"I never understood the term "top charging". Sounds like you want to use an unregulated 2-stage charger for offgrid and on-grid charging to Absorb, and regulated 1-stage charger for 15V "equalizing"
BATTERY COUNCIL INTERNATIONAL Makes a concise and clear formula available for equalizing flooded lead acid batteries. This precise and exact formula has been been used in the industry, the military, battery manufacturers, around the world since 1938
Charge each cell at FIVE PERCENT OF RATED AMPERE HOUR CAPACITY (constant current) 2.66 amperes to a maximum limit of 15.96 volts, or until such time as the electrolyte solution in all cells reverts to original new density
CONSTANT CURRENT is difficult to achieve. With a six cell battery a FIFTY WATT 12-volt light bulb put IN SERIES with the charger's positive lead will allow a "close-enough" constant amperage flow.
The term "To cause the electrolyte to equalize" is not the same as EQUALIZATION. This isn't a word game. The BCI formula has proven infinite times to be the safest, fastest and most reliable way to cause H2SO4 electrolyte to revert to OEM density.
The term EQUALIZATION has been abused by HERB TARLEK promoters to the point where it has been hopelessly clouded FUBAR. Are you ready to challenge 70 some-on years of engineering expertise? If you want to EQUALIZE a battery AND NOT PLAY WITH IT, follow the BCI recommendation. Yep. It's a free country and folks can do what they wish with their own batteries. Their time. Their money. Their mistakes.
BUT THERE IS A GLITCH in deep-cycling batteries that are used for long-term boondocking.
Car jar batteries SULFATE EASILY even when rigid recharging protocol is followed. "Why is this?" you ask. It is because very few off-grid batteries are allowed to be 100% recharged other than at very wide spaced charging sessions. It is expensive. It is time consuming and irritating as hell to listen to a generator for hours on end.
There had to be a 'better way" than cycle the batteries then do handstands trying to equalize the cells using the BCI protocol. Are you still with me?
By actual trial-and-error, using timers, kWh meters, and hundreds of hydrometer dunking (yes I had a minimalist crew helping me) I found a better way to stretch out the intervals between full-on equalizations.
Not a mere "twice as long". That's wouldn't be worth squat.
Ten times as long, is worth note. Need to equalize every two weeks? how about changing that to every TWENTY WEEKS?
A new charge protocol had to be devised.
After running through an infinite number of permutations, I devised an easy to follow regimen that achieved this objective.
The 5% of total ampere hour capacity is near impossible to improve on. It achieves time/amplitude maximum efficiency to SAFELY revert latticed plate sulfation back into solution. The proof is in the loupe. 10X magnification and intense inspection of positive plate material, along with specific gravity confirmation, allowed for proof without a shadow of any doubt the 5% total amp hour formula is optimum.
Different amplitude of E were tried, analyzed and rejected. It's a bell curve, results versus time. I kept in mind the entire time, that Generator Run Time had to be maximized with minimum plate erosion.
14.9 - 15.2 volts proved to be optimum. Remember though this is arrived at using the 5% of total amp hour capacity. 5 amperes for a 100 amp hour battery 10 amperes for a 100 ampere hour battery and 20 amperes charge rate for a golf car battery.
Current limitation. An auto parts store 50-watt (4+ amperes or 100-watt (8+ amperes) would act as a crude but effective amperage throttle. By mixing and matching 50 and 100 watt bulbs, a Fred Flintstone grade form of current control could be utilized.
There are alternative ways. The DROK 600-watt 12 as much as 60 volt BOOSTER as sold on AMAZON has both voltage and current limiting potentiometers (the blue things with the white adjustment screw)
The Meanwell RSP can reach 16.0 volts but the Megawatt or standard Meanwell can not; EXCEPT if the DROK booster is connected (get the drift?)
I needed a simple yet accurate name for the 15.0 v charging protocol. Such drivel as 'semi-equaliation' would only cloud the picture. TOP CHARGING identifies the protocol exactly and that's what I named it.
Not every flooded battery needs to be charged. But the longer and more frequent the bookdocking sessions become, the more a generator is used to recharge the batteries, the handier TOP CHARGING becomes. It is to circumvent being forced to do an equalization. Yes, solar panels help, but if the batteries regularly do not achieve 100% full charge using specific gravity as the goal, then slowly but surely the cells are going to sulfate. Time of sulfation is critical. Screw around too many times at 93% state of charge and the sulfation will harden. And there is no going back.
Folks that truly understand their flooded battery bank, use solar in a similar way. Periodically, they frugalize night-time energy depletion of the battery bank and the next day, allow the array to control overcharge a 5% rate to 15.0 volts. if it can't be done in a single session, more frugality and "tomorrow is the next day".
Landyyacht can tell you more about the RSP Meanwell because he has more experience with it than I have. But remember, there is no current throttling and that 5% of total amp hour capacity formula is crucial.
I am not going to write all this, yet again. Ignore it, junk it, copy it to hard drive, so whatever you wish with it but my poor fingers are aching now. Only an act of God would convert this to a "Sticky" so use it or lose it...
