Battery Voltage with a load

[adio25 10+ year member]

Just got a new kinetik HC2000 and the voltage seems low with even the smallest loads. With the car off, HU on, amps on, volume set to 0 so there's no output from the amps, my voltage will taper from 12.8v down to 12.2v in a matter of 30 seconds. If I do the same thing with my headlights on (probably adds around 100-120w) it will drop to about 11.7v. When full tilt with the car on cruising on the highway it will drop a full volt with a stock 130 amp alt. Maybe I'm just crazy but is this normal for this big of battery to do on such small loads? Also one thing to note is that its below freezing where I live right now (5F-32F)

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Have you done the big three? Is this battery running the vehicle, and the stereo system?What amps are you running and ohms load?How old is your alternator, and the battery/batteries?

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

You may have to put that battery on trickle charge for 24hrs to see if it holding/taking a good charge?May need to get your alt checked see if its working properly, with a load on it and not.Orielys /Autozone does this for free.With the cold temps, that battery may not take a good charge.

 

[ahole-ic]

Charge it up with a battery charger and not an alternator. Then see if it still does the same thing. It should drop, but not that much in 30 seconds. You're right about that.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Charge it up with a battery charger and not an alternator. Then see if it still does the same thing. It should drop, but not that much in 30 seconds. You're right about that.

I agree with that.I was looking the battery info up, and couldnt find much for temps, yet, they do have a support for questions and answers for theyre product.Put it on a slow charge/trickle, and not a rapid charge from what I read.I have a 600, and waiting to be installed,been sitting for months, and rest at 12.9 checked last night.

 

[adio25 10+ year member]

Everything listed in my sig is current besides the diehard starting battery which I unhooked to isolate the problem to the new battery. Alt its from 2002. Have the kinetik battery on my diehard charger but after a minute of a 2 amp charge it says its 100% on the charger. Another thing I noticed was that after letting the battery get down to 11.8v with my lights on like I said earlier, the battery goes back up to 12.65-12.75v with everything off after a few minutes.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

I assume you don't have a load tester? That would be a really easy way to tell if the batt has already crapped it's pants. But something definitely seem wrong. Is there any way you can pull the batt and isolate it with some sort of load on it?

 

[adio25 10+ year member]

I can easily pull it out but don't have anything to put a load on it.

 

[adio25 10+ year member]

Did the same test with my old C&D tech 93 ah battery that was sitting at 12.7v in my garage, once installed it sat around 12.56v, with headlights on, it went down to 12.2v.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Are you in the garage, or outside in that cold weather? Your car sit out all night outside in the freezing temps?

 

[adio25 10+ year member]

Outside in the cold all the time.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

With the freezing temps, I know that the batteries draw very quickly, and do not keep up with the charge from the quick draw.I sometimes work in -10 to -40 temp freezers and we have to order a special man lift with approx 8 deep cycle batteries on it rather than the normal that only needs like 4, and even at that , it only last like maybe an 1hr 1 1/2 at the most, and we have to bring it back out to charge in the warmer temps.So, it may just be too D A M N cold for that battery, may have damaged a cell in the battery.We damaged some on a lift not knowing, and those were over $400 each.Just what I know, and have experienced.I know that they put insulation around those batteries also.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

You are going to have to take that battery out , and bring it indoors where its warm, and put a trickle charger on it, over night and see if its going to take a charge, if it doesnt, then you have a bad cell in it from what i know of. You may have to look into a type of battery/deep cycle that deisel pickup trucks use for using in the winter, and wrapping/enclosing the casing on that battery,for it to function in the cold temps.Just my 0.02cents of the situation.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Ya ..your up by the Great Lks, and Its cold as Fu$$ up there rt now.You need a good deep cycle insulated in that weather up there man.