landyacht318 wrote:
Yes, the 6.2 amps is what my screwy 31 12v battery requires to be brought upto the 16v, after it has gone through the regular charge cycle which for my 31 is ~ 2 hours at 14.9v and 1.5 hours at 15.3v. The Schumacher can blow past ABSV and will require 15+ amps to hold 15.6 volts, and my monitor will indicate 20 amp hours from full, where as when I initiate an EQ cycle after the solar has done 14.9 and 15.3 for 3.5 hours, the monitor has already returned to zero.
Batteries themselves decide how much amperage is required to bring them to and hold them at a certain voltage. With Eq'ing just make sure the battery has gone through the normal ABSV cycle before initiating the EQ. Hold the ABSV longer before initialing the EQ cycle if you want to feel safer. The Hydrometer can help you determine the most effective ABSV if you cannot find manufacturer specs. I found my ABsv had to be higher than USbattery recommendations, or SG dropped further faster cycle after cycle and longer EQ sessions needed to max out SG.
The longer the ABSV is held, the more likely it is that less amps will be required to hold 15.5x or 16 volts, what ever the max voltage of the charging source allows.
The danger with cranking up the voltage too soon is that the battery did not have time to get near full charge before the EQ cycle was forced, and huge amp numbers will be required on an undercharged battery to bring it upto EQ voltages, and this, is abusive, even if effective at maxing out the SG.
I'll likely get the same power supply as you as I cannot trust my Schumacher. I don't mind monitoring it and moving the voltage pot. I am worried the pot will not like lots of adjustment though. I'd almost prefer to feed my solar charge controller with a 15.5v power supply as it allows precise setpoints be reached, but it is limited to 25 amps.
understood, thanxx!
so, if i do things right, i shouldn't have need to worry about abusive amp levels. and whatever power source i decide on should be more than capable of handling the load, as bfl warned me about, (seeing as i'm looking at higher amp sources for abs charging as well).
this leads me to yet another question, which may be best suited for a new thread?
... can i use say two meanwell nes-350-15's together for abs charging, and then just one for equalizing??? (i can get two of them for under $100, whereas one se-600-15 will cost just under $140). i know nothing about charging with multiple chargers simultaneously.
as for your concern regarding the adjusting pot, as you probably know, there are many adjustable variable power sources on ebay, but the higher amp ones get pretty pricey! here's an example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Details-about-Variable-Adjustable-Power-Supply-0-30V-0-5A-AC110V-220V-PS-305-B-/291202689709?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43cd086aad
