Judging/comparing Battery Performance
We've all read about person X who does nothing more than plug in their converter and claims the batteries are just as good as new 6 years later, although this is an impossibility. More accurate wou...
Forum Discussion
I personally rarely use my inverter, and I do not even know what the alarm sounds like.
This time of year I generally have a major solar surplus.
But the max charge rate will be about 13 amps.
I am currently Cycling only the AGM nightly, using the sloshy 31 just for engine starting duties.
I am wondering how this rather light recharge rate will affect the Cycling Northstar AGM.
Odyssey, who make very similar claims such as pure lead plates and 400 cycles at 80% DOD when properly recharged, insist on a 40% recharge rate until 14.7 is reached, then held for 4 hours, then float at 13.6.
NorthStar make no such demands as far as a minimum recharge rate.
I am interested to see how it behaves having ~35 AH removed nightly and returned by no more than 13 amps of solar the next day.
The Flooded 31 just keeps losing SG until an 2 hour 15.9v eq cycle is needed 2 to 3 weeks later. Obviously not an option to check SG with my AGM. I will rely on voltage held for load and A/H removed, and perhaps on how fast it cranks the engine, and what my voltmeter drops to while cranking the engine.
If the Northstar protests at nightly cycling and a relatively slow recharge, I guess I will have to feed it with 25 Schumacher amps, and realize it is just not a good battery for my Solar system.
The sloshy 31 wants a 10% rate, according to USbattery, which I can just barely meet with my Solar around noon of course. Meeting the minimum bulk charging rate was why I reduced house capacity from 2 27's to a single 31.
If the AGM balks at a 13 amp max recharge rate, then it makes a poor battery for nightly cycling and a solar only recharge, and I have to adopt different methods to recharge it if/when I do cycle it.
This time of year I generally have a major solar surplus.
But the max charge rate will be about 13 amps.
I am currently Cycling only the AGM nightly, using the sloshy 31 just for engine starting duties.
I am wondering how this rather light recharge rate will affect the Cycling Northstar AGM.
Odyssey, who make very similar claims such as pure lead plates and 400 cycles at 80% DOD when properly recharged, insist on a 40% recharge rate until 14.7 is reached, then held for 4 hours, then float at 13.6.
NorthStar make no such demands as far as a minimum recharge rate.
I am interested to see how it behaves having ~35 AH removed nightly and returned by no more than 13 amps of solar the next day.
The Flooded 31 just keeps losing SG until an 2 hour 15.9v eq cycle is needed 2 to 3 weeks later. Obviously not an option to check SG with my AGM. I will rely on voltage held for load and A/H removed, and perhaps on how fast it cranks the engine, and what my voltmeter drops to while cranking the engine.
If the Northstar protests at nightly cycling and a relatively slow recharge, I guess I will have to feed it with 25 Schumacher amps, and realize it is just not a good battery for my Solar system.
The sloshy 31 wants a 10% rate, according to USbattery, which I can just barely meet with my Solar around noon of course. Meeting the minimum bulk charging rate was why I reduced house capacity from 2 27's to a single 31.
If the AGM balks at a 13 amp max recharge rate, then it makes a poor battery for nightly cycling and a solar only recharge, and I have to adopt different methods to recharge it if/when I do cycle it.
