newbie battery and electrical question

booster wrote:


I would not agree that AGM batteries don't require a multistep charger. Lifeline is even recommending equalizing now. While it is true that they will charge off a single step, they will not charge the best, and not last as long. They will also not get totally full as quickly as they would with a proper multistep. If batteries aren't charged to a full 100% on a regular basis, they lose capacity fairly quickly.

I am quite familiar with the Lifeline manual and often cite and quote from it with links, page, and paragraph numbers.

Could you tell where in their manuals you have found the above claims?

Example:

Page 20 of the 2011-07-11 manual wrote:
5.5 Conditioning should only be done when the battery is showing symptoms of capacity loss due to
extended time in a partial or low state of charge condition. This could be caused, for example, by low charging voltage for an extended number of charge cycles, or by repeatedly charging to
only 90% state of charge.

NOTE: Some chargers use the term Equalizing Charge instead of Conditioning Charge. An Equalizing Charge is generally applied to flooded lead acid batteries that are susceptible to acid
stratification. However, an Equalizing Charge may be used to provide a Conditioning Charge for Lifeline® batteries as described below.

This is the only mention of equalizing in the entire manual and therefore Lifeline clearly doen NOT recommend regular, routine, or periodic equalizing. Instead, Conditioning is a recovery procedure for an abused battery.

Also, take a look at 5.4 Charging.

HTH;
John