batteries

[alvinals5]

two battery bank house an starter three position switch deep cycle for house an regular stater battery .When starting on house battery starter just clicks as if battery where low battery had full charge ,Starts well when switched to both or switch to regular starting battery is this because of less amps in house battery

 

[64osby]

Sounds to me like a poor connection, corrosion on the switch contacts or a wire that is breaking down. I would get out the ammeter and do some testing.

 

[graydonmcarthur]

likely poor connection, u could also check starter/solenoid?

 

[64osby]

Maybe a multi meter instead of an ammeter. Correcting myself here. :joyous:

 

[shrew]

If it were the solenoid, it would be the same regardless of which battery is active. I doubt this is a connection issue.

Deep Cycle Batteries don't always have the same Cold Cranking Amps as a starting battery. House batteries get drawn down deeply then are re-charged. This process will wear down a battery over time. Eventually the deep cycle will read as Full, but discharge very quickly, indicating that it wasn't actually up to its full capacity to begin with. Starting batteries have a short surge of high amp draw, then nothing and are immediately topped off by the alternator again.

What you are describing is a Deep Cycle house bank which is coming to end of its duty cycle. START on the Starting Battery and SIT on the house bank. You would only use the house to supplement starting in an emergency.

 

[fishin98]

If your starting battery is at FULL charge.....start at the starter and work your way back to the battery..check ALL connections for corrosion and tightness. While you doing this a thin coat of electrical grease is in order. Using a Deep Cycle house battery to start your motor will kill it quickly.

 

[Silvertip]

Before getting out all the test equipment, just take the battery to any auto store and have it load tested. Testing battery voltage with no load is not a valid test of its condition. Or you could simply swap the battery from your car/truck to see if it behaves the same way.

 

[smokeonthewater]

First thing to check and my bet... do you have heavy gauge NEG battery cables connecting the house bank to the engine block and the start batt? If no then that is your problem... If yes then set multimeter to dc volts and place red lead of GOOD engine block ground and black on neg house batt terminal.... have helper crank engine.... if the meter reads less than 1 volt then your ground is not the problem... if over 1 volt then fix the ground... if you have not now solved the problem then proceed as below:

Set multimeter to dc volts.... put leads on house batt terminals and have a helper try to start...if voltage stays at 12+ volts, move + to next test point... inlet side of the switch... try to start again... next outlet side of switch..... at one of those points voltage will drop when you try to crank.... whatever is right upstream of that point will be the problem


As complicated as this sounds, it should take less time than pulling the batts and having them tested.