LANDYACHT wrote:
The shallower the cycle the better mentality, is not always gospel in real usage.... I used to have 2 group 27's for 230 Ah in the same general overnight usage as I have now with only a single 31 at 130 A/h. I'm guessing at this point I will be getting longer service life cycling this 31 battery deeper daily than the larger bank shallower daily.(end quote)
... and yet that's what i keep reading everywhere... a slow gentle discharge, followed by a slow gentle charge. just look at the pm boondocker series...they are marketed toward that very mentality. apparently they should be re-branded as the 'weekender' series! the "new and improved pm4-W-" would be perfect for weekend camping, followed by plugging it in to shore power at home for extended periods. i'm learning they are not set point for boondocking at all!
in fact, my whole set-up was built around the premise that slow and shallow was the best thing for gc batteries. moreover, this whole time i've been trying to minimize my daily usage in order to not deeply discharge these bad boys, for fear of shortening their service life.
LANDYACHT wrote:
Also, check you converter/ battery cable terminations for heat when the Powermax is in bulk mode providing the 50+ amps. If they are Autopart store bought 4 awg cables with pressed steel ends and a hole drilled through them, you got to get that steel off of there and get some quality ring terminals properly crimped on. I don't like your description of how the Powermax drops off early when the other charger attached kicks on at significantly higher amperage and voltage. Me suspects high resistance somewhere in this circuit.(end quote)
i need to pick up a thermometer to do readings then? any suggestions?
also, i made up my own cables, but yes i did use the steel ends from the napa store. and i've noticed they are starting to rust. any suggestions on what ones are best?
both charges "kick on" at about the same amps and voltage; the pm at 43 amps and 14.6v (max set point v), and the peak at 40a (its max setting) and 14.6-8v. the difference is the pm kicks into abs after its programmed 15 minute re-assessment period, whereas the peak just keeps going at its max 40a setting for quite some time??? (of course, that's probably what you meant). i'm guessing its simply because the set point to kick into abs mode is higher on the peak? and i'm wondering if the 30 amp mark, where it would suddenly go berserk, is when it should have kicked into abs mode; because now that i think about it, it never really did ever clearly kick into abs mode, with a distinct drop in voltage.
but here's where it gets frustrating for me. if these batteries should be able to handle the higher voltages, then why were they gassing so profusely at 14.8v?
i will post my experiences with yesterdays charge in update #3.
