Trail-Cam Battery Discharge
Equipment
Have a Moultrie Camera Battery Box and original 12V 7AH battery inside won't take or hold a charge and read in the manual to completely discharge it and then recharge, but doesn't instruct how to do so...
This will be the third winter for this battery box and a single charge lasted all through the first two winters without a recharge but now on it only lasted about a week on my backyard Edge trail-cam... Since it was the first year for that camera I thought that might be the problem, but the charger light says it's still charged and won't take anymore juice... I bought a new 12V 7AH battery and it's been out a few days now and it works fine and still showing 100% capacity so I know it's not the camera... Would be nice to have 2 for rotation...
How can I drain the old battery and see if it will recharge before I trash it? Thanks...
Did you contact Moultrie?
I don't use their cams, but my friend does and he's reported having very good customer service.
No I did not, but now I will... Thank you...
Hook it to a 12 v lightbulb, let it drain. Old car headlight would work.
Thanks DanC... I might rig something up...
z, if it’s a lead acid 12v battery it generally has a 3-4 year lifespan before it loses its capacity to hold a charge.
A tip that works great is to write down the year you bought it new with a silver sharpie. And when it starts losing capacity, replace it with a 12v Lithium battery. Just know that the lithium 12v needs a specialized charger designed for Li.
I have 20 boxes out now. I make my own using $2 plastic ammo boxes from Harbor freight, a cable I buy from Amazon and a 12v battery. All in $30.
Good luck.
Thanks Pat... Yeah, the bad one is the lead acid 12v and I know it was out for 2 winters and I had it a year or so before I ever used it so It's probably on it's last leg... The new one I just bought is a Lithium Iron Phosphate but I didn't know it required a special charger... I was more worried about the correct size to fit in the box after discovering those 12V 7AH batteries have a little different dimensions depending on the manufacture and when I took it out of the box put it on my charger after an hour or so the charger indicated it was charged so I attached to the camera and works fine... If I hose it up nothing I can do about it now, its been in the field a couple days, memory capacity is probably already hosed up... I'll probably have 2 bad ones shortly...8^)
Did you ever try to drain an older one to see if it would reboot/recharge? Don't know if its worth the time to try and rig something up and try to drain the old, I probably oughta just pitch it...
If it’s a lead acid battery, and you left it totally discharged for any length of time it’s probably toast. They need to be recharged as soon as possible after use.
Hey Pat can you send a pic of your set up Thanks
Z, I have tried ‘battery reconditioning’ mode on my charger where it supposed to pulse a charge over many hours. Never worked. As soon as I figure out it’s no longer holding any reasonable charge I get rid of it. All my 12v come in after the season and get fully charged. They are also stored indoors. Even with that I may get 3 years and 4 if I’m lucky.
Way cool guys, thanks for the advice... I'll fully charge before storage from now on... Much obliged guys...
