Lifeline AGM and extreme temperatures?
Im working a deal on three Lifeline 8-D AGM's but am wondering if the -20f or 100+ F temperatures they will be exposed to mounted in the trailer will have any detrimental effects. They would either be...
Forum Discussion
Your hair-splitting scalpel needs a tune-up.
Porosity of active plate material accounts for a significant static level of charge.
The THINNESS of plates, the porosity of plates, plus construction for chemistry determines the characteristics of a flooded battery.
I went toe-to-toe with the phone answering "Applications Engineer" at Lifeline. He too suggested a high voltage, maybe "13.8 volts" would cause loss of water if present year after year. Why the exaggeration? I did not say 13.8, I spelled it out, THIRTEEN POINT SIX VOLTS.
It boiled down to this...read carefully...
"Our engineers feel a float voltage of thirteen point four volts will offer the maximum possible lifespan on a battery at float"
This isn't wrong. But the age advantage is almost asinine. Maybe a year IF THE BATTERY IS UNDERGOING UPS DUTY and total lifespan is in excess of twelve to fifteen years.
Don't spin the steering wheel when the front tires are stationary and enjoy added tire life (200 miles on a 40,000 mile tire).
And please don't throw Rolls and Surrette recommended flooded float voltages at me as a challenge. Rolls is right on the dot with their voltages.
I have a 50Kg gram scale here. Measures resolution to .1 gram. A 5-1/2 digit bench meter, and thermocouple that defines Fahrenheit to .1 degree. Ya think just maybe I have the ability to measure resolution of .001 ampere? Ya think a weight loss of a 35 kg battery of .1 GRAM (not ounce - GRAM) would not be detected? How much H2O in one tenth of a gram?
I doubt I REALLY doubt even Concorde goes to such elaborate steps to determine limits of suitability of a particular float voltage correlated to temperature. I do it for FUN. I have caught so many application engineers telling ridiculous fairy tales that I refuse to talk with them unless really forced to. The hidden design engineers espouse facts and by god they HATE to be challenged. They adopt ROTE replies to a majority of issues and stick by ROTE. When pressed to defend ROTE they get veins sticking out of their neck and temples. I have done this for many decades and as Larry D'Aquino at Ramcar told me. "Of course you are correct. But don't make a habit of embarrassing engineers - some of them might have a .45 in a desk drawer".
The validity of abandoning a Lifeline for a .2 float voltage disparity is sad. I tried every example I know, explaining the ridiculous contradiction of imposing a fixed .2 volt differential across a temperature range of ONE HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. That didn't work. Neither did explaining the contradiction of using a Lifeline at underhood temperatures at automotive charging system voltage values.
You are entitled to do as you wish. I have presented my side of the issue with a plethora of easy-to-understand examples. I must now abandon this issue as there is nothing to be gained by head butting. Hopefully enough folks have read this to arrive at a common sense deduction and conclusion.
Saludos! pnichols :)
Porosity of active plate material accounts for a significant static level of charge.
The THINNESS of plates, the porosity of plates, plus construction for chemistry determines the characteristics of a flooded battery.
I went toe-to-toe with the phone answering "Applications Engineer" at Lifeline. He too suggested a high voltage, maybe "13.8 volts" would cause loss of water if present year after year. Why the exaggeration? I did not say 13.8, I spelled it out, THIRTEEN POINT SIX VOLTS.
It boiled down to this...read carefully...
"Our engineers feel a float voltage of thirteen point four volts will offer the maximum possible lifespan on a battery at float"
This isn't wrong. But the age advantage is almost asinine. Maybe a year IF THE BATTERY IS UNDERGOING UPS DUTY and total lifespan is in excess of twelve to fifteen years.
Don't spin the steering wheel when the front tires are stationary and enjoy added tire life (200 miles on a 40,000 mile tire).
And please don't throw Rolls and Surrette recommended flooded float voltages at me as a challenge. Rolls is right on the dot with their voltages.
I have a 50Kg gram scale here. Measures resolution to .1 gram. A 5-1/2 digit bench meter, and thermocouple that defines Fahrenheit to .1 degree. Ya think just maybe I have the ability to measure resolution of .001 ampere? Ya think a weight loss of a 35 kg battery of .1 GRAM (not ounce - GRAM) would not be detected? How much H2O in one tenth of a gram?
I doubt I REALLY doubt even Concorde goes to such elaborate steps to determine limits of suitability of a particular float voltage correlated to temperature. I do it for FUN. I have caught so many application engineers telling ridiculous fairy tales that I refuse to talk with them unless really forced to. The hidden design engineers espouse facts and by god they HATE to be challenged. They adopt ROTE replies to a majority of issues and stick by ROTE. When pressed to defend ROTE they get veins sticking out of their neck and temples. I have done this for many decades and as Larry D'Aquino at Ramcar told me. "Of course you are correct. But don't make a habit of embarrassing engineers - some of them might have a .45 in a desk drawer".
The validity of abandoning a Lifeline for a .2 float voltage disparity is sad. I tried every example I know, explaining the ridiculous contradiction of imposing a fixed .2 volt differential across a temperature range of ONE HUNDRED DEGREES FAHRENHEIT. That didn't work. Neither did explaining the contradiction of using a Lifeline at underhood temperatures at automotive charging system voltage values.
You are entitled to do as you wish. I have presented my side of the issue with a plethora of easy-to-understand examples. I must now abandon this issue as there is nothing to be gained by head butting. Hopefully enough folks have read this to arrive at a common sense deduction and conclusion.
Saludos! pnichols :)
