Portable battery charger. What do you carry?

BFL13 wrote:
I found some interesting Exide stuff I posted in another thread. They might not need or like the rough stuff same as US Battery (among others) recommends for theirs. They don't get into details much though.

Hmmmmm. Time for me to read some specs more carefully.

I found some interesting Exide stuff I posted in another thread. They might not need or like the rough stuff same as US Battery (among others) recommends for theirs. They don't get into details much though.

BFL13 wrote:

So perhaps with shallow cycles like when on solar and low AH usage, they can get close enough to baseline without equalizing so you can't tell the diff. I wonder if it is the deeper cycling like in winter that makes it harder to get back up.

Unless it was a fluke, that seems to be the case with my batteries too. Shallow discharges (like ~85% SOC and above) don't require the high volt finish charge.

mena661 wrote:
BFL, what voltage are you using for a finishing charge?

I use the 1093 15.7v temp corrected at whatever ambient is.

However, on solar this summer, where the controller high point is 14.6v, and after it drops back to float and does that several days in a row, I have seen SG very near baseline, if not there when temp corrected for the warm weather. (I keep not doing temp correction)

So perhaps with shallow cycles like when on solar and low AH usage, they can get close enough to baseline without equalizing so you can't tell the diff. I wonder if it is the deeper cycling like in winter that makes it harder to get back up.

BFL13 wrote:
It is easy to keep your charger at 10 amps for hours when on a battery? What kind of charger is that?

I don't know!

I do have a portable Schumacher SC1200A 12/8/2A automatic charger with an AGM setting. I guess I would take the battery out of service and run with 8A until it indicated charged. I might let it rest a day and repeat with the 2A setting. Just guessing!

I do routinely use this charger in the AM for bulk catchup until the solar takes over. This is on the bank that runs two 12V Dometic CF-35 portable fridges.

HTH;
John

Toss in the fact that most RV owners seemingly would rather get an enema than take care of their batteries and you end up with five thousand opinions and billions of dollars spent foolishly on gyro gearloose grade whizzo carnival chargers and devices that swear on a stack of bibles if you pay several hundred dollars you will be forever relieved of ever thinking about your batteries again.

LOL!

More questions for MEX!!! Is it gentler on batteries to equalize at higher volts/less amps than lower volts/more amps? My BD1093 EQ's at 2A but voltages can get as high as 16 (depends on the temperature). My HF charger uses more amps (~8A) but volts are typically in the low 15's. Also, the BD1093 takes longer than the HF. Not sure if that matters.

Another question. A number of battery manufacturers are recommending 15+ volts for finishing charges (basically going from somewhere in the high 90% SOC range to 100%). Based on what I have to do to get mine to 100% SOC, it seems they are correct. Are they correct?

Toss in the fact that most RV owners seemingly would rather get an enema than take care of their batteries and you end up with five thousand opinions and billions of dollars spent foolishly on gyro gearloose grade whizzo carnival chargers and devices that swear on a stack of bibles if you pay several hundred dollars you will be forever relieved of ever thinking about your batteries again.

LOL... :-)

The "issue" with modulating solely with a temperature limit, is that electrolyte acts as a heat sink transfer media but it isn't perfect. Hot spots can develop an they will cause burning - utter destruction of that plate area and worse yet the destructed area can grow as it remains hotter than unaffected plate area. Hard sulfated areas are sulfated on the surface. Ever wonder what is going on beneath the sulfate coating? Yes it is porous but the sulfation depth of penetration only extended so deep.

This is why maintaining a gentle constant amperage equalization is so important. You are trying to revert a mineral coating back into chemical solution. The action is simple on the face of it, but orchestrating a maintenance regimen should be done with minimizing the overall cost of battery ownership, operation and maintenance. Toss in the fact that most RV owners seemingly would rather get an enema than take care of their batteries and you end up with five thousand opinions and billions of dollars spent foolishly on gyro gearloose grade whizzo carnival chargers and devices that swear on a stack of bibles if you pay several hundred dollars you will be forever relieved of ever thinking about your batteries again.

BFL, what voltage are you using for a finishing charge?

I have an old "Sportsmans 10" battery charger that ONLY outputs 10A and has a mechanical timer on the front so you can set the number of hours you want to charge. Beforte "Smart" chargers like the Optima, Deltran and Black & Decker, this was the recommended way to charge trolling motor batteries.