Forum Discussion
BFL13
Oct 22, 2020Explorer II
Got it today and out of the box it is 12.93v, which on the graph is 95% SOC. Normally I would now recharge to full as a new battery off the shelf, but first--testing! :)
MW on at 58amps but that rose during the test to 72 amps as voltage fell (called "inverter creep" where it tries to maintain the watts)
Ran the MW off and on for several 5 and 10 minute sessions in a row until the inverter alarmed at loaded 11.1 volts. Trimetric AH down 37.4 AH.
After 1/2 hour bounce back no load voltage 12.42v and after another 1/2 hour 12.45 so call that resting (not quite but close enough for testing)
Chart says that is 60% SOC (so 40 down vs 37ish by Tri so add a bit for shelf life 95% reading at start and that comes out close enough to 100.
So that means I can run the MW at 60-70 amps draw down to inverter alarm and that will be 60% SOC in my set-up for wiring and this single 100AH. That comes to 40AH at about 65 amps for about 37 minutes--an AH a minute roughly. Anyway, that is plenty for my scenarios.
Recharging now to see how long it stays in Bulk compared with flooded and AGM batts.
The question was raised --Why does it say to recharge immediately after each use on its label, when the blurb says you can leave it and it won't sulphate (although charging to full once a month is recommended) ?
I asked the guy at the dealer's who knows this stuff (IMO ) and he said:
"It's basically the standard recommendation for all batteries. If you baby them they last longer. So it's better not to abuse them if you don't need to.
They have been tested after sitting for months at low to zero charge, then still able recharge to full capacity, which will often kill standard batteries.
The same with the temperature range; They can handle temps that destroy other batteries, but don't keep them in the freezer just because you can.
It's like having a Jeep; you can drive it on paved roads like regular cars, but you can also take it into territory that would wreck a regular car. Paved roads are still less wear and tear.
I hope that analogy makes sense."
So next report is about the recharge profile.
EDIT--recharging:
So using the same Vector charger as in my ugly graph with flooded 27DC type batteries, and a 19% charging rate, the Vector stayed in constant amps until 76% SOC Flooded and 87.5% SOC with this SiO2 batt. Amps then taper.
Not attempting to compare tapering times since with the Flooded it is very flat 90-100 but steeper for that last 10% with the SiO2. Certainly you get a "faster recharge" from 76% SOC on up because one is tapering and the other is still in Bulk constant amps for part of that range.
At the 19% charging rate used for this test, it is the same times up till 76% -can't be faster, the charger can't do faster, but eg, with the Flooded, the 80-90 part takes an hour of tapering, while the SiO2 takes about 1/2 that time then tapers.
Anyway, no figures for other charging rates- but expect the usual thing where a lower rate will take longer over-all and those lower amps won't taper till a higher SOC. Can't do more than 25% rate by spec anyway.
The Vector smart charger got the battery to 14.7v and was doing about 5 amps when it decided that was full enough! Still down 4.2AH on the Tri.
So as we have always known, that type of charger stops too soon and you need another way to get to 100%. (I have switched to a maintenance charger to finish off charging it tonight in slow time.)
Then I can worry about that again in a month or so --no fussing with this battery about leaving it under-charged for long times. That means I can just let the Vector run till it quits and call it good enough.
That's about it. I can't think of any other tests to try out with this battery, but if anybody has a request, I will have the Tri in the camper for a couple more days before returning it to the MH.
I forgot to say that I did not correct for charging efficiency AH count on recharge that the Trimetric uses for heat loss. I don't know what the diff is in heat loss for the SiO2 vs the flooded 27Dc type. IMO this would not be enough of a factor to skew the results of this test.
MW on at 58amps but that rose during the test to 72 amps as voltage fell (called "inverter creep" where it tries to maintain the watts)
Ran the MW off and on for several 5 and 10 minute sessions in a row until the inverter alarmed at loaded 11.1 volts. Trimetric AH down 37.4 AH.
After 1/2 hour bounce back no load voltage 12.42v and after another 1/2 hour 12.45 so call that resting (not quite but close enough for testing)
Chart says that is 60% SOC (so 40 down vs 37ish by Tri so add a bit for shelf life 95% reading at start and that comes out close enough to 100.
So that means I can run the MW at 60-70 amps draw down to inverter alarm and that will be 60% SOC in my set-up for wiring and this single 100AH. That comes to 40AH at about 65 amps for about 37 minutes--an AH a minute roughly. Anyway, that is plenty for my scenarios.
Recharging now to see how long it stays in Bulk compared with flooded and AGM batts.
The question was raised --Why does it say to recharge immediately after each use on its label, when the blurb says you can leave it and it won't sulphate (although charging to full once a month is recommended) ?
I asked the guy at the dealer's who knows this stuff (IMO ) and he said:
"It's basically the standard recommendation for all batteries. If you baby them they last longer. So it's better not to abuse them if you don't need to.
They have been tested after sitting for months at low to zero charge, then still able recharge to full capacity, which will often kill standard batteries.
The same with the temperature range; They can handle temps that destroy other batteries, but don't keep them in the freezer just because you can.
It's like having a Jeep; you can drive it on paved roads like regular cars, but you can also take it into territory that would wreck a regular car. Paved roads are still less wear and tear.
I hope that analogy makes sense."
So next report is about the recharge profile.
EDIT--recharging:
So using the same Vector charger as in my ugly graph with flooded 27DC type batteries, and a 19% charging rate, the Vector stayed in constant amps until 76% SOC Flooded and 87.5% SOC with this SiO2 batt. Amps then taper.
Not attempting to compare tapering times since with the Flooded it is very flat 90-100 but steeper for that last 10% with the SiO2. Certainly you get a "faster recharge" from 76% SOC on up because one is tapering and the other is still in Bulk constant amps for part of that range.
At the 19% charging rate used for this test, it is the same times up till 76% -can't be faster, the charger can't do faster, but eg, with the Flooded, the 80-90 part takes an hour of tapering, while the SiO2 takes about 1/2 that time then tapers.
Anyway, no figures for other charging rates- but expect the usual thing where a lower rate will take longer over-all and those lower amps won't taper till a higher SOC. Can't do more than 25% rate by spec anyway.
The Vector smart charger got the battery to 14.7v and was doing about 5 amps when it decided that was full enough! Still down 4.2AH on the Tri.
So as we have always known, that type of charger stops too soon and you need another way to get to 100%. (I have switched to a maintenance charger to finish off charging it tonight in slow time.)
Then I can worry about that again in a month or so --no fussing with this battery about leaving it under-charged for long times. That means I can just let the Vector run till it quits and call it good enough.
That's about it. I can't think of any other tests to try out with this battery, but if anybody has a request, I will have the Tri in the camper for a couple more days before returning it to the MH.
I forgot to say that I did not correct for charging efficiency AH count on recharge that the Trimetric uses for heat loss. I don't know what the diff is in heat loss for the SiO2 vs the flooded 27Dc type. IMO this would not be enough of a factor to skew the results of this test.
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