| Author | Message | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
Rating: N/A |
I've learned a LOT more about batteries than I knew a year ago thanks to you guys, but haven't put the time into deep study yet because other conversion aspects have been priorities. (and still are) I'm currently using a mishmash of three RV/Marine/DeepCycle 12V house batteries during construction, as I don't have power where the coach lives - but it's worked out pretty well. I have to lug each battery to a power source at the end of each day for recharging. Almost always I use them individually - when one gets about 50% down, I put it in my car trunk for taking to be charged and switch to a different one to continue working. Two of them are 'remanufactured' marine batts, no labels on them at all. When I asked the supplier about what capacity they were, he said with a grimace, "When the trollin' motor stops workin', the battery don't have no juice left." WOW that was helpful!  I've come to learn that these batteries aren't very good. Yesterday I bought a new RV/Marine from Sam's just to have a real battery to compare to and can already tell that it's *much* better than those reman batts. Before I buy my L16-class "grownup" batteries, which will still be a long time from now, I'd like to start using the ones I have for some SteelTenting++. So I've read all the admonitions about having matched sets with age/capacities the same in your house bank, and the igmo question is, can you *hurt* or damage the best of the batteries if you string the three in parallel, or does it just reduce the capacity of this mini-bank to the 'average' of the three while in use this way? Once disconnected, will they return to their previous behavior or will they somehow be changed from the experience? If I were to guess at the answer, it would be that no, of course you can't *hurt* the best of the three, but adding the other lesser ones won't help that much, and they will be just as they were afterwards as before you hooked them up together. Did I guess right? Followup Question: I spoke to Tech Support of the charger mfgr the other day (3-stage Vector 'Smart Charger') and in the conversation he said, "It's always better for the battery to choose the lowest charge rate you have the time for." Is this true? Is it "healthier" for a battery to use say, a 2A rate than 10A rate? | ||
| Jerry Liebler (Jerry_liebler)
Rating: N/A |
Chuck, Hooking 3 batterys of different ages and conditions while not recommended will, if the batterys are all working properly, give you something near but less than the sum of their capacities, in amp hours. You can hurt the best of the 3. Batterys self discharge and the worst of the lot will discharge the better. Batterys fail by shorting cells and the oldest is more likely to fail this way, again discharging the others. Once a battery is deeply discharged damage due to sulphation will occur. So if you're going to use them this way watch their voltage closely and keep them charged. If the unloaded voltage gets below, say 11.8 volts seperate them and charge them individually, preferably from 3 stage charger or a 13.8 volt constant voltage source. Let them sit for a day then check the voltages, reject any below 12.6. Regarding charge rate: I respectfully disagree with the tech support tech you spoke to. In fact I'd say quite the opposite the less time you allow the batterys to be in a discharged state the longer their life will be. Especially with 'deep cycle flooded cell' batterys. No damage will occur to a deep cycle battery and it's life won't be shortened IF: 1. It has enough water. 2. Charge current is less than the maximum recomended by the manufacturer, usually 1C (the amp hour rate). 3. Gassing is properly vented. 4. Peak charging voltage is 14.4 volts or less (limits gassing rate). Regards Jerry 4107 1120 | ||
| FAST FRED Rating: N/A |
3 batts is a pain but 4 can be worked more efficently. In 3 on a string you will be change the first pos to house batt to the rear of the string every 6 months or so. Sorta like rotating tires. With 4 you can use a "Series Parallel "setup that requires rotating the batts less often. L-16 are great for most uses , just dont purchase them till you get some sort of of battery monitering system. The Link 10 is great as are others that are less expensive. Check the archives. NOT KILLING the bat set even once is worth the price of the SOC gage in terms of batt life. Crap may run 2 to 4 years of occasional use , the L-16 will take about 1000 50% discharges , a whole lot of years of camping!! FAST FRED | ||
| ChuckMC9 (Chucks)
Rating: N/A |
Aaahhhhhhhh Sooooooo. The Grasshoppah continues to learn. I kind of like 'practicing' with 'play' batteries before getting my grownup set. So my guess was way wrong, and the dude in Tech Support was bogus. (Like many are ;) Based even on a one-day experience with a new battery compared to remanufactured ones, and your comments, I'm tossing the super cheapos and getting a few more new ones even though they'll be replaced later. Having something as meager as 50 - 100 AH available is such a *huge* difference from the 6-16AH I was getting with the $30 remans that it feels luxurious! I can't even imagine what a real bank would be like! I can't wait! Thank you all again for my further edjication. | ||
| Jerry Liebler (Jerry_liebler)
Rating: N/A |
Chuck, Since your bus is 24 volt, it would be very smart to make your house system 24 volt, especially if you'll have an inverter. The advantages of lower wire losses and using the engine alternator to charge the house batterys are substantial. To power those few things that can't be gotten as 24 volt appliances, such as fantastic fans, use an equalizer and a battery tap. Unlike Fast Fred I feel no need for a battery monitoring system as such, the Trace SW series inverter/charger, I have the now discontinued SW2512mc, has all the monitoring needed to keep the baterys from ever discharging below a 50% state, it will even automaticly start the generator at the voltage selected. I sure like my 4 L16's even though they are not the lowest cost per stored watt hour, that honor goes to T105's, they store the most watt hours per square inch of floor space, which is what I wanted. Regards Jerry 4107 1120 |