pianotuna wrote:
Hi,
Another very nice article. Thanks Jim.
BTW for my first 48 hours of semi full time, my solar panels provided enough energy to fully recharge the battery banks.
Great way to start out. Full batteries give you that warm fuzzy feeling. :)
In the article they mentioned that a few AGMs have a low enough self discharge that normal corrosion of the positive plates (and the voltage it generates) entirely offsets self discharge. I had never heard of that. Mine will drop .09v-.10v in a month which seems great, but that's a far cry from 0. You could send 0 discharge batteries to retailers who know nothing about monthly freshening charges and still get consumers almost factory fresh batteries.
Pure lead is more expensive though (and not even desirable in flooded batteries), so there is the rub.
I will say that given the delicate balances required to make a really long life AGM, I see why Mex is so interested in the quality of a maker's manufacturing process and materials.
Jim