A FEW MORE THINGS

Went back to the boatyard to finish up winterizing the boat and taking off a few of the remaining provisions I left on board. Along with storing a few items. Starting with the outside hatches:
cabin doors

I will store them out of the weather for the winter. I might add another coat of Cetol over the winter if I get ambitious. Though more likely it will be next spring before I get around to it. I also removed the mainsheet line that was connected to the boom no reason to leave it out in the cold winter weather. I'll bring it home along with all the other lines and wash them:

Also note above that I have tapped up the hatches. Since I don't plan on accessing them for awhile adding a little bit of weather proofing. It can't hurt keeping more water from entering the bilge.

I also took the cockpit table off the the steering pedestal:

Like the hatch doors this is done to try and preserve the varnish finish. Like the cabin doors I may bring this home and add another coat before launch next spring:

That pretty much covers the winterizing items I needed to do in the cockpit. I then went to the galley lockers and took the remaining canned items I have left on board:

I'll use them for cooking at home over the winter and I don't have to worry about cans splitting open over the winter. So that wrapped up another day of winterizing. As I took a walk around deck I could not help but. notice that a few of the shrink wrapped boats reminded me of snow drifts:

A reminder that winter is just around the corner in about a month.

SOMETHING NEW IS COMING

I've been a little slow lately in putting stuff on this blog. Part of it was because BIANKA did not really do much this summer because of the controller and battery issues. Which kept the boat tied to the mooring. But, I still have a many things on the TODO list and some sailing adventures planed over the winter.  I plan to add more videos to the future postings and on occasion a Video Log or Vlog. So stay tuned.

FINISHING UP!

It was an unusually warm Autumn day.  So I thought it was about time to finishing up getting BIANKA ready for the winter. I stopped at the nearby beach parking lot with my coffee to see what was happening on Long Island Sound. I wasn't the only one getting things ready for winter.

The Harbor Master was out with his crew pulling the last remaining swim buoys from out in front of the bathing beach. I watch them finish then headed for the boatyard. The mooring fields were getting pretty empty. A few boats remained at the dock but, they will be gone in few weeks and the moorings pulled for the winter. I will still still have a pretty nice water view from BIANKA's cockpit over the winter:

Since I switched from having a diesel engine to Electric Propulsion winterizing BIANKA has been a quick procedure. Only requiring that I winterize the fresh water systems on board. Not having to change the oil and run several gallons of antifreeze through a diesel engine leaves a lot of time for staring at the harbor scene and not spending time down below hanging over the greasy diesel engine. I finished up the winterizing and headed to the car. I looked back to see BIANKA nice and snug in her winter location between the other boats in the yard waiting patiently for Spring:

END OF AN UNUSUAL SEASON

It's been several weeks since I pulled BIANKA out of the water.  It was a little earlier than I usually do. But, this was a very unusual season. Things started out well with not much to do to get BIANKA launched. Being retired there was not a real rush on my part. Then about a week before I had planned to splash the boat I discovered one of the batteries on the 48 volt propulsion bank was bad. That set off a bunch of situations that resulted in BIANKA not being able to leave the harbor on her own power and my wallet a few thousand dollars lighter. I had BIANKA splashed.  I was about to leave the dock when I discovered a problem with the controller. Since it was now mid summer and there would be  several weeks were I would be away from the boat. I decided to forget sailing and just use BIANKA as if I had pulled in from a cruise to spend a month or two enjoying the scene. I would work on the controller issue over the winter or early next spring. It was a short but enjoyable season. I still did the things that make owning a boat so enjoyable. Swimming by just jumping over the side and enjoying a nice drink while watching the sunset. Having my morning coffee in the cockpit while watching the sunrise is also a great way to start the day. Now its time to winterize the boat, store the dingy and settle in for the winter. Maybe work on a few projects and make plans for next year.

HURRICANE STORM PREP: Before and After

In early September I was facing a serious dilemma. Hurricane Hermaine was heading up the coast. This meant I would have to try and prep BIANKA in advance of the storm. But, I also had booked passage on a Cruise ship leaving New York and heading to Bermuda during the same week the storm was expected to hit. Due to a number of SNAFU's and personal travel plans I had decided to give up on sailing this season and just hung out of BIANKA at the mooring. This decision was fortuitous because I did not have a need to put the sail on the boat. This made storm preparation a little easier since I did not have to remove and store BIANKA's 540 square feet of sail to reduce windage.

I did have to do a few other things to give me some piece of mind in case the Hurricane hit the area. One thing I needed to do is remove the 33 pound Bruce anchor off the bow roller.

 The flukes of which can cut easily cut through the mooring line like a knife and set the boat adrift. It's not a difficult job but, it is awkward handling the anchor while leaning over the bowsprite. An extra line helps make sure you won't accidentally drop the anchor while handling it. I was also glad I had previously coated the shackle pin threads with Tef Gel . This made for a quick and easy removal of the shackle holding the anchor to the chain. I wish the neighboring boats would do the same but, I have not seen anyone else come out and start to prep their boats.

Once the anchor was removed and the mooring pennant lines set in the bow rollers. I used several large Ty Wraps through holes in the rollers:

These will prevent the mooring lines from popping off the  rollers and start chaffing as the bow pitches up and down in a storm. This could possibly set the boat adrift.

I also made up some spare mooring lines I planned to add to the existing mooring line as extra insurance. I got the last two 3/8" thimbles at the local West Marine and sliced them into some Tenex line I had on board:

I used a hot knife to cut out the bad section of the line before installing the thimble:

 The hot knife really helps to make quick neat cuts in some of these new high tech lines.

I also used some Parachute cord to secure the BIANKA"S Solar Bimini. The bimini had survived the 95 MPH winds of super storm Sandy but a little more security never hurts when expecting a blow:

My plans to add two additional lines to the mooring did not work out since the attachment point on the mooring ring did not allow room for two shackles so I was only able to add one line:

This was better than nothing. Though it would have been better to find this out before a storm approaches. I may see if the boatyard can increase the size of the mooring ring next year so I can fit two additional storm shackles instead of just one.

A LESSON LEARNED: Hermaine did not hit the area full strength which I was glad to learn of while on the cruise ship. There were some strong gusts but, nothing near Hurricane strength. However, after I returned and was rowing out to the boat for the first time since returning from the cruise. I saw that my spare storm mooring line was dangling in the water. I thought at first it had broken even though it was rated at over 5,000 pounds. When I inspected it this is what I found:

Apparently, I had secured the shackle pin to the thimble with a Ty Wrap to but, I had forgotten to do the same to the shackle that attached to the mooring ring. As a result of the pitching up and down the pin loosened up and eventually fell out make my spare storm mooring line useless. When this happened is anyone's guess. But, it is a lesson learned to make an inspection list before leaving the boat when prepping for a storm.

TRYING TO REASON WITH THE HURRICANE SEASON: Hurricane Hermine

It was a delightful week on board until Hurricane Hermine threatened to show up. Which meant I need to start thinking about prepping the boat should it arrive. Adding to the tension was the fact that I would be away for the time the storm was supposed to hit. So should something happen to the boat it would be several days before I could get back to check on it. This was a similar situation to several years ago when Hurricane Irene hit the area. But, back then it was because I was working 250 miles away from the boat. This time I am retired but, will be 600 miles away and on another boat. Though the one good thing about my decision to scrub the sailing season is I never put on the sail so I did not have to take it off on prepping for the storm. Still being so far away from the boat and not being able get back to check on her post storm is somewhat disturbing. But, one can only do what one can the rest is up to the nature of the storm.

POSEIDON SPEAKS TO ME: Part Four

So it has finally come down to this. Because of the battery problem which delayed launch. Followed by the surprise of the failed EP Controller. These issues had pushed the idea of sailing even further out in the season. Yes, I could just replace the controller but, Dave at Annapolis Hybrid Marine said they no longer use that controller because several others had  surprise failures too. They are using a new controller but it requires a bigger enclosure box. He had one in stock and I could have swapped it out pretty quickly. But, I had other considerations to take into account. Namely a girlfriends beach vacation and a cruise to Bermuda for my grand nieces wedding reception that would take me away from the boat for additional weeks. I'd not be able to start to fix  things  until mid September. Since I'd probably be pulling the boat in mid October anyway it would not leave much time for sailing even if the weather cooperated. So I decided to scrap this sailing season and use BIANKA as my floating harbor home. I don't have to put the large sail up and I have plenty of projects to keep me busy. Plus I could jump over the side for a refreshing swim anytime. Actually, It's not a bad place to be. Perhaps Poseidon is right.

POSEIDON SPEAKS TO ME: Part Three

I called David at Annapolis Hybrid Marine the U.S. distributors for the Thoosa 9000 systems.  Since the Key switch did not seem to be the issue I began thinking of other things that might easily resolve the problem. One was to disconnect the B+ of the battery to hopefully reset the controller. David said that was not necessary. I then mentioned that the power contactor relay might be bad. David ask if I had a multimeter on board. Of course I did. He suggested I remove the cover to the controller box and he could guide me on making some voltage measurements. This of course means emptying out the starboard locker and squeezing my way to large frame down below in the summer heat to access the controller box. I had not had to do this in eight years of electric propulsion operation because the system was so reliable. But, now it had to be done. I then asked a question that saved me some aggravation. In preparation of my journey down below I asked how many screws hold the cover of the controller box and are they Phillips? David replied no they are Torx (star) type screws. I did not have any Tork screwdrivers on board so I would need to buy them. But, at least I had not found this out after contorting my body down below after emptying out the locker. So it was a row back to land to get a Torx screw driver set to continue trouble shooting.


At the store I had several choices of Tork tools. The first one I picked up was a compact set that folding into the handle. It looked like it would do the trick. Though something told me that maybe I had better have a backup.


So I also bought another Torx set that had a screwdriver type handle with interchangeable bits. 
 Good thing I did this because I found that with the compact folding set it was difficult to access and turn the screws at the rear of the case. Where as the set with the screw driver handle was much more secure and made it easy to turn the screw. But, even then I found the controller box was just a little too close to the battery charger case to use the handle.  I was however able to use just the Torx  bit and a pair of small vice grips to turn the screw enough to remove it.



With the controller case finally removed I gave David another call and armed with a digital multimeter I was able to start trouble shooting.  There is not much to a Thoosa 9000 system. There is of course the battery bank, motor, key switch and a box holding the controller and a few other components.

But, even inside the controller box there are many components that one finds with a diesel engine system. There is a relay, fuses, connectors. The one main different component is the motor controller. In my case it is a Navitas 400 unit. Under Davids guidance I carefully connected the multimeter ground to the B- battery connection in the box. I then checked the voltage at the power relay connections. Which was the component I thought was the next culprit after elimination the key switch. I measured 55 volts which was full battery voltage on both terminals.  David explained that it looked like the the relay was good because 55 volts on both terminals means the coil of the relay is not open. What happens on turn on is after the Controller does it's self check it grounds one side of the relay which then allows full battery power to the controller. This was not happening. So it was time to look at the controller. There were two status/fault lights on one side of the controller neither one was on. David then instructed me to probe two pins on the multipin connector  to the controller module.  There was 55 volts across those pins. This meant the controller module was getting power. So the diagnosis is the controller is bad. David mention this had happened to other units and as a result they were no longer using the Navitas controllers because of these mysterious sudden failures. Stil I had gotten eight trouble free years out of this one and could easily replace it but, I was thinking it might be best to upgrade to the new controller David mentioned. Trouble is the new controller is larger and won't fit in to the current box. He said I also needed to check if the new slightly larger box dimensions would fit in the current space. I'm pretty sure they would but, I want to make sure and while I'm at it I want to mount it so I will be able to have enough roof to use the Torx screwdriver handle to remove the cover in the future.

 So a quick ten minutes of probing and the problem was quickly diagnosed. Compared to the hours I and some diesel mechanics I had hired in the past spent scratching our heads working on the diesel it was a breeze. Unfortunately, it is getting late in the season and I would be away for several weeks. So I had a few things to think about before I decide to move ahead with a new controller box which I'll share in an upcoming post.

POSEIDON SPEAKS TO ME: Part Two

It was already mid July BIANKA was late in getting launched because of the previously mentioned 48 volt Battery bank issues. The new batteries were now in place and I was anxious to bring the boat out to the mooring and get away from the dock. Being at the dock was certainly convenient especially when loading over 500 pounds on new 8A4D batteries on board. But, in summer the breeze is not always coming from the most favorable direction for working on the boat. It was also one of the reasons I had not attached BIANKA's sail to the mast. As it turns out this was a good move. I had bought it on board in it's sail bag and laid it at the bottom of the mast. My thinking was it would be much easier to install it on the mooring with the boats bow pointing into the wind.

I was finally ready to untie the lines after a months delay. I had four brand new batteries on board. I had reloaded the cockpit lockers with all the "stuff" I had removed to load in the new batteries. I was ready to shove off. All I had to do was hit the main power switch on the controller box then turn the Key Switch in the cockpit.  This tells the controller to engage the contactor relay which provides battery power to the controller  which then provides power to the motor.  The main power switch lit up as normal. I then turned the Key Switch expecting to hear the loud click from the controller box that tells me the contactor relay had closed. But, instead I heard nothing. I turned the Key Switch again still nothing. I tried a few more times making no progress. It was mid morning and looking to be another hot humid summer day.  I was sure that after eight years the Key Switch had finally succumbed to the elements. I'd easily fix this at the mooring I thought. So I told the boatyard folks to tow BIANKA out to the mooring and they could have work dock where BIANKA had taken up space for the week.

I then went to the dingy dock where I kept my eight foot Porta Bote dingy and rowed out to the mooring. I was so confident the the corroded Key switch was the problem that I  spent a day or two doing other things on board before I looked at the switch. When I finally removed the switch things did not look that bad. I removed the spade lug connectors from the back of the switch and tried to short them together for a quick check but, it was still not working. Perhaps there was a lot of internal corrosion inside the connectors I thought. So I cut the connectors off and stripped the wires and twisted them together. Still not action from contactor relay. Uh oh I thought this is still a little more serious. My thoughts now turned to the contactor relay. Another simple fix if it was bad. But, I would have to open the controller box which meant I would have to remove everything again from the cockpit locker and squeeze my large frame down below in the mid summers heat. I was not looking forward to this but, it would need to be done. But, first I thought I'd give a call to David DiQuinzio Chief Technical officer at Annapolis Hybrid Marine U.S. distributors for the Thoosa systems and get his thoughts. 

TO BE CONTINUED

POSEIDON SPEAKS TO ME: Part One

Well, this ninth season with electric propulsion has certainly been one of two steps forward and one step back. Looking back at how things have gone it certainly seems as if the Gods are conspiring against BIANKA venturing too far off the mooring after eight years of pretty trouble free operation. To recap:

Spring outfitting was going well as usual until a few days before I was planning to launch. I plugged into grid power to do one final charge in the boatyard before launch when I noticed one of the batteries was not reaching full charge. Some further testing showed it was going bad and would need be replaced.

Since all the batteries in the bank were eight years old replacing only the bad battery created my first dilemma. By only replacing the bad battery in older 48 volt battery bank results in the older batteries degrading the new battery. So in a few years I might have to replace all of the batteries again. So I decided since the battery bank was eight years old I'd replace all of them now. So that's what I did.

Unfortunately,  shipping damage made two of the new batteries unusable and required replacements to be ordered further delaying installation of the new batteries. Poseidon must have had Thor or whoever the God of shipping is throw the batteries around in the truck to damage them.

Since I would be removing the old batteries. I decided now would also be a good time to reconfigure the position of the batteries so they will be easier to access and service in the future. But, I needed to extend the the battery platform to do this. This was the time to do this but, it meant an additional delay while I worked on how to extend the platform.

Once that was done it was time to install the new batteries which went well. With the new batteries installed and rewired it was time to head out to the mooring. I turned the systems main power and then the key switch to engage the contractor relay. Nothing! For some reason the relay was not energizing and providing battery battery power to the controller and motor for operation. Poseidon is laughing at this no doubt.  I'd been at the boatyards work dock for a week and the boatyard was getting antsy for me to move out of the way.

I thought it would be a simple problem with the Key switch that tells the controller to engaged the contactor. Certainly eight years with the switch exposed to the elements had caused the switch contacts to fail. Something I could easily fix while at the mooring.  It was now already well past July 4th I was also anxious to get out to the mooring where I would also be able to jump off the boat for a swim in the summer heat. So I told the boatyard to tow BIANKA out to the mooring where I thought I would be able to quickly fix the switch issue and finally start the sailing season. Unfortunately this was not to be the case...

TO BE CONTINUED

THE COST OF RECYCLING

With the brand new 8A4D batteries on board BIANKA I was faced with what to do with the old batteries I still had in my possession. These included the four old batteries that made up the propulsion bank along with the two new 8A4D batteries that were damaged in shipping.  I knew the two damaged batteries and the one bad battery from the propulsion bank should be recycled ASAP if only to make some room in my garage. I called the local place I usually recycle metals to and asked what they paid for the large 8A4D batteries. They said six dollars. Hmmm, only six bucks for over one hundred plus pounds of lead batteries?  I decided to call another scrapyard nearby and there I was told they pay twenty eight cents a pound. So my 8A4D would make me thirty six dollars each. It really pays to shop around even if you are just recycling.

BATTERY INSTALL 2016

The sailing season has been delayed while I deat with the damaged battery SNAFU. Two new 8A4D batteries arrived to replace the two that were damaged in the original shipment. The only difference is that the batteries probably have different manufacturing dates. When I ordered the original batteries the battery company said it could provide batteries manufactured the same day. But, now that probably is not the case. Whether or not it will make that much of a difference only time will tell.
So I loaded up all five hundred and twenty pounds of batteries into the car and took them to the boatyard.

I had BIANKA launched because it would be easier to load the batteries into BIANKA while floating at the dock.
I did make some major changes in the placement of the new batteries. I reversed the location of the the terminals of batteries one to three. I just turned them around so all terminals are located along the port side. Battery four was off by it's self next to the other batteries facing aft on the starboard side. The was because the engine stringer which held up the original battery platform did not extend far enough aft to allow for the fourth battery so I installed it next to the other three. Unfortunately this also meant I had to empty out two cockpit lockers to do any maintenance on the pack instead of one. It was a real pain.
By building a metal extension battery holder out of slotted angle iron and extending it off of the existing platform:

I was able to line up all the battery terminals on the same side and make them easy to reach after only emptying one of the cockpit lockers. This will make for much easier access and maintenance in the future.

 Other than doing the install on the hottest day of the year the install went pretty good. There might be some tweaks I might want to do but, they could wait until the off season. The next step is to get the batteries wired up. I did have some concern that since I changed the layout of the batteries that one or both of the main battery cables would not reach the proper terminals. We'll see how that works out once I start wiring thing up.

A BATTERY SNAFU!

I order four new 8A4D MK batteries and waited a week as they made their way up from Sanford Florida. They were additionally delayed by the fourth of July holiday weekend. I received a call from the shipping company that unless I had a fork lift I would have to come and pick up the batteries at their warehouse. OK no big deal and I could then drive right down to the boatyard and begin to install them.
  I drove the half hour to the warehouse and two employees bought the batteries out on a pallet with a fork lift. The four batteries were loosely wrapped in plastic but, they still  had cardboard boxes covering them.

The cardboard was a little beat up and I did check one of the batteries to make sure they had the right terminals. In my rush to get them loaded into the car I did not check the other batteries. I signed the delivery form and off I went to the boatyard with five hundred pounds of battery in the back. When I got there I started to unload the batteries it was then I saw this:

Two of the batteries had bent terminals! One had a misshaped case too.While they tested fine I was not about to take any chances with them especially on a boat. I really should have inspected each of the batteries more closely when I picked them up.  Obviously the shipping company had mishandled the shipment and caused the damage. I contacted ALT-ESTORE customer service from whom I had ordered the batteries who then worked with MK BATTERY and they arranged for two new batteries to be shipped to me. Capt Mike gives a tip of the hat to both companies for their excellent customer service.  One thing for sure is  next time I need new batteries for BIANKA's electric propulsion system I'll be checking the batteries before I sign off on the delivery.

MY BATTERY REPLACEMENT CHOICE

A new set of batteries should be arriving today to replace the original eight year old 8A4D batteries on board BIANKA. Due to the failure of one of the batteries I thought it best to replace the whole lot. While the remaining batteries seemed to be in good enough shape they would only degrade the new battery.  This would require me to do another whole swap in a few years anyway. I looked into Lithium Ion replacements and the economics just did not quite make sense yet because of the increased price and other add on items I would have to buy like a new charger. I found a 48 volt 200 amp hour Lithium Ion battery for around $5000. For the same amount of money I could replace all my AGM's two times and still have a sizable chunk of cash for other boat needs. The AGM's should last me a minimum of sixteen years based on my experience with the first bank. If Lithium prices come down as they have been predicting I will revisit the issue but, for now I'm going with what has worked for me the past eight years.

THE PAIN OF RECYCLING

Since my analysis has confirmed at least one bad battery in my 48 volt string I thought at least let's get that off the boat and recycled ASAP. Though the boat is on land I thought I'd be able to remove it.  Even though my Nova Lift hoist does not have enough line to place the battery on the ground there is part of a dock flotation pad close under the hoist area where I could drop the battery on it and then lift it to the ground where I could use my hand truck to take it to the car. Sounds like a plan!

I was able to easily remove the bad battery from out of the hold with the hoist and drop it down onto the flotation pad. The problem occurred when I tried to lift the 134 pound battery onto the ground. As I lifted it part of it grabbed onto a basket of fishing line also sitting on the flotation pad. As I moved about trying to get the battery to release from the basket I heard a pop in my thigh followed by a sharp pain.  Though in pain I was finally able to get the battery onto the ground and into the car. After consulting Dr. Google my painful symptoms pointed to a pulled Ham String muscle. Treatment includes rest and ice. Climbing the ladder to get onto the boat was rather painful so further battery removal and boat work will be put on hold for a few days while my leg recovers. It's been a two steps forward one step back kind of day.

TO BE CONTINUED

BATTERY ANOMALY: Part Three: Additional Testing

After another day of charging I did some more tests of the suspect battery using the Centech Meter. This time the battery resistance reading had dropped to 9 milliohms. A big improvement from the 194 reading but,  still three times what I had measured back in 2012. In addition the meter said I only had 335 Cold Cranking Amps available from the battery. Manufacturing spec says it should be 1100. So even though after several charging attempts the battery is really not up to snuff and will need to be replaced.

I then decided to some quick tests of the other batteries in the string using the CenTech meter. Starting with the first (most positive battery in the string:

As the above photo shows this battery had 1404 Cold Cranking Amps available. So at least with this test seems good. Next I checked Battery Two:

   

As the readings above show the results are not as good as the first battery. In fact it only shows 884 Cold Cranking Amps available. Not as bad as the suspect battery but, under the spec of 1100 CCA.
Battery three was tested next:

This tested better than battery two but, not as good as battery one. At 1150 Cold Cranking Amps it was just over the battery specifications but, not by much.

After doing these tests and thinking about the age of the batteries I came to the conclusion that it would be better to change out all of the batteries in the 48 volt string. In addition after doing these test in the confines of the under the cockpit space I decided I would position the batteries differently to make access for future testing easier. The next question is do I go for Lithium Ion batteries or stick with the AGM's?

TO BE CONTINUED

BATTERY ANOMALY: Part Three: Additional Testing

After another day of charging I did some more tests of the suspect battery using the Centech Meter. This time the battery resistance reading had dropped to 9 milliohms. A big improvement from the 194 reading but,  still three times what I had measured back in 2012. In addition the meter said I only had 335 Cold Cranking Amps available from the battery. Manufacturing spec says it should be 1100. So even though after several charging attempts the battery is really not up to snuff and will need to be replaced.

I then decided to some quick tests of the other batteries in the string using the CenTech meter. Starting with the first (most positive battery in the string:

As the above photo shows this battery had 1404 Cold Cranking Amps available. So at least with this test seems good. Next I checked Battery Two:

   

As the readings above show the results are not as good as the first battery. In fact it only shows 884 Cold Cranking Amps available. Not as bad as the suspect battery but, under the spec of 1100 CCA.
Battery three was tested next:

This tested better than battery two but, not as good as battery one. At 1150 Cold Cranking Amps it was just over the battery specifications but, not by much.

After doing these tests and thinking about the age of the batteries I came to the conclusion that it would be better to change out all of the batteries in the 48 volt string. In addition after doing these test in the confines of the under the cockpit space I decided I would position the batteries differently to make access for future testing easier. The next question is do I go for Lithium Ion batteries or stick with the AGM's?

TO BE CONTINUED

BATTERY ANOMALY PART TWO: Readings and observations

 I looked to the cause of why Battery 4 of my 48 volt Electric Propulsion bank was not charging properly. Since the terminals for this battery can best be accessed by the starboard  locker hatch I first had to empty out the locker and then squeeze my large frame down into it.

Taking off the protective caps on the negative terminal I had quite a bit of corrosion on it.

 This was because I had become somewhat  complacent in checking and cleaning the terminals. Mostly because up to now the battery charging had been operating normally.  The failure of battery four just happened a few days ago. After cleaning the terminals I used an battery tester to check it:

The readings above show a voltage of 10.87 volts and an internal battery resistance reading of 196.2 milli ohms. Which is a much higher resistance reading than when I last checked it on February 12, 2012.Which was 2.43 milli ohms. So obviously something had changed in this battery.  I will try a few more attempts at charging but, I don't think things will approve much. TO BE CONTINUED.