Forum Discussion
pianotuna
Aug 27, 2013Nomad III
Hi,
The only time that super shallow cycling is likely to be a problem is when the rv is in storage. Even then what is "lost" overnight is more than likely just surface charge. I think the 5% is a "non issue".
The "easy" way around it is to have two banks and while in storage alternate between the two on a weekly or bi weekly basis, especially if they are six volt golf cart batteries. Their self discharge rate may be 1% per day--so seven days will give you a 7% loss. Personally I find this too much trouble, even though I have switches in place to do so.
What I think is happening to negate this "need" for 5% cycles, is when the bank is actively being charged, essentially from sun up to sun down there is enough charging to replace the surface charge. Overnight only the surface charge is dissipated, so no "chemical" reaction is happening--and therefore there is no "cycle". In other words the battery is acting as if it were a capacitor.
The only time that super shallow cycling is likely to be a problem is when the rv is in storage. Even then what is "lost" overnight is more than likely just surface charge. I think the 5% is a "non issue".
The "easy" way around it is to have two banks and while in storage alternate between the two on a weekly or bi weekly basis, especially if they are six volt golf cart batteries. Their self discharge rate may be 1% per day--so seven days will give you a 7% loss. Personally I find this too much trouble, even though I have switches in place to do so.
What I think is happening to negate this "need" for 5% cycles, is when the bank is actively being charged, essentially from sun up to sun down there is enough charging to replace the surface charge. Overnight only the surface charge is dissipated, so no "chemical" reaction is happening--and therefore there is no "cycle". In other words the battery is acting as if it were a capacitor.
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