FLA battery maintenance

[James1079]

Yesterday I bought 8x 6v 230AH golf cart batteries from my local Carquest for $100 each G110-12. I'm trying to equalize the bank before I connect them all together. The manufacture dates range from 7/17 to 3/18. , and the voltages Very accordingly (the older ones have less volts) range is about 0.1v difference

so my starting average was about 6.12 and now my average is about 6.26 after a day of switching my charger around between batteries to reach an equal voltage

when I connect them all together and charge them as one battery is there any advantage to putting the older ones near the positive side or the newer ones?

my panels won't be here for a week should I continue to build up the voltage on them or wait until I get the panels?

[Mike90250]

Sadly, you got old stock dumped on you. Don't bother with an EQ yet, Charge them in series 2 at a time with a gentle 10 amps. Get the whole batch charged up, and then find the 2 lowest batteries, series them up and charge a bit more.
Then test all the cells with a hydrometer, see if any are sulfated. Those go back to the store for replacement, if you can convince pimple face clerk they are bad.

After a dozen cycles, you can try an EQ, but only if they have drifted apart in voltage.

[James1079]

what is a reasonable manufacture date to purchase date for batteries?

[littleharbor]

I did mention manufacturing dates being important to me and I thought 8 months was reasonable for the oldest?

Am I missing something here? Battery mfg. in 7/16 is 19 months old.

[Mike90250]

Batteries should be in the same Batch, same day of mfg. No reason for being several month apart, the older one was likely put on a charger before you picked it up. Lugs. Should fit the post they go on, exposed copper is wasted copper. Tin plated is better, use Stainless Steel nuts and washers, but don't strip the threads.

[James1079]

Am I missing something here? Battery mfg. in 7/16 is 19 months old.

Sorry 7/17

[SupraLance]

PS: you can edit your posts. Do you realize you posted 16 times in a row in 1 hour, with no posts from anybody else in between? That is considered very bad forum etiquette as it clutters the thread and inflates your post count. The better option is to edit your post to add info if nobody else has posted since you did, so it's easier for others to follow...

[citabria]

While there is a manufacturing date on the batteries, does one know if the battery acid was added at the time of purchase? Or were they acid filled at the manufacturing and shipped wet to the carquest retailer? My Trojan batteries were dry in the warehouse and got the acid added at the time I bought them.

[James1079]

They were already wet before the purchase they just pulled them off the shelf