House batteries not up to ah rating
Bought 2 new Interstate SRM-24 group 24 RV/Marine batteries a few months ago. I have used the MH 4 times on trips lasting from 3-6 days. Never going below 40 amps before recharging. The rating is 85...
Forum Discussion
Please stop putting so much faith in your 'intellicharger', especially since you have so much line loss due to too long and too thin cabling.
Unless it has a separate voltage sense line, which compensates for line loss, the batteries are never getting what they want, and the charger is not going to deliver its maximum rate as it could IF the cabling were beefy between battery and charging source. Since there is so much line loss the batteries are never getting near their recommended absorption voltage, and your intellicharger would need weeks at lower voltages to complete the task.
Intellicharger.... Harrumph! I release flatulence in the general direction of all automatic 'smart chargers'
I once was reluctant to bring my battery to 16V, but the hydrometer proved any lesser voltages could simply not max out the specific gravity, and believe me, the voltage held under load, after maxing out the specific gravity is quite a noticeable improvement.
As far as how the batteries are paralleled, the balanced manner makes a huge difference.
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNoIOOl37I&index=10&list=UUoPqTkOluQsuu3RpGnxVwFw
Divide the 20 AH capacity rating by 20, and this is the amp load at which the batteries can achieve this rating. Loads higher than this rate lower overall capacity, loads under this rate increase the overall capacity, and your battery monitor is not factoring this into the % remaining or the AH from full as far as I know. Does it allow a peukert component to be programmed into it?
I don't think the formula for determining AH capacity from reserve minutes can be applied accurately across all batteries. If they only list reserve capacity, it is likely they are just starting batteries and will not take well to deep cycle duty.
As far as the relationship between amps and volts as the battery charges, the higher the voltage( electrical pressure) the more amps that can flow into the battery. As the battery terminals approach the maximum voltage allowed by the charging source, amps begin to taper. Once the battery terminals reach this maximum allotted voltage, the amps required to hold the battery at this voltage keep dropping as the battery approaches 100% charged, and at some point the amps will stop tapering, and overcharging of the weaker cells begins.
Equalization cycles should not be initiated until after the battery has sat at absorption voltages for a few hours.
Fatten up that charging circuit if you want your intellicharger to have a snowballs chance in Heck at doing the job at which it claims it can do proficiently. It will never deliver its maximum rated capacity, and never get the batteries as high as they need to go to complete the charge, unless you have weeks to plug in after every discharge cycle.
Unless it has a separate voltage sense line, which compensates for line loss, the batteries are never getting what they want, and the charger is not going to deliver its maximum rate as it could IF the cabling were beefy between battery and charging source. Since there is so much line loss the batteries are never getting near their recommended absorption voltage, and your intellicharger would need weeks at lower voltages to complete the task.
Intellicharger.... Harrumph! I release flatulence in the general direction of all automatic 'smart chargers'
I once was reluctant to bring my battery to 16V, but the hydrometer proved any lesser voltages could simply not max out the specific gravity, and believe me, the voltage held under load, after maxing out the specific gravity is quite a noticeable improvement.
As far as how the batteries are paralleled, the balanced manner makes a huge difference.
Watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNoIOOl37I&index=10&list=UUoPqTkOluQsuu3RpGnxVwFw
Divide the 20 AH capacity rating by 20, and this is the amp load at which the batteries can achieve this rating. Loads higher than this rate lower overall capacity, loads under this rate increase the overall capacity, and your battery monitor is not factoring this into the % remaining or the AH from full as far as I know. Does it allow a peukert component to be programmed into it?
I don't think the formula for determining AH capacity from reserve minutes can be applied accurately across all batteries. If they only list reserve capacity, it is likely they are just starting batteries and will not take well to deep cycle duty.
As far as the relationship between amps and volts as the battery charges, the higher the voltage( electrical pressure) the more amps that can flow into the battery. As the battery terminals approach the maximum voltage allowed by the charging source, amps begin to taper. Once the battery terminals reach this maximum allotted voltage, the amps required to hold the battery at this voltage keep dropping as the battery approaches 100% charged, and at some point the amps will stop tapering, and overcharging of the weaker cells begins.
Equalization cycles should not be initiated until after the battery has sat at absorption voltages for a few hours.
Fatten up that charging circuit if you want your intellicharger to have a snowballs chance in Heck at doing the job at which it claims it can do proficiently. It will never deliver its maximum rated capacity, and never get the batteries as high as they need to go to complete the charge, unless you have weeks to plug in after every discharge cycle.
