KendallP wrote:
ktmrfs wrote:
I just picked up a pair of Duracell GC2 230AH batteries, with a March date code. Brought them home, hooked them up to the Vector and it didn't take long (an hour or so) for the Vector to say "full". Like Ken, my Friese (sp) hygrometer was just at the "green" 1.2ish mark..... Ok I did one full equalization, went up a bit, but definitely low from what I got with Trojan's. So I've got them going through another equalization cycle. Equalization cycle current was 4.1A and Max voltage was 15.7. Still hoping I can get them to 1.275 temp compensated.
BTW the Duracells were replacing a pair of Trojan T-125's that had been abused on a regular basis but finally gave up the gost 1 month shy if 12 years. 5 of the cells still had a good SG, but one cell was dead, dead, dead with SG near 1.0
Trojan's were on my list but at over double the cost of a duracell or Deka, and 3.5X a costco Interstate, they went out of the choice quickly.
You are fortunate to have that Vector... as I am to have my Black & Decker version. Their discontinuance was a major loss. Haven't been able to find anything like 'em since. I have the Everstart version of this charger. No idea what the "Recondition" modes does, but reviews of it are favorable. I'm running it now on those GC15s to find out.
Otherwise a decent manual charger will do it... with a little tighter monitoring.
But note that both BFL and I got to baselines of 1.290 temp adjusted with the same battery model. So I wouldn't give up at 1.275 unless the progress stabilizes there.
I did find something interesting in my evaluation of the duracell batteries. I followed the same procedure I did with the Trojan T-125's, charged them with my 6V charger to about 7.25V, then series them up and hit them multiple times with the B&D "Vector" equalization and measured SG. Trojans were at 1.275 like the Duracells.
Then I did a load test recomended by Mex, 20 seconds at 230A and record battery voltage. Some good and bad news from the load test. The "good" side is the Duracell only dropped to 5.75V while the Trojan's dropped to 5.48V. so it would appear that the Duracell has less internal resistance, and internal resistance is a big drawback to GC batteries. But that may also be the bad news. Since both weigh virtually the same and the same AH, what magic was done to reduce internal resistance??? first thing that comes to mind is maybe thinner plates but more of them. Drops resistance, but also is a drawback to long cycle life. The battery load cell was the same as used 12years ago with the Trojans as was the NIST traceable DMM.
Time will tell
