge was a little off, and maybe the inverter was putting out the 14+ volts to power the house loads.
Then I went to start the engines for the first time this season. One is on bank 1, one on bank 2. Neither one turned over fast enough to start. One at a time, I threw the selector switch for each engine to "all" and the starters spun right up and started immediately. Also, with the engines running, the analog voltmeters agreed with what the inverter was telling me (14+ and 13+ volts.) I'd expect that at first, but I ran for an hour and the meters didn't go down much.
This leaves me with three mysteries:
- Why is the voltage 14+ on one bank?
- Why 13+ on the other?
- Why, after being on the charger for weeks, didn't they start the engines alone?
I'm prepared to believe Bank 2 is just old and needs to be replaced. I plan to replace it with 6 golf cart batteries first chance I get anyway. I suppose Bank 1 could have not been getting a charge because the inverter/charger is not set up the way I assumed it would be (charging both.)
Still, I've never seen a battery voltage that consistently high.
The inverter/charger is powered on, so it should be covering the basic house loads, which at this point are just a few lights most of the time. It appears to be working, mostly the "float" light is lit but it goes to "accept" from time to time, and "charge" after I put a load on for a while with the shorepower off. I can switch the house loads between bank 1 and bank 2.
Bank 2 is reading 14+ volts at the power panel. Bank 1 shows a little high at 13+ volts, too. I figured maybe the inverter's gauge was a little off, and maybe the inverter was putting out the 14+ volts to power the house loads.
Then I went to start the engines for the first time this season. One is on bank 1, one on bank 2. Neither one turned over fast enough to start. One at a time, I threw the selector switch for each engine to "all" and the starters spun right up and started immediately. Also, with the engines running, the analog voltmeters agreed with what the inverter was telling me (14+ and 13+ volts.) I'd expect that at first, but I ran for an hour and the meters didn't go down much.
This leaves me with three mysteries:
- Why is the voltage 14+ on one bank?
- Why 13+ on the other?
- Why, after being on the charger for weeks, didn't they start the engines alone?
I'm prepared to believe Bank 2 is just old and needs to be replaced. I plan to replace it with 6 golf cart batteries first chance I get anyway. I suppose Bank 1 could have not been getting a charge because the inverter/charger is not set up the way I assumed it would be (charging both.)
Still, I've never seen a battery voltage that consistently high.