Flooded Batteries on Float
It's been mentioned that flooded batteries just keep accepting amps seemingly forever whereas AGM's will stop accepting amps when they're full. Don't know if it's true or not but I can say that my bat...
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At least my old memory is not playing tricks on me.
Your figure is in the "OK" ballpark. Verify this by a hydrometer dip a month from now under the same conditions, the hydrometer average call reading must not sag, not even a little bit. If it sags, say to 1.265, up the float voltage by two tenths of a volt. Note it. This is the correct float for whatever temperature you happen to be enduring. A thermistor should not argue with this later on when battery temps change with the season. A very revealing test takes place with the electrolyte at -15C.
This is a very periodic (infrequent) test to verify if expensive true cyclable batteries have degraded. Your first test is a benchmark subsequent tests are waypoints.
When you have everything tweaked to the max, apply 7 volts individually to each three cells and measure the current battery by battery with the DMM in series with the 7 volts potential.
Differential testing can spot a battery gone haywire long before it decides to run away from home and join the circus. The 7 volt power supply test can be done with the batteries in service and connected. But they must all remain connected and be presumed to have eaten and worked in unison long enough to stabilize them.
Mark Daugherty, president of Ramcar battery could not believe his eyes when he saw me do this on the charging line after the batteries had left the greening room for series charging. "You gotta patent this!" he emphasized. "Larry" the Ramcar engineer, merely squinted as we went down the line. A couple months later when I visited again, Mark said, "Larry's at lunch, let's go to his lab". Sitting on a rear counter was a new 14 volt power supply.
Glad I have these smile memories. I loved it when I used to go to Trojan and all the engineers ran to the coffee break room. Corporate "team" engineers do not like it when their daily rote is overturned and exposed to sunlight. Troubleshooters are usually troublemakers. Ever see a battalion of eggheads get embarrassed? The Lockheed Skunk Works PhD squad did not like it when I busted their "bad battery bubble" by denouncing and scrapping (proving and replacing) that nightmare cycling float charger they designed and created by committee.
I did not pretend to "know" Mach 3 avionics. I was a mere battery information test tool albeit a bit unorthodox.
Your figure is in the "OK" ballpark. Verify this by a hydrometer dip a month from now under the same conditions, the hydrometer average call reading must not sag, not even a little bit. If it sags, say to 1.265, up the float voltage by two tenths of a volt. Note it. This is the correct float for whatever temperature you happen to be enduring. A thermistor should not argue with this later on when battery temps change with the season. A very revealing test takes place with the electrolyte at -15C.
This is a very periodic (infrequent) test to verify if expensive true cyclable batteries have degraded. Your first test is a benchmark subsequent tests are waypoints.
When you have everything tweaked to the max, apply 7 volts individually to each three cells and measure the current battery by battery with the DMM in series with the 7 volts potential.
Differential testing can spot a battery gone haywire long before it decides to run away from home and join the circus. The 7 volt power supply test can be done with the batteries in service and connected. But they must all remain connected and be presumed to have eaten and worked in unison long enough to stabilize them.
Mark Daugherty, president of Ramcar battery could not believe his eyes when he saw me do this on the charging line after the batteries had left the greening room for series charging. "You gotta patent this!" he emphasized. "Larry" the Ramcar engineer, merely squinted as we went down the line. A couple months later when I visited again, Mark said, "Larry's at lunch, let's go to his lab". Sitting on a rear counter was a new 14 volt power supply.
Glad I have these smile memories. I loved it when I used to go to Trojan and all the engineers ran to the coffee break room. Corporate "team" engineers do not like it when their daily rote is overturned and exposed to sunlight. Troubleshooters are usually troublemakers. Ever see a battalion of eggheads get embarrassed? The Lockheed Skunk Works PhD squad did not like it when I busted their "bad battery bubble" by denouncing and scrapping (proving and replacing) that nightmare cycling float charger they designed and created by committee.
I did not pretend to "know" Mach 3 avionics. I was a mere battery information test tool albeit a bit unorthodox.
