mexbungalows wrote:
Using just the alternator and no cycling a replacement Diehard battery went from November 1998 to April 2011, without benefit of gizmos.
A simple charge maintainer, occasional driving including going over driveway entrances to stir up electrolyte is darned hard to beat. A center tap transformer delivers 60Hz pulses and a high frequency (what isn't high frequency these days?)charger delivers a "pulse" charge automatically. I stood to make a lot of money in the early 90's. All I had to due was to present a gizmo high frequency regulated charger and label it "High Frequency Automatic Desulfation Charge") and collect a six figure check. I couldn't do that then and I could not do it now. I used Ramcar Battery cells enclosed in Pyrex containers so I could see what was happening. My kWh meters NiChrome test loads, and variable frequency military test power supplies could not affect sulfation. Even to GHz levels and thousands of watts. I quipped about the tests here. Mark Daugherty president of Ramcar shook my hand after I admitted "This can not be done by any technology I am aware of" and said "You'll never be rich but you'll go to your grave with a clear conscious".
Hands-Off maintenance is hard to come by. Batteries that don't bounce down the road once in awhile have to be stirred (correctly). Float voltage at 05C is an entirely different animal than it is at 35C. Trying to outwit inevitable chemical changes takes more than a simple maintenance charge regimen.
Time is money. If a person has no time to monitor a battery and adjust accordingly, it'll cost them money. Some people hit it lucky and get most of the requirements fulfilled. Most do not.
Really interesting points.
I have had the worst luck with batteries in my various SHOs, all of which run notoriously high under-hood temps and eat batteries and alternators on a regular basis. I need to learn more about maintaining batteries that live in higher temp environments now that I am in Texas.
Jim
