MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Gjac, thank you.
What I have gleaned is few respondents have exercised their batteries deeply enough nor enough cycles to qualify for a valid test for cyclability. Batteries do age due to corrosion. Sulfation takes it's toll and your example is a valid entry showing most early battery demises are preventable.
BFL13 has a good handle on his batteries, and so do others like NinerBikes (others need to be mentioned but this is en breve)...
I am coming to the conclusion that an accurate, calibrated amp hour meter is the only way an average Joe stands a chance of knowing what is going on in the battery department. Most refuse to handle a hydrometer. Plug, Play and Ignore, means PAY PAY PAY.
For folks who wish to maintain their batteries with a minimum amount of manual interface, the inclusion of amp hour monitoring is not optional. it is mandatory. Too many early failures proves the point...
I have a pretty simple goal. Regardless of how much I used the night before, when the solar panel starts charging in the morning, if it's a sunny day, I'd like the battery to be 95% or better charged by 1 or 2pm, daily, regardless of season. I want electronic devices to pick up the lost surplus amps from the solar panel setup for recharging laptops, running the electric heater, watching the news on TV, etc, before the sun gets too low on the horizon, and amp harvest time is lost for the day.
If you don't use the amps the solar panels are giving you once near 95% SOC, for recharging other devices, smart phones, lap tops, Chromebooks, what ever, you lose it. So I always try to schedule accordingly. Of course, a good emergence of bugs on the river with a wide open bite can ruin the best of plans. Plan B would be to grab the surplus by running the generator first thing in the morning, and capture the surplus from the generator for charging duties of other small devices, run the water pump and shower while the generator is running too, in short maximize big hit electrical consumer users while the generator is already on , and get my moneys worth out of the gas consumption, if batteries need to be charged on the RV anyways by the generator.
I am not shy at all about wanting 14.8V- 15.0V from either the solar panel or the first hour or a bit more on a 30 amp power supply unit. The T-1275 deep cycle will handle what either puts out, without loss of electrolyte or water. Every 95 to 98% SOC I get back to, on a daily basis, is less risk of sulfation of the cells on the trip, and loss of potential capacity. Also less abuse and less to recoup once I get back home.
If this is done, I don't see the need to monitor what my usage was. What I do monitor is amp rate going back into the battery, and at what voltage. A few dips of the SG while noting V and amp charge rate will confirm how far charged up you are % wise at a certain amperage charge rate. You need to learn the idiosyncrasies of your batteries and charging devices.
I've no control over the number of charge cycles I will or won't get out of batteries. I get what I get, I just do my best to keep them top charged or as close as possible, daily, and I get what I get. I avoid continued depletion as much as possible... that is what beats a battery up. Keeping it as close to fully charged is what maximizes a batteries charge/dishcharge cycles during it's life.
