Battery and Power cell problems

[jckm14]

I recently turned my truck off which is a 2005 Chevrolet 1500 Crew Cab and with the RAP (reserve accessory power) i left my aftermarket stereo running, which consists of Hertz ECX 165 speakers in rear doors, ESK 165 for front doors and tweeters, and 2 10" ES 250D subs. The system is powered by a Audison SR 1D amp for the subs, and a Audison SR 4 amp for the mids and highs. Also I have a Shuriken SK-BT20 20ah Battery installed to help avoid draining my trucks battery. Now continuing my question after I left stereo running until it turned itself off about 10 or 15 minutes my truck was dead. So I had to get a jump to start truck. Ever since that happened truck will not keep a charge and after further inspection the Shuriken which was located under back seat was very corroded on negative terminal so I attempted to unhook cables and in process negative terminal broke off now truck is acting very strange like my gauges will jump around while driving down the road it looks like what your gauges do when starting vehicle and lights will flicker and radio restart I haven't' been using radio since the battery terminal broke off and I have the amps power cable unhooked under hood. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Click to read more...

 

[martiandancer31 10+ year member]

get your stock battery load tested?¿ Maybe it's bad.

 

[jckm14]

Ok would that cause all of the other problems that are going on?

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

you have an extremely bad connection either at the ground or at the battery posts.

It could be loose or it could be corroded or it could have caused a shield around the post to form after arcing over a long period. That's not really visible by the eye so i would suggest first measuring voltage at battery with vehicle off, then check all connections to and from battery then remove battery terminals and thoroughly scrub the posts and terminals down. Make sure you do the posts lightly, they are only lead...

 

[jckm14]

Ok I am already going to have to replace the battery that was under rear seat with the amps because of the negative terminal that was so corroded that it came off when loosening nut. Also as it sits now only way to start truck is to get a jump or use a power pack with jumper cables. As soon as I turn ignition off it is completely dead again.

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

well, remove that battery for one..

2nd, all remaining batteries, remove them from vehicle and measure voltage independently and charge them up separately.

Once they are done charging, measure voltage about 1hr after charging then again about 2hrs later then again about an hour later.

IF any of these batteries keep dropping voltage after each reading and the readings are below ~12.8v, you probably have at least 1 bad cell.

 

[jckm14]

Thank you to everyone that responded. So after testing battery and replacing if needed I should be able to install and hook up again and hopefully be good to go correct? Also I only have 2 batteries 1 under hood and 1 power cell under rear seat with the amps.

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

well.. u could replace the batts as i'm sure that would fix the issue but if the batt is just low.. i wouldnt waste the money on a new one or if you just need to clean the posts off.

 

[jckm14]

I agree and driving the truck will not charge the battery properly right? I need to hook it up to a actual charger I believe. And sorry to keep bothering you but what are some common reasons why the power cell would have had that much corrosion on the negative terminal to make it break off?

 

[jckm14]

Also with the negative terminal breaking off of the power cell is there anyway that can be fixed or is that going to have to be replaced regardless?

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

i've never had one break off so couldnt tell ya...

For the corrosion.. that could be from over-charging possibly. Not saying there is anything wrong with the alternator although it wouldnt hurt to measure it while the truck is on, overcharging is easy to happen on a batt that is damaged already and is resting at a lower voltage.

 

[jckm14]

Ok do you think it would be a good idea to install some sort of modulator to regulate the charging?

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

there is.. voltage regulator..

It's just speculation but perhaps the corrosion came because it was already bad is what i'm saying and it was left in there.

 

[jckm14]

Ah ok thanks for your help I'll post what I find out.