Lifeline Battery Recovery experiences?
I had a thread about our Magnum MS2812 going into Fault code mode overnight while boon docking. Posted under Magnum because I first thought I may have had a problem with my program parameters, and pos...
Forum Discussion
Cup of coffee vs sunset fortification, and not surprising - everything seems to be focusing thru the fog.
I read all the posts, a few required reading multiple times. I chuckled at one point, as I again confirmed that what I thought I needed to know and thought I knew - was not what I need to know:)! I feel like I entered "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!"...
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR POSTS AND KNOWLEDGE/INFO SHARING.
Before going any further, I reflected on what I had done (Vs what I should have done.) in regards to the care of this bank of Lifeline's:
-In 5 years, they've lived on the top 25% of discharge, remaining at I believed 75% + or - 5% of SOC the bulk of their life. (And when I felt I was properly, fully, charged (Which I may not have been.) - I have reset the AH's in relation to SOC calculation. Probably have done this 6-7 times over this 5 year period.)
-I have let them Float/Rest/Float for months at a time while in storage, and or traveling from shore power to shore power. This vs exercising them down, and back up.
-I admit to not looking at Voltage, using SOC % as my way of monitoring battery condition.
-I seem to have been abusing my battery from ignorance, where as I thought I had been babying them by living on the top 25% of the battery size, and keeping the in constant charge.
In conclusion as far as the condition of this bank of batteries. Yep, low probability of recovering them. Sure, I'll try to get more time out of them via Conditioning, and still may take them into a shop for Professional Recovery process that Lifeline has in their Tech Manual - but from what I read here, and on some other Google returned threads, the Horse Amps are out of the corral:)!
Moving forward I see some basic baby steps for Smitty:
-Improve basic's of battery management and care knowledge level
-Decide between another bank of 800AH's of Lifeline L16's. - or - A bank of Lithium.
-If I go the Lifeline AGM bank again. I'll add quick disconnects of the full bank, as well as being able to A/B split the bank. Both for easier readings 'at rest' and for splitting up the charge duty into shifts and or multiple chargers.
-If I go the Lithium way, which is what I thought I would do when this bank needed replacement. (Mostly for faster recharge times off of solar, and less overall weight to be carried.) That will add another set of learning skills for Lithium based battery management and care.
(I'm retired, and all of this back to school stuff - will keep me off the streets!).
I also need to build up my arsenal of diagnostic tools and gizmo's. Have some stuff, but probably not the right stuff, or all that I should.
One of the things I'll do today, is trace the Magnum and MidNite power feeds to the house bank. I did not install these, I worked with the Tech who did the install of this equipment. And the best of my knowledge, I have one Shunt of which both the Magnum charger and MidNite Controller are feeding thru as The Gateway to the house bank. So I again believe both of these system's are seeing/sourced from the same data. I also want to review the settings I did when we added the WhzBngJr, and I set up Finishing Amp to taper off the Controller feedback. (I've left both of these charge sources on together, for the bulk of the last 4 1/2 years. When I added the WhzBngJr to the mix, my intent was to have the MidNite Controller shut down sending a charge earlier then just set Bulk/Absorb time parameters. That is what I thought I was doing with Finishing Amp settings.
As I learn more, or think I've learned more. I'll bounce follow on questions.
Thanks again,
Smitty
I read all the posts, a few required reading multiple times. I chuckled at one point, as I again confirmed that what I thought I needed to know and thought I knew - was not what I need to know:)! I feel like I entered "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension!"...
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR POSTS AND KNOWLEDGE/INFO SHARING.
Before going any further, I reflected on what I had done (Vs what I should have done.) in regards to the care of this bank of Lifeline's:
-In 5 years, they've lived on the top 25% of discharge, remaining at I believed 75% + or - 5% of SOC the bulk of their life. (And when I felt I was properly, fully, charged (Which I may not have been.) - I have reset the AH's in relation to SOC calculation. Probably have done this 6-7 times over this 5 year period.)
-I have let them Float/Rest/Float for months at a time while in storage, and or traveling from shore power to shore power. This vs exercising them down, and back up.
-I admit to not looking at Voltage, using SOC % as my way of monitoring battery condition.
-I seem to have been abusing my battery from ignorance, where as I thought I had been babying them by living on the top 25% of the battery size, and keeping the in constant charge.
In conclusion as far as the condition of this bank of batteries. Yep, low probability of recovering them. Sure, I'll try to get more time out of them via Conditioning, and still may take them into a shop for Professional Recovery process that Lifeline has in their Tech Manual - but from what I read here, and on some other Google returned threads, the Horse Amps are out of the corral:)!
Moving forward I see some basic baby steps for Smitty:
-Improve basic's of battery management and care knowledge level
-Decide between another bank of 800AH's of Lifeline L16's. - or - A bank of Lithium.
-If I go the Lifeline AGM bank again. I'll add quick disconnects of the full bank, as well as being able to A/B split the bank. Both for easier readings 'at rest' and for splitting up the charge duty into shifts and or multiple chargers.
-If I go the Lithium way, which is what I thought I would do when this bank needed replacement. (Mostly for faster recharge times off of solar, and less overall weight to be carried.) That will add another set of learning skills for Lithium based battery management and care.
(I'm retired, and all of this back to school stuff - will keep me off the streets!).
I also need to build up my arsenal of diagnostic tools and gizmo's. Have some stuff, but probably not the right stuff, or all that I should.
One of the things I'll do today, is trace the Magnum and MidNite power feeds to the house bank. I did not install these, I worked with the Tech who did the install of this equipment. And the best of my knowledge, I have one Shunt of which both the Magnum charger and MidNite Controller are feeding thru as The Gateway to the house bank. So I again believe both of these system's are seeing/sourced from the same data. I also want to review the settings I did when we added the WhzBngJr, and I set up Finishing Amp to taper off the Controller feedback. (I've left both of these charge sources on together, for the bulk of the last 4 1/2 years. When I added the WhzBngJr to the mix, my intent was to have the MidNite Controller shut down sending a charge earlier then just set Bulk/Absorb time parameters. That is what I thought I was doing with Finishing Amp settings.
As I learn more, or think I've learned more. I'll bounce follow on questions.
Thanks again,
Smitty
