Lead Acid Battery - 2 Cells No Float
So I picked up a new (to me) rig from family last weekend. It had been sitting at the BIL's place for several years. He started it occasionally, but never kept it plugged in. 2 of the 3 group 29,...
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MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
29, 30, and 31, are acid starved specials, just like 65's and 34's.
They scrape by in engine starting duty but fall flat on their face if cycled. A real hoot was Delco's calcium/calcium sealed RV battery. Known as the single cycle special. After 1 discharge the "eye" stayed red until shortly after when the battery played possum.
The mark of a crappy quality battery is flaky hydrometer readings. They reflect poor capacity, horrible charge efficiency factorials and early death. The battery regresses to its evil habits very soon after a lengthy equalization. I have had scumbag brand golf car batteries revert to .03 differential 5 cycles after equalization. Six months old. The owner of the Screwy Battery described a charge regimen of jamming 200+% electricity back into the battery. Pretty much a disaster as far as Charge Efficiency Factor is concerned. Using CEF to determine health of a battery is a good way to stay out of the swamp. This is true for any rechargeable battery including lithium with all of the variants. If a battery advertises CEF of 1.15 and you find yourself at 1.26 Houston, you have a problem.
Oh, how I've missed this.
The poet of EE Town.
Thanks for weighing in, old man. Hope you are well.
Now I don't have the equipment nor the time to measure CEF. So I guess I'll have to rely on anecdotal, real world failures and cold nights without the furnace to gauge my batteries.
EDIT: Possible correction...
Perhaps I could use my Kill-a-Watt to approximate. I'd have to figure for heat and fan loss, but I should, at least be able to gauge whether or not I'm pumping in 200%, I suppose.
But now are you saying, given a binary choice, you would pick 27s over 29s?
