Battery or fridge??

[jemmos]

Hey guys had this prob 4 a few months now, finally decided to fix it b4 Easter! I have a evakool fridge mate that the yellow light flashes indicating low voltage on. Plug it in, with fully charged 2nd battery, runs fine, doesn't pull bugger all power on start up, fridge cycles on and off, everything fine, look at it in the morn, lights flashing, battery shows 12.3 volts, then when it starts up cycle, it shows, 10.3 volts! Then levels back out about 12.2?? When I first plug it in and it cycles it only drops .5 volt?? So I no the light is set to come on at 11.5 volts, I re wired the plug from 2nd battery with 8mm cable, only running 4meters from battery, the battery seems fine, holds charge, it's rated at 120 amp hr, ands it's only in 6 hrs this happens?? So I'm stumped why after 6 hrs it pulls 2 volts to start up, when first it only takes .5?? Any suggestions greatly appreciated guys!!!

[-Scott-]

My guess is the battery is all but dead.

When fully charged, it's all good. As it drains, (effectively) the internal resistance is going up, so the same start surge from the compressor is causing a bigger voltage drop at the terminals of the battery. A good battey wouldn't do this.

Take it to a battery place for a load test.

[jemmos]

Thanks alot Scott, thought it maybe the case, just running the fride on my start battery now, and it seems to be fine. Off to battery world 2 morrow!!

[stool]

If your battery is a Lead acid type it could be saved for under $10, well I just brought my battery back to life last week .

This is how I did it and what you need

multimeter
hydrometer
Magnesium sulfate [ aka] Epsom salts

Test each battery cell with the multimeter looking for a short circuit
Then use the hydrometer to test the battery acid
add epsom salt to the acid to help remove the build up of sulfate on the lead plates

Recharge the battery then discharge the battery down to about 11v then recharge again ,
Repeat this a few times and you will see the sulfate start to fall off the lead plates
It brought my battery back to about 90% and saved my self $300

Look up Lead acid battery and De sulfate with Epsom salts .

[jemmos]

That's good info 2 know, thanks stool, but unfortunately it's a sealed
Maintenance free!! Been down got another, put it in tomorrow and see! If it's not the battery, there will be a smashed
Fridge and new battery in my drive way!!! Lol

[stool]

You can drill holes in the top of each cell to gain access to a
Maintenance free battery .

Then buy plastic plugs to go in the holes after from a battery shop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV93b1YN ... re=related" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smsopyfyNik" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jemmos]

Put new battery in, everything working fine now!! Thanks guys!!