Charging batteries as 6 or 12 volt
I just bought two Trojan T-105 batteries to replace my house batteries, but I will not be installing them until my next trip in several months. In the meantime, I will be placing the batteries on my g...
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I would hook them for 12VDC and charge with the 12VDC charger connections.
You are going to have to do this setup anyway when you finally get it installed in the RV...
Also I would keep a close watch for boiling out the fluids. Unless you have a smart mode battery charger you may boil out the fluids over time.
The normal single charge voltage is 13.6VDC and this is known to boil out battery fluids over time. the smart mode chargers will first start out with 14.4VDC for two hours then drop down to 13.6VDC for one hour and finally drop down to 13.2VDC. The batteries will not boil out fluids when being hit with 13.2VDC.
Actually once you get your batteries charged up to full you can just disconnect them and they will sit in the charged-up mode for a long period of time. They will also not freeze up when fully charged...
Get an inexpensive multimeter from local stores ($12-$20) and make all of your measurements with this. Harbor Frieght used to give you one free when you made a purchase there if you asked for it.
This is what PROGRESSIVE DYNAMICS says in their brochures on how long it takes to charge up deep cycle batteries.
"Progressive Dynamics ran this test on the amount of time it took a PD9155 (55-amp) converter/charger set to three different output voltages to recharge a 125 AH (Amp Hour) battery after it was fully discharged to 10.5-volts.
14.4-VOLTS (Boost Mode) – Returned the battery to 90% of full charge in approximately 3-hours. The battery reached full charge in approximately 11 hours.
13.6-VOLTS (Normal Mode) – Required 40-hours to return the battery to 90% of full charge and 78-hours to reach full charge.
13.2-VOLTS (Storage Mode) – Required 60-hours to return the battery to 90% of full charge and 100-hours to reach full charge."
This is based on having 17-20AMPS DC current available for each battery in your battery bank... NOTE That Progressive Dynamics doesn't even list using DC Charge Voltages around the 12.0VC range as this would take alot more than 100 hours to achieve a 90% or 100% charge state.
Roy Ken
You are going to have to do this setup anyway when you finally get it installed in the RV...
Also I would keep a close watch for boiling out the fluids. Unless you have a smart mode battery charger you may boil out the fluids over time.
The normal single charge voltage is 13.6VDC and this is known to boil out battery fluids over time. the smart mode chargers will first start out with 14.4VDC for two hours then drop down to 13.6VDC for one hour and finally drop down to 13.2VDC. The batteries will not boil out fluids when being hit with 13.2VDC.
Actually once you get your batteries charged up to full you can just disconnect them and they will sit in the charged-up mode for a long period of time. They will also not freeze up when fully charged...
Get an inexpensive multimeter from local stores ($12-$20) and make all of your measurements with this. Harbor Frieght used to give you one free when you made a purchase there if you asked for it.
This is what PROGRESSIVE DYNAMICS says in their brochures on how long it takes to charge up deep cycle batteries.
"Progressive Dynamics ran this test on the amount of time it took a PD9155 (55-amp) converter/charger set to three different output voltages to recharge a 125 AH (Amp Hour) battery after it was fully discharged to 10.5-volts.
14.4-VOLTS (Boost Mode) – Returned the battery to 90% of full charge in approximately 3-hours. The battery reached full charge in approximately 11 hours.
13.6-VOLTS (Normal Mode) – Required 40-hours to return the battery to 90% of full charge and 78-hours to reach full charge.
13.2-VOLTS (Storage Mode) – Required 60-hours to return the battery to 90% of full charge and 100-hours to reach full charge."
This is based on having 17-20AMPS DC current available for each battery in your battery bank... NOTE That Progressive Dynamics doesn't even list using DC Charge Voltages around the 12.0VC range as this would take alot more than 100 hours to achieve a 90% or 100% charge state.
Roy Ken
