Batteries Lead Acid vs AGM
Since we are new to RVing I have questions for which I appreciate all comments. Would like opinions on using AGMs or lead acid for House Batteries bearing in mind that AGM's like to be charged at...
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Hi PT;
I have been thinking out your ? about saturation charge.
I see the charging from the battery's point of view.
There are two Voltages; charging and float and, maximum battery temperature. There is a criteria for switching from charging to float. Lets say that when charging acceptance current drops to 1A then float begins.
The job of the charger is to keep under these two voltages according to the temps. Unfortunately some chargers don't pay any attention to battery temps.
When a battery reaches float conditions, it is not fully charged. I look at the float stage of a 3-stage charger as another constant voltage and decreasing current process. That is simply another stage-2 acceptance but with a lower Voltage cap.
When you say 200mA, then that would fit in the stage-3 float range. It would be expected that the current would be less than the 1A transition current from stage-2 due to the lower volts during float. These 200mA could be expected to taper down to the self-discharge rate of the bank. Is this called saturation charge?
I did observe 300mA right after connecting the Turnigy. Within a minute, the Turnigy dropped to 0A. That must be because the bank was already fully charged.
Of course, the SS-10 has no float, but the current does manage to drop to 0 never the less.
I have been thinking out your ? about saturation charge.
I see the charging from the battery's point of view.
There are two Voltages; charging and float and, maximum battery temperature. There is a criteria for switching from charging to float. Lets say that when charging acceptance current drops to 1A then float begins.
The job of the charger is to keep under these two voltages according to the temps. Unfortunately some chargers don't pay any attention to battery temps.
When a battery reaches float conditions, it is not fully charged. I look at the float stage of a 3-stage charger as another constant voltage and decreasing current process. That is simply another stage-2 acceptance but with a lower Voltage cap.
When you say 200mA, then that would fit in the stage-3 float range. It would be expected that the current would be less than the 1A transition current from stage-2 due to the lower volts during float. These 200mA could be expected to taper down to the self-discharge rate of the bank. Is this called saturation charge?
I did observe 300mA right after connecting the Turnigy. Within a minute, the Turnigy dropped to 0A. That must be because the bank was already fully charged.
Of course, the SS-10 has no float, but the current does manage to drop to 0 never the less.
