[Is this testing valid?] Before test - 12.7v and 1.275 SG ... close to 100% according to the Trojan Battery Users Guide
Test - 2.33 amps (about c/100) for 20 hours; 46.6 AH
After Test - 12.40v and 1.225 SG ... close to 72% according to TBUG
Assuming 100% charge (what else could I assume and any lessor number just makes the batteries look better...) then the test used 28% of the capacity so 46.6 AH / .28 = 166 AH capacity. (66% of new)
Well, that will give me something to compare the effect of desulfating.
The second pair hasn't been tested yet other than to see that it has held last night's charge.
Thank you, - Ed.
desulfators will not improve on this result, because they cannot all the acid has been driven back out and into the electrolyte solution.
if you have a battery that after several hours of charging followed by an equalization charge of sufficient voltage still does not come up to around the full charge specific gravity, then try the desulfator to see if it can get the specific gravity up the rest of the way.
that is where the rubber meets the road :)
bob g[ Parent ]
- Ed.[ Parent ]
In one battery, the SG is 1.275 in two cells and 1.265 in the other. In the other battery, the SG is 1.275 in two cells and 1.250 in the other.
Neither my smart charger nor my dumb charger have an equalization mode.
Is this a stupid idea or what... What about putting a 12 volt string on the dumb charger and setting it to 24 volt mode? If it matters, it only has 6 amps (about C/30) in 24 volt mode
Thank you, - Ed.[ Parent ]
I guess that I should have written "dumber" charger instead of dumb charger; it does have an automatic float mode in both 12 and 24 volt mode so it won't go up to 16v in 12 volt mode. Was wondering about putting it in 24 volt mode and connecting it to a 12volt string. Or maybe to three batteries in an 18v string? Is that a big no-no?
Thanks again, - Ed.[ Parent ]
With two batteries, the charger hummed loudly and did didn't show any current going into the batteries. With three batteries, the charger was quiet but showed nine amps going into the batteries. "But" because it's only rated for 5 amps at 24 volts.
Now I've learned that "dumb charger" really means the guy operating it... I had the mode switch set to "auto." In "manual" mode, the charge complete LED comes on but the charger doesn't turn off so in 12 volt mode the charger will stay on an it will do an equalization.
Okay, so I've learned something... it's a good day so far!
