Does hot weather affect battery performance?
I have four 12 volt lead acid deep cycle batteries in a vented metal box on the tongue of my Toy Hauler. We recently have gone through several days of 100 degree temps. Made me start thinking about...
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One very important element of keeping reasonable battery life is making sure the charging profile is temperature compensated. Which means the charger needs a way of measuring battery case temperature with some reasonable accuracy.
typical float voltage for a flooded lead acid is about 13.6V @ 20C (room temp) but decreases 30m/C so at 40 C (100f) it is down to 13.0V, at 50C (122f) around 12.6
Same thing for bulk charge rates
So a charger that doesn't account for battery temp will be overcharging a battery at high temperatures.
if the battery is just sitting not being charged a few weeks, even a month or so of high temps isn't going to do much if any damage or reduce life significantly. Long term high temps then battery life goes down no matter what you do about charging. One of those things than helps us stay alive, most chemical reactions have a positive temperature coefficient.
typical float voltage for a flooded lead acid is about 13.6V @ 20C (room temp) but decreases 30m/C so at 40 C (100f) it is down to 13.0V, at 50C (122f) around 12.6
Same thing for bulk charge rates
So a charger that doesn't account for battery temp will be overcharging a battery at high temperatures.
if the battery is just sitting not being charged a few weeks, even a month or so of high temps isn't going to do much if any damage or reduce life significantly. Long term high temps then battery life goes down no matter what you do about charging. One of those things than helps us stay alive, most chemical reactions have a positive temperature coefficient.
