MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Let's take my big chargers -- voltage limited.
Voltage at battery terminals instantly goes to set point and remains there?
What is THAT called?
Absorbsion?
I call it Saturated Charging.
The fastest safe way to charge a battery. Yes a battery may live seven percent longer if amperage is limited to 20% of ampere hour capacity.
David nailed it - if I'm interpreting his words correctly.
With or without using a remote control loop sensing charger and with or without using huge AWG cables between the charger and the battery and probably even then having the charger sit right next to the battery - it can take a BIG CURRENT CAPACITY CHARGER to insure that a desired voltage on a partially discharged battery's terminals during boost or absorption stages is the actual voltage that is stated on the manufacturer's spec sheet for the battery. Using this charging condition is what is called "Constant Voltage - Unlimited Current" charging and will typically provide the fastest recharge of a lead acid RV battery.
Application of these kind of charging voltages is what I think that battery manufacturers mean when their battery specification states that X voltage is required during Y charging stage whenever charging a particular model of their battery. They mean "X voltage" is what is required right on the battery terminals, and it can be very difficult and/or expensive to achieve this fastest type of constant voltage charging due to the capacity of the chargers required.
What this translates into is ... if you think you have a charger that is applying 14.8 volts to your, say 50%, discharged RV battery during the charger's boost charging stage ... good luck reading that 14.8 volts both on the battery terminals and the charger's output terminals - unless you're using a charger that is capable of supplying all the current the battery can take at that voltage.
