Battery charger deep cycle batteries and desulfiting?

You desulphate with an "over-charge" That means they have to be fully charged first, then you do the over-charge.

Can't use a hydrometer on the agm battery. Will use it on the wet batteries before charging and desulfiting. Should I charge a weak battery before or after desulfiting?

Myself, I would recommend purchasing a hydrometer first. Without knowing where the electrolyte density is at, is flying totally blind. The way this scenario can play out, is for you to spend almost a hundred bucks to find out one cell is bad the hard way. Equalizing without knowing what us what, is like driving blindfolded.

westend wrote:


Doh: Mena and I are thinking alike and at the same time:D

:B

How are you measuring state of charge, with a meter? You can't send too much amperage to the AGM with that charger. Voltage, though, could be an issue. I wouldn't push it with anymore than 14.8 V.

If your charger has a 6V setting, you should be able to use the charger to charge a single 6v at any rate. You can charge or equalize two 6V's in series as a 12V, also.

Doh: Mena and I are thinking alike and at the same time:D

hpcbmw wrote:

Anyone know if I can use the "conditioning" on a 6 v battery, or on the two 6v batteries connected as a big 12v battery?

Thanks for all the info so far!

Unless it has a 6V setting, you'll need those two batteries in series when connected to that charger.

Well, I just bought the Stanley 40a, since I need my truck and camper for New Years. I've got it hooked up to my AGM truck camper battery that doesn't seem to hold more then about 11.8 charge. I'm "conditioning" the battery now. I saw the post about this charger putting out to much amps for an AGM battery, but I'll take the chance since the battery is useless as is. Next I'll charge my diesel truck batteries, then on to the two 6v RV batteries in my 5er that won't hold over 12v.

Anyone know if I can use the "conditioning" on a 6 v battery, or on the two 6v batteries connected as a big 12v battery?

Thanks for all the info so far!

The Stanley 40amper looks to be the earlier version of the B&D Vector with just the Recondition (pulse desulphation) but not the Equalize (high voltage desulphation/equalize) However it does add the feature of dropping to a Float more like a converter.

http://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/stanley-bc4009-40-amp-12-volt-battery-charger.html

Stanley bought B&D after it had bought Vector.

You could need a number of chargers for different aspects of the job. A 40amper for fast charging, a Tender for Floating, and a manual charger for the high voltage equalizing.

hpcbmw wrote:
Does anyone know if a C-tek charger will desulfate and charge an almost dead RV or car battery? I'm under the impressions that you want alot of charge at first, then taper off to a low charge as it tops off. The C-teks look pretty small - can the put out that much charge? Maybe size doesn't matter....

Right now I'm tending towards the Stanley 40amp BC4009 at Lowes for $100.00 - it's close by and I've got a $10.00 credit there.

Thanks

The Multi unit from Ctek has a maximum amp output of 4.3A. You will be waiting a long time, if ever, of bringing your batteries back to a full charge.

What you need to do is a charge-an equalization charge-final charge. Depending on what size battery you have, you want to charge, initially at a modest rate-5% of capacity would be a good number. What I do is leave a charger on the battery overnight at less than this rate, maybe 3A, at start.
Next, you want to give the battery an equalization which stirs the electrolyte and knocks off some sulfation. Check with the mfg. for this rate but it will get the battery visibly bubbling. I do this with my shop charger set to the 40 amp rate and it really is too high of a voltage for most batteries but I keep my eye on the process. It is usually about a one or two hour process. I observe for water level and fill if necessary.
After the equalization, I set the charge at less than 2A and leave it again to charge overnight. Depending on how the battery is going to be used, I may then test each cell with a hydrometer. If any cell is below par, the battery gets replaced. If all cells are even and show close to full charge, it goes back into service.

FWIW, last week I replaced the battery in my F-250. It was 10 yrs., 1 month old. It would still spin the engine on cold mornings but I didn't trust it at extreme cold temps.

Does anyone know if a C-tek charger will desulfate and charge an almost dead RV or car battery? I'm under the impressions that you want alot of charge at first, then taper off to a low charge as it tops off. The C-teks look pretty small - can the put out that much charge? Maybe size doesn't matter....

Right now I'm tending towards the Stanley 40amp BC4009 at Lowes for $100.00 - it's close by and I've got a $10.00 credit there.

Thanks