Testing berlingo batteries

[ioniser10]

HI
Does anyone know what the voltage of the 6v saft batts for the berlingo should be sat at off charge for about a week now. The terminal voltages on 24 of the 27 cells are at 6.55 to 6.68 volts and one is at 3.97 and other 3 at 5.20 volts.
Also does anyone know the final terminal voltage of these batts on charge i want to charge them up and test them in the back of the van before refitting them then i can check individual batteries.
The van would do about 5 miles then low batt light would come on it was still showing 85% on the gauge. They are 2000-2001 batteries.
Thanks
Gary

[Grumpy-b]

Sounds like the same problem I have. In the end I have sorted another set of later batteries.
I cant do much mileage and with newer Cells I have narrowed it down to one duff cell. When Charged they appear to need to be well over 6.5 V to work properly, and give some decent range.
With your batteries as they are when you use the vehicle it will try and consume a certain amount of power, if the voltage isnt there the current will go up, thus can also cause cells that seemed OK to go short circuit and short , as the voltage drops below about 140v it trips in the amber light and limp mode that virtually shuts the van down in a couple of miles, just to preserve the batteries. If you get stuck. Pull out one of the under bonnet fuses. This resets the computers battery knowle and if you are very careful to keep in the green you can get a bit further. Not a good practice but saves having to push it home.

Good luck, you need some replacement Cells.

Regards
Grumpy-b

[ChrisB]

Sorry for the delay, been away

Hi Gary , sounds like you've got 4 duff batteries with shorted cells and thats enough to kill the van, not a lot you can do apart from swap out the duff cells.

Do you have a EVlite to carry out a maint charge and watering correctly ?

Theres a "chance" you might recover the shorted cells but to be honest highly unlikely and they generally go pop after a while as happened to mine.

Sadly best option is to locate some spare batteries and swap out the bad ones, I'm surprised that they are 2000/2001 batteries that have failed how many miles have you got on the van ?? and your sure thats the dates on the batteries and not just on the crates ?

ChrisB

[ioniser10]

Hi
These are the dates of the crates i thought they were replaced as a unit with the date on the crate. i will check the date on the batteries later.
I have the 4 faulty cells on a 1 amp charge at the moment the voltage has climbed from 24.3v to 28.1v but i think they are past it anyway.
I am going to load the batteries in the bank of the van on the weekend and wire and plumb them in series with 2 x 12v trojans.
Im then going to charge them monitoring the voltages. If the batteries are all ok im going to refit them after a few road tests on range.
I hope none of them go pop while there in the back off the van.
Ill let you know.

[ChrisB]

Do becareful as when they go bang they REALLY do go BANG, mark my words I've been inside the van when one of my front ones went pop

You'll need a hearing aid fitted if your inside the van and they are in the back, not to mention the risk of getting sprayed in electrolyte

Also dont forget if your running them in the back of the van you'll still need to cool them during the charge cycle or the discharge cycle if you discharge them at anywhere near there rated cap.

ChrisB

[Flying John]

Has anyone seen the science behind memory effect in NON flooded Nicads.

Just why shouldn't it apply to flooded SAFT Nicads - I know SAFT say they don't but why should there be a difference just because the electrolyte is held in an absorbant seperator ???

[ChrisB]

Ah now EVguru is the person that knows about memory effect

So Paul its over to you

ChrisB