'Float' voltage under varying DC loads
This post is an observation, and observation which bucks the 'this wors like this, and that works like that' mentality which pervades online forums. Empiracle data trumping theory. I can spin a di...
Forum Discussion
This is a THIS WORKS LIKE THIS posting.
It's not argumentative. In fact this post tries to explain why electro-chemical energy storage fascinated me fifty years ago to the point that I pretty much dedicated my career to studying it. At the expense of omitting my classical rude and snide asides I will shed some light on the subject if I can.
Attempting to translate characteristics of optimum led acid battery operation and lifespan is not easy. The is a multiplex of factors involved and a majority of consumers read the first two words of an analysis then toss the sheaf of papers over their shoulder. And actually I agree whole-heartedly with them. The theory should remain firmly in the realm of designers and manufacturers.
The main problem is a barrier
The barrier exists between battery design and manufacture and battery charger designers and developers. There isn't free and fast flowing communications.
Over the years I have worked with some of the "biggies" on both sides of the aisle. What I discovered was TOP TIER battery manufacturers understand their products. But battery charging and maintenance design and control are outside of their realm.
The kingdoms of battery charging and maintenance seldom if ever perform comprehensive tests on actual batteries. Many manufacturers assume a protocol of FOLLOW THE ROTE and tweak here and there which gains nothing but gives exclusivity in advertising therefore gives their Herb Tarlek types goose bumps.
The consumer, tired of batteries and chargers in general, snap "How much does the goddamned thing cost?" He is not presented with cycle life data (95% of battery manufacturers do not conduct them and 99.9% of battery manufacturers do not experiment with different charging algorithms and protocols.
When @#$%^&! "Pulse Charging" became the ultimate Herb Tarlek buzzword several years ago, I tried to explain that it wasn't the frequency that offered any gain but it was the added kWh offered to the battery. Faint words lost in the fog.
Battery manufacturers should entertain studies like your post, but they don't. It is a net loser except in the emergency power supply field. If their product offers competitive lifespan, why spend money?
Another favorite term of mine is to counter the belief that electricity and chemistry and stable platforms in which to base electrical theory. They are not. A battery is reactive in several facets one of which is temperature. The second is construction techiques. The third is alloys.
Many general attributes gain be gained by proper study but again there is no tangible market for expense and complexity of design and marketing of advanced charging techniques.
For instance "Float". Many chargers hold a steady state temperature compensated voltage and this is a mistake. Simply raising voltage steady state is an error. Increasing voltage for a set time in frequency measured in several days or weeks is also an error. On a flooded battery voltage on float can be raised two tenths of a volt every six hours and remain for ten minutes. This measurably improves unintentional sulfate contamination which is measured in PPM on active battery plate area.
The distributor whom I leased property from used to wander over at coffee time and ask "What are we working on today?" But not when I was building alternators of conducting alternator research. I had tossed him a bone going in, of inventory battery charging maintenance that proved to be startling in his bottom line. Then there was the simple addition of evaporative cooling which dumped warehouse storage temperatures thirty degrees for summer. Specialty battery inventory reacts favorably to such babying and he saw his bottom line increase markedly.
Now
How can all of the above be translated into something that Joe Blow RV'er can use? Use cheaply and effortlessly?
Tall order.
It can't.
(to be continued...
It's not argumentative. In fact this post tries to explain why electro-chemical energy storage fascinated me fifty years ago to the point that I pretty much dedicated my career to studying it. At the expense of omitting my classical rude and snide asides I will shed some light on the subject if I can.
Attempting to translate characteristics of optimum led acid battery operation and lifespan is not easy. The is a multiplex of factors involved and a majority of consumers read the first two words of an analysis then toss the sheaf of papers over their shoulder. And actually I agree whole-heartedly with them. The theory should remain firmly in the realm of designers and manufacturers.
The main problem is a barrier
The barrier exists between battery design and manufacture and battery charger designers and developers. There isn't free and fast flowing communications.
Over the years I have worked with some of the "biggies" on both sides of the aisle. What I discovered was TOP TIER battery manufacturers understand their products. But battery charging and maintenance design and control are outside of their realm.
The kingdoms of battery charging and maintenance seldom if ever perform comprehensive tests on actual batteries. Many manufacturers assume a protocol of FOLLOW THE ROTE and tweak here and there which gains nothing but gives exclusivity in advertising therefore gives their Herb Tarlek types goose bumps.
The consumer, tired of batteries and chargers in general, snap "How much does the goddamned thing cost?" He is not presented with cycle life data (95% of battery manufacturers do not conduct them and 99.9% of battery manufacturers do not experiment with different charging algorithms and protocols.
When @#$%^&! "Pulse Charging" became the ultimate Herb Tarlek buzzword several years ago, I tried to explain that it wasn't the frequency that offered any gain but it was the added kWh offered to the battery. Faint words lost in the fog.
Battery manufacturers should entertain studies like your post, but they don't. It is a net loser except in the emergency power supply field. If their product offers competitive lifespan, why spend money?
Another favorite term of mine is to counter the belief that electricity and chemistry and stable platforms in which to base electrical theory. They are not. A battery is reactive in several facets one of which is temperature. The second is construction techiques. The third is alloys.
Many general attributes gain be gained by proper study but again there is no tangible market for expense and complexity of design and marketing of advanced charging techniques.
For instance "Float". Many chargers hold a steady state temperature compensated voltage and this is a mistake. Simply raising voltage steady state is an error. Increasing voltage for a set time in frequency measured in several days or weeks is also an error. On a flooded battery voltage on float can be raised two tenths of a volt every six hours and remain for ten minutes. This measurably improves unintentional sulfate contamination which is measured in PPM on active battery plate area.
The distributor whom I leased property from used to wander over at coffee time and ask "What are we working on today?" But not when I was building alternators of conducting alternator research. I had tossed him a bone going in, of inventory battery charging maintenance that proved to be startling in his bottom line. Then there was the simple addition of evaporative cooling which dumped warehouse storage temperatures thirty degrees for summer. Specialty battery inventory reacts favorably to such babying and he saw his bottom line increase markedly.
Now
How can all of the above be translated into something that Joe Blow RV'er can use? Use cheaply and effortlessly?
Tall order.
It can't.
(to be continued...
