Very Inexpensive Battery Maintenance Charger
1.0 ampere output. 13.8 volts regulated charge limit. This unit is good for 100 amp hours worth of batteries. IMO the voltage is a tad high for a high antimony RV battery with temps 60F or higher but ...
Forum Discussion
Pnichols said:
"But didn't you say you were floating them (assuming day after day?) at 13.75V? If that kind of float voltage ruins wet cell batteries over time (as all in the forums say, due to their converter experiences), why wouldn't it ruin an AGM battery where the manufacturer specifically states to use 13.2V for float? It makes me think that Lifeline has something unbeknown to us in their AGM construction or chemistry that is different enough for them to recommend a float voltage lower than what most other AGM manufacturers specify."
Allow me to offer a possible different reason for Lifeline recommending a 13.2v float charge:
As a battery manufacturer, the last thing Lifeline needs is thousands of their batteries being returned for refund. Now, when this does occur, and it does all too often, one must ask them-self, was it poor engineering on Lifelines part, or a complete and utter lack of understanding, resulting in poor to no attention to maintenance, on the part of the consumer?
After reading dozens of on-line testimonials by folks who, as a last resort, went out and bought a proper charger and/or maintainer, it is very obvious to me it is the consumer's bad, not the manufacturer's. But even then, what is still lacking is their understanding of how, or why, that charger or maintainer "saved" their batteries. And in my not so humble opinion, that is what these relevant forum threads should be about.
As for Lifeline's 13.2v recommendation, may I submit that perhaps they are simply trying to "save" their own asses. For surely they must be aware of the lack of effort on the average consumer's part to educate themselves, and are therefore forced to publish extremely conservative recommendations. In essence, their recommendations are likely geared toward 'worse case scenarios', and it is becoming blatantly obvious to me that consumer ignorance is probably the worse case scenario a battery will ever encounter.
"But didn't you say you were floating them (assuming day after day?) at 13.75V? If that kind of float voltage ruins wet cell batteries over time (as all in the forums say, due to their converter experiences), why wouldn't it ruin an AGM battery where the manufacturer specifically states to use 13.2V for float? It makes me think that Lifeline has something unbeknown to us in their AGM construction or chemistry that is different enough for them to recommend a float voltage lower than what most other AGM manufacturers specify."
Allow me to offer a possible different reason for Lifeline recommending a 13.2v float charge:
As a battery manufacturer, the last thing Lifeline needs is thousands of their batteries being returned for refund. Now, when this does occur, and it does all too often, one must ask them-self, was it poor engineering on Lifelines part, or a complete and utter lack of understanding, resulting in poor to no attention to maintenance, on the part of the consumer?
After reading dozens of on-line testimonials by folks who, as a last resort, went out and bought a proper charger and/or maintainer, it is very obvious to me it is the consumer's bad, not the manufacturer's. But even then, what is still lacking is their understanding of how, or why, that charger or maintainer "saved" their batteries. And in my not so humble opinion, that is what these relevant forum threads should be about.
As for Lifeline's 13.2v recommendation, may I submit that perhaps they are simply trying to "save" their own asses. For surely they must be aware of the lack of effort on the average consumer's part to educate themselves, and are therefore forced to publish extremely conservative recommendations. In essence, their recommendations are likely geared toward 'worse case scenarios', and it is becoming blatantly obvious to me that consumer ignorance is probably the worse case scenario a battery will ever encounter.
