First time charging new batteries

Some have the build date stamped into the lead post, others may have theirs on the top side edge of the plastic casing. The round sticker should be the last time they were recharged. Then you can also have another sticker with the holes punched in for the date it was sold for the start of the warranty period.

I may have found out why these batteries acted so strangely. When I looked closely at the 3/15 date sticker, I saw that it was covering up something. When I moved it, I saw a date stamp for June 2014. If these batteries have been sitting since June, that would explain a lot.

I returned the batteries to Costco, which gave me my money back with no problem. They say that the store received them directly from Interstate a few days before I bought them. I know that the store did not have any a week before I got them, because I tried to buy them then. So were they sitting in Interstate's warehouse since June?

The Trojan web site says that they put two date codes on their batteries, one when it was built, dry, and a second when electrolyte was put in. If Interstate is similar, then there is no problem, but I still don't know why the batteries weren't fully charged when I got them. More likely, Mex called it right, I caught them red-handed.

waynefi wrote:
On the third charge cycle, these new batteries finally acted the way I expect.

Starting from 12.45 volts open circuit, they adsorbed the charger's max of 40 amps for just over a half an hour, then tapered smoothly, 28 amps at 1 hour, 10 amps at 2 hours, 6 amps at three hours, four and a half hours total time.

So either they really needed to complete charge and equalize, or the first few cycles were going got be flaky anyway.

The manager of Costco's tire and battery center says that the 3/15 sticker is a manufacture date, so I don't know why they weren't fully charged when I got them. Maybe they were never fully charged at the factory. They were made in Mexico.

I think I'll do one more equalize cycle of the VEC1093, and then let them sit on the WFCO for a few days.

I ran a test of my then new 6s when I got them home that you might find interesting, in that they acted properly right off. Now you have got yours fixed things should go well in future. First set of graphs in the link below (that thread on a different topic from this one)

This test was to run successive 50-90s so you see the progressive capacity loss after each one. In your case where you go to 100% each run, you shouldn't see this. (But getting to that 100% might mean an E run after it says FUL after the normal run--that normal "full" is more like 97%. So you could get some progressive loss in successive runs that are really only to 97%)

The 75 amps was using a VEC1093DBD 40 amper with a Vector 1092A 35 amper. As you see that is a good charging rate for a pair of 6s as long as your generator can handle the required VA supply to the charger(s) doing 75 amps (power factor correction helps with that!--these Vectors do not have pfc)

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24849190.cfm

I caught some distributors red-handed. Peeling off eight month to a year old stickers and slapping on current date stickers. RAMCAR started burning alpha numerical date of manufacture codes in the edge of their battery lids. Included was the day or evening shift responsible. Good distributors charge their uncommon size batteries every two months, and religiously rotate inventory. Most manufacturers allow their distributors a 100% replacement guarantee for a year.

On the third charge cycle, these new batteries finally acted the way I expect.

Starting from 12.45 volts open circuit, they adsorbed the charger's max of 40 amps for just over a half an hour, then tapered smoothly, 28 amps at 1 hour, 10 amps at 2 hours, 6 amps at three hours, four and a half hours total time.

So either they really needed to complete charge and equalize, or the first few cycles were going got be flaky anyway.

The manager of Costco's tire and battery center says that the 3/15 sticker is a manufacture date, so I don't know why they weren't fully charged when I got them. Maybe they were never fully charged at the factory. They were made in Mexico.

I think I'll do one more equalize cycle of the VEC1093, and then let them sit on the WFCO for a few days.

BFL13 wrote:
The VEC has some way to tell how long to do an Equalize depending on the battery. It can run for just two hours when they don't need much of an E or quite a while. That ten hours proves those batteries were not cared for since they were made and really needed that E. I would give it a second run of E, which should not take so long.

You can let it do an E overnight. It does not need babysitting to do an E like with a manual charger.

Those new SG readings are more like it. You might see a bit higher after the second run, and then that will be your "baseline SG" target for future notions of what a 100% full recharge looks like. (which will likely take a run of E--my 6s need that to get to full baseline)

The VEC is one of the few chargers that can do the recommended charging profile for 6s here, because it can do the 15.x volts needed by doing its E :

http://pdf.wholesalesolar.com/battery-folder/charging_instruction_2011_2.pdf

Ya the CC CV CC charging profile is one of the reasons i chose the solar controller that i did. Seems to be a hard one to find. Seems to be the fastest safe charging profile.

The VEC has some way to tell how long to do an Equalize depending on the battery. It can run for just two hours when they don't need much of an E or quite a while. That ten hours proves those batteries were not cared for since they were made and really needed that E. I would give it a second run of E, which should not take so long.

You can let it do an E overnight. It does not need babysitting to do an E like with a manual charger.

Those new SG readings are more like it. You might see a bit higher after the second run, and then that will be your "baseline SG" target for future notions of what a 100% full recharge looks like. (which will likely take a run of E--my 6s need that to get to full baseline)

The VEC is one of the few chargers that can do the recommended charging profile for 6s here, because it can do the 15.x volts needed by doing its E :

http://pdf.wholesalesolar.com/battery-folder/charging_instruction_2011_2.pdf

Thanks MEX!

In the third store I checked, I finally found a decent baster style hygrometer. It is easier to use than the curvy plastic ones, and it reads about 0.02 higher than the one that I distrusted.

The Equalize cycle of the 1093 finally finished after a total of 10 hours. I interrupted it overnight and restarted it in the morning. The SG read around 1.280 to 1.285.

Now we will see how the next recharge cycle goes. I'm particularly interested in whether the first part goes faster. These batteries should be able to accept 40 amps for a while.

Inexpensive batteries are manufactured, start-to-finish, inexpensively. Imagine processing 800 batteries a day through a greening room. By greening to say, 90% or so, a hundred dollars a day in power alone, can be saved. Now multiply that by 220 days for a year. Squeeze in 2 full batches instead of 1-3/4 per day and that's even more money saved. The battery greening is incomplete which affects performance for a longer period of time. A longer customer break-in period.

Capacity is going to increase as the number of cycles increase. A good top charge right out of the box is recommended as is limiting the first five or so discharges to a maximum of 70% remaining.

The lower the quality of a battery the harder it will forever be to gain that last ten percent of charge. From out of the box to recyler. Acid starvation compounds the problem. Meaning golf car batteries tend to be easier to recharge than group 31 or group 65 batteries. You've heard me use the term "Dense Plate Paste" which is much more costly than economy paste. Use economy paste and that battery will not achieve full-charge as easily.

Hydrometer tip: If the cell is hard to access, slip a length of VACUUM TUBING over the nipple and use a glass to fill with electrolyte. Several draws may be needed if the cell is really a tight fit to fill the glass with enough electrolyte for a good hydrometer fill.

When the bobber floats, gently squeeze and relax the bulb several times while keeping the hydrometer vertical. The float will rise and fall smoothly ensuring bubbles are expelled and the float isn't sticking to the glass column.

I cannot emphasize this enough!

Establish which cell tends to read lowest. Few batteries have all exactly even cell electrolyte density. Then pick on that cell for the life of the battery. The weakest link in the chain. I have 24 cells to read. I repositioned the bank so the weak-sister cell is nearest the door. I do full readings of the other 23 cells once a month.

It would not hurt a bit to cure freshly purchased cyclable batteries for 4-5 days at 14.0 volts. 24-hours a day. This is more effective than imposing a significantly higher voltage for a much shorter period of time.