Battery equalization in southern California
I'm looking for a place or a person in southern California that can equalize my 2 Trojan t105s. I called a couple local battery shops and they didn't know what I was talking about. I know a few of you...
Forum Discussion
NinerBikes wrote:
...otherwise, the 6v T105 jobs are a much better bet, far easier to take care of and maintain, for the average weekend happy camper.
Yep. Especially if you do successive 50-90% chargers without bringing the bank back to 100%. Ask ol' BFL13 about that.
The higher level of antimony in the plate alloy makes for gassing at a lower temperature in the 6V batteries and therefore a much easier time shaking things up and returning them to 100%.
That's a cool system you have there, Niner. And great work with your 1275.
However, I do believe that voltage is king here. Even my newer-unit, 500mA, Harbor Freight float chargers will cause gassing on regular 12V batteries because they float at ~14.2V. That's a little higher than I'd like, but in practice, I've experienced no loss of water, so I'm good with them now.
Therefore... though your new equalizing system is about as good as it gets, a manual charger like a Sears should be good enough for the average Joe. It just might take a little longer. But once the voltage has climbed its way into the 15s, the work is beginning. After that the voltage will likely increase upward toward 16 or so.
Voltage is what creates the "pressure." Even with a 100A charger, without the voltage to drive it, current won't flow.
In fact... I would bet that your 1275 might not have been done. I suspect that the current would have eventually dropped some at your ~15 regulated volts.
The only way to know for sure would be to keep running sessions and checking SG between... ideally letting the battery rest for up to 24 hours between each reading.
But again... good work! I covet your equalizer.
