Hi all. I think I already know the answer to this question, but what the heck...

We have a truck camper with 2 Trojan T-105 6V batteries. I've had the batteries for 5 years and they have served me very well.

Last year, we didn't get the camper out at all so the batteries remained in the garage. I would go out about once a month and put the charger on them for about 12 hours (2 amp) just to keep them topped off. I would also take a peek inside the batteries to be sure water levels looked good, which they did.

Yesterday, I pulled the batteries off the shelf to install in the camper. And, upon moving the batteries, I hear a "glug, glug, glug". This can't be good. I put them on the floor and look inside. The plates are exposed. I run to the store and buy some distilled water. Between both batteries, they take about 1/3 gallon.

My presumption is that some kind of surface tension kept the water from dropping as it was obviously boiled during my 1.5 years of periodic charging.

After topping off with water, I've had one battery on the charger at 10 amp for ~36 hours. Batteries are ~200 amp-hour rating. 10 amp x 36 hours = 360. Which exceeds the amp-hour rating of the battery. And the charger does NOT show the battery charger as full yet.

So the short question is this...are my batteries toast? Am I just wasting my time trying to salvage them? Should I just abandon all hope and splurge for new ones?

Like I said, I'm pretty sure the answer is "buy new ones". But figured I'd ask before I drop $150 on new ones. Thanks.

 

Most chargers set at 10 amp don't actually deliver 10 amps, especially when the batteries are close to charged voltage. Still, I think you might be ready for new batteries. Maybe T125 or 145, if you have the height, if you want a bit more capacity.

 

Only way to tell for sure is to test it using a hydrometer..