another source for agm batteries

Almot wrote:

full_mosey wrote:

There seems to be a belief that AGMs must be fully charge with each cycle. I don't see that in the Lifeline manual.

It's not in the manual. But there was a boaters discussion including consulting with Lifeline engineers that I'm sure many of us have read. They concluded that Lifeline AGM should better be charged fully, otherwise a routine scheduled equalization is needed. They call equalization "conditioning". Last time when I tried, could not access their forum due to some restrictions. From memory:

Fully charge each cycle, estimated life 8 years.
Fully charge once a week and equalize once a month, life 5 Years.
Charge to 85% and equalize once a month, life 3 years.

Lifeline funded that sailor's report at least to the cost of the batteries. I don't mean to say we should suspend belief on the report, just keep that in mind.

What LA battery would not do well if babied with a full charge with each cycle? I disagree with MUST being applied to AGMs alone. Does anyone recall the Amps, Volts and hours of those conditioning runs? Is that what Lifeline now calls 5.5 in their manual? Were the subject batteries taken off line? Compare to what we call RVing.

What exactly does fully charge mean anyway, 100% transfer of every single S atom from the paste and back into the water?; 99, 98, 97......%, where exactly is it time to get back to RVing?

I believe that what I said, do, and did, is very close, minus the high voltage. As we know, even 13.6V will eventually charge an LA battery if left on for days as opposed to hours.

My Deka is 5yo, or to be exact, will be Jan 2014, and may have been treated as unmercifully as those sailors did the Lifelines. I did read that sailor's report more than once but must now rely on mine and other's recollection of the details. I'm sure we all came away with our own interpretations and recollections.

The routine I use was initiated last summer, after acquiring the Turnigy, or about 1.5 years ago. For sure, the Deka is my first lab rat battery and had been subjected to some awful treatment for the first two years. I continue to stress all three AGMs in driveway tests. I have chosen my replacement AGMs and plant to get many years of service from them as well. They will be treated differently with more focus on using them instead of trying to see what torture they can endure.

If my plans go well, I am going to caravan to Q'zite for the Jan events and another dry-camping adventure.

My posts are for entertainment only, facts are AFAICR, IMHO and YMMV. :)

HTH;
John