Maybe battery?

[richf28]

I'm wondering if my problem is strictly battery related or something additional. When boondocking I don't seem to have enough battery power. The electric hoist will kill the battery in about 30 seconds. Any lights on inside kills a fully charged battery in about 15 minutes. Forget about turning on the furnace. Dead within minutes. Checked the battery (which is 2 years old) with a hydrometer. Five cells show 100% and one shows 25%. Under a load test it does drop to weak and recovers to weak just under ok. I'm thinking battery is the problem. Takes about 6-7 hours to charge up off the generator. Any other opinions would be helpful.

[zuley]

I'm strongly suggesting your battery has failed. As a rule of thumb, if from one cell to another if there is more than a 10 percent difference when testing a charged battery with a hydrometer the battery is toast. Being in the automotive business I no longer use a hydrometer because of the mess and the numerous pairs of pants I have ruined over the past 30 years. I now carry an electronic load tester with me but the hydrometer test is certainly a better test.

[labs4life]

Yep you have a dead cell in the battery and that will not allow the battery to hold a charge sufficiently.
A new battery is in order. I assume you just have one 12v as you only mention one battery.

[richf28]

Yep. One battery. Went out this afternoon and bought two 6 volt golf cart batteries. I'll hook them up in series tomorrow. Thanks for the feedback.

[labs4life]

You will be much happier and have longer battery life. Good move!!

[richf28]

Have to thank you all again. We went to the track this past weekend for the first time since installing the batteries. One word...Fantastic. Never used the generator all weekend. Ran the heater two nights and normal lighting when needed and pump running for two nights of showers for wife and I. By the end of the weekend the meter still showed a full charge.

[labs4life]

Glad it worked out well. Thanks for the feedback also!!