House Battery Maintenance
I just purchased two 12 volt conventional bouse batteries. (Duracell Ultra 1 year warranty) What can I do get the most out of these batteries. I leave the mh parked at Hilton Head for about 3 mont...
Forum Discussion
Not specific to the battery tender/minder brand names, but many people have left battery maintainers on, thinking all would be well come spring time, to find the circuit powering them had tripped, or the wart fallen from the wall, and the device had drained the battery to dead dead unrecoverably dead, slowly. Others find that there is no electrolyte left as the voltage was too high for the battery temperature.
The lack of temperature compensation on almost every marketed maintainer, is a red flag to me especially when there are wide temperature extremes.
Ideal float voltages vary with battery and battery temperature and these devices can range from holding the battery anywhere from 13.2 to 13.9v, even among the same brand name/model. The cheapo HF maintainers were reported to have this very wide voltage range.
I'd much prefer to fully charge/slightly overcharge and completely disconnect, possibly recharge monthly.
If i used any maintainer I would need to know what what voltage it is deciding to hold the already fully charged battery at, and whether it responds to ambient temperatures or not, we know few have battery temp sensors.
I say already truly fully charged as many will think plug the maintainer into a less than fully charged battery and see an Ok float voltage, but once the maintainer actually gets the battery nearer full charge days weeks later, the voltage is likely too high for the temperature.
Some people still act like a maintainer is a battery charger, where many batteries will never have their specific gravity maximized no matter how long they are left at float or slightly higher voltage.
When I have floated batteries for a long period in mild ambients, they do not seem to perform well the first discharge in the voltage retention department. Seems a deeper discharge and a full recharge wakes them back up after their floating slumber.
If the battery is to be cold, then batteries self discharge much less at lower temperatures, making me lean more towards a true full charge and complete disconnection of battery from all loads and charing sources, rather than praying nothing goes wrong with the maintainer and the circuit feeding it.
Older batteries self discharge at higher rates, and especially when they have impurities added when being watered. The recessed caps almost seem to invite debris any time the caps are opened, and taking precautions and wiping out the corners with Q tips is no guarantee.
The lack of temperature compensation on almost every marketed maintainer, is a red flag to me especially when there are wide temperature extremes.
Ideal float voltages vary with battery and battery temperature and these devices can range from holding the battery anywhere from 13.2 to 13.9v, even among the same brand name/model. The cheapo HF maintainers were reported to have this very wide voltage range.
I'd much prefer to fully charge/slightly overcharge and completely disconnect, possibly recharge monthly.
If i used any maintainer I would need to know what what voltage it is deciding to hold the already fully charged battery at, and whether it responds to ambient temperatures or not, we know few have battery temp sensors.
I say already truly fully charged as many will think plug the maintainer into a less than fully charged battery and see an Ok float voltage, but once the maintainer actually gets the battery nearer full charge days weeks later, the voltage is likely too high for the temperature.
Some people still act like a maintainer is a battery charger, where many batteries will never have their specific gravity maximized no matter how long they are left at float or slightly higher voltage.
When I have floated batteries for a long period in mild ambients, they do not seem to perform well the first discharge in the voltage retention department. Seems a deeper discharge and a full recharge wakes them back up after their floating slumber.
If the battery is to be cold, then batteries self discharge much less at lower temperatures, making me lean more towards a true full charge and complete disconnection of battery from all loads and charing sources, rather than praying nothing goes wrong with the maintainer and the circuit feeding it.
Older batteries self discharge at higher rates, and especially when they have impurities added when being watered. The recessed caps almost seem to invite debris any time the caps are opened, and taking precautions and wiping out the corners with Q tips is no guarantee.
