E-6 batteries dead, won't charge. Here's what I've tried

GEM Forum
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So I’ve got nothing, no dash lights or anything. It was running fine then one day nothing. Wouldn’t charge. I have the Delta-Q on board charger which gives the 2 red light flashes with a pause when plugged to on board charger. (this mean batteries are too low to let the on board charger work) I figured that much out. So using my research, I did the Alternative Charging Method.

AlternateBatteryChargingMethod
1.Turnthemaindisconnectswitchoff.*
2.Setthebatterychargertothemediumampsetting(10to30amps).
3.Chargeeachbatteryfor10‐20minutes.*
4.Movequicklyfrombatterytobattery,asthisisonlyaresidualchargeanditwilldissipateinashortperiodoftime.
5.Afterchargingthelastbattery,removetheoff‐boardchargerleads,turnthemaindisconnectswitchonandplug*
thevehiclein.*
6.* Ifthe on‐board* charger* does* notrecognizetheresidual charge* and* activate,repeatthe* alternate* charging*
method."*

After doing this sequence two separate times, both times the charger does not recognize the residual charge. At this point I assume it’s time to just replace batteries. Any other tips before I make the purchase?

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By the way, the batteries are the OEM Gel Batteries with the GEM logo on them.

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Thanks for the reply. I’ll try that today. I said it went from fine to nothing however it was doing the turtle mode several times the last week it was running even after a full charge, 30min. later it was in turtle mode.

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Make both you and your dealer happy and buy a new set of batteries.

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I had a similar problem with my Ford Think—Friend said you have one bad Battery…I charged them over night(over 12 hours) Then disconnected each battery and check each one separate —

5 of them were good at 12.5+volts, one ckd in at 10.5. I got a new battery and all works well… I think the Battery was bad from the factory from day one because thry didn’t hold a charge as long as I thought they should…These were not the original Deka batteries. I had replaced them with Interstate AGM and less then a year old…Good Luck Stan

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Be sure the charger is not actually bad. Many on here have replaced a whole set of batteries just to find out the real trouble was something else. I say this because the Delta-Q charger is not known for reliability. Could you check the batteries with a voltmeter and report the results?

Daniel

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this thread started in 2/14… assume he got the e6 back on the road… I’m only a driver but think the problem needs to start by checking the voltage of each battery… if the batteries read evenly then it’s more likely the charger… keep in mind that the onboard charger does NOT charge dead batteries… it keeps charged batteries charged… as always Daniel makes a good point… never just change one battery it is a pack and must be treated that way… also do NOT try to run a utility off a single battery… run it off the fuse panel… in my case I added another fuse block under the hood for easier access

Bob