Deep cycle or starter battery charging issues
I recenty moved from a class B to a small fiver. My old van had one deep cycle battery and I installed an isolator. This set up was good for several nights of light usage before I had to run the van t...
Forum Discussion
14.2 volts. 100,000,000 motor vehicles including motorhomes and 5th wheel pickups charge their batteries at this or higher voltage every day so 14.2 is not Armageddon. 2.75% or 5% antimony batteries do not like to be maintained at this voltage for days and days and days at a time but it's sort of like living where the temperature is 75 degrees and loving it. 105 won't kill you but it is uncomfortable.
13.6 is too low of voltage for bulk charging. Period. Except for that 105 degree temperature above.
Once a charger has been "dialed in" it makes an excellent HAND'S OFF charging source. But I guess the market doesn't want one. The battery manufacturers have to be ecstatic over that.
Here's a decent general recipe for an RV 2.75% antimonial battery @ 25C.
50% ampere hour potential charger potential (amps)
Allow voltage to rise to 14.8 and hold for 2 hours. Drop to 13.5 float. Temperature compensated would be best.
There's only one thing I hate worse than battery maintenance...
And that's paying to replace one that suffered an early death. With one of the best chargers ever manufactured the TRACE 2500 SB, I dialed it into a battery bank recharged solely by generator and never touched it in a year and a half. Every day, 300 amp hour recharge.
13.6 is too low of voltage for bulk charging. Period. Except for that 105 degree temperature above.
Once a charger has been "dialed in" it makes an excellent HAND'S OFF charging source. But I guess the market doesn't want one. The battery manufacturers have to be ecstatic over that.
Here's a decent general recipe for an RV 2.75% antimonial battery @ 25C.
50% ampere hour potential charger potential (amps)
Allow voltage to rise to 14.8 and hold for 2 hours. Drop to 13.5 float. Temperature compensated would be best.
There's only one thing I hate worse than battery maintenance...
And that's paying to replace one that suffered an early death. With one of the best chargers ever manufactured the TRACE 2500 SB, I dialed it into a battery bank recharged solely by generator and never touched it in a year and a half. Every day, 300 amp hour recharge.
