Charging a Battery Bank

landyacht318 wrote:
well, 12 pages in to this thread.....

Thngs can always be taken to extremes in the search for Ideal.

Ideal could very well not be worth the effort, or expenditure.

I think there is a big hangup on which product best fits the bill, and in general, a bunch of conflicting yet strong opinions.

Just the point I've been making throughout the entire discussion .... :R

The OP by his own description is not a hard core, full time dry camper but rather just someone who mostly camps on electric sites but on occasion would like to dry camp for a few days at a time. He's already purchased a 3000 watt Champ inverter genset, was talking about buying FOUR 6 volt GC-2s, yet only has a garden variety WFCO 8955 (which HE claims is faulty) with which to charge these batteries. Sorry, but throwing everything in one's wallet just to solve a problem for a few days of camping just makes no sense to me at all, particularly when he still has no idea what his average daily power requirements may be. :R A couple of GC-2s to replace a single 12 volt? ... sure, not unreasonable, but he still has to have an effective way to charge those GC-2s. In this case the OP has expressed interest in Duracell AGM GC-2s which are in fact moderately priced East Penn Deka batteries ... right on the battery itself East Penn provides labeling which insists that temp compensating charging is REQUIRED for these batteries. Further, that same warning is detailed more than once in their own AGM battery technical manual ... yet pundits continue to argue it just isn't necessary? :h

Sure, I understand how those much more fully educated about and interested in battery technology may insist that manually adjustable chargers are the ultimate in battery maintenance BUT do you really expect the average RV owner to have the same level of interest in battery maintenance?! The reality is, most of us don't, we just want to go camping, so in fact your quoted statement above is closer to reality than one might think. ;)

In this particular case the OP has the option of choosing readily available GC-2 East Penn Dekas wearing the Duracell label that would certainly represent a good start for the task he has in mind, plus a Parllax ParaMode charger that offers the correct charging profile for this battery and does offer temp compensated charging as REQUIRED by East Penn, so although neither may be "the best of the best" both are IMO certainly a reasonable solution for an average RV owner who just wants to do a few days of dry camping from time to time. If he later decides after being out a few times with this combination that he needs even more reserve he still has the choice to then add a couple more of the same batteries, perhaps add a solar system to augment his charging capability. This graduated approach for the average user to me makes a lot more sense than simply throwing one's wallet at a perceived problem without a clear understanding of all of the intricate issues involved in building an effective battery / charging system.

While I too appreciate the commentary offered by those much better versed in this subject sometimes "ultimate", although desirable in it's own right, just isn't necessary. ;)