AGM Batteries vs Wet Cell

[Beausoleil]

Steve,

You might want to re-visit the Balmar ARS regulator pre-programmed AGM settings - they're actually set lower that what Fullriver recommends. If you check Fullriver's recommend charging voltages, you'll see that they're just about in line with Balmar's regular FLA settings.

Also, is the ProSine's current display referenced to the point of view from the charger itself, rather than the battery bank? I.e., it's actually wired correctly?

[Microship]

Beausoleil - hmmm, that is rather disturbing. After seeing my previous bank toasted by some combination of age, long-ago overcharging (swelling), and long-term Prosine "generic gel" setpoint, I really want to be sure this is correct.

Two issues... I'm days away from pulling the Prosine and installing the Outback FX2012. It's not immediately obvious how to set that up, but I haven't RTFM'd yet and they have excellent user forums. It's plugged in to shore power now at the dock, with the voltmeter hovering around 14.2.

Second, engine charging seemed to be in the same ballpark during the epic crossing during Saturday's storm, though I was somewhat preoccupied with saving the boat and didn't get to monitor too closely. I had wanted to dive down and watch the state LEDs on the Balmar. I'm surprised to hear of the setpoints being in the flood range... that's not an immediate danger (overcharge would be much worse) but it would be good to know.

I'll throw more instrumentation at it and gather some charge profile data. The Fullriver datasheet is not very helpful.

Steve

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by Microship

I'll throw more instrumentation at it and gather some charge profile data. The Fullriver datasheet is not very helpful.

Steve

You mean the Group 31 datasheet, or their Charging Recommendation sheet?

I'll admit, they both recommend a fairly wide voltage range, so I aim for the middle. But then again, I think Rick in another thread mentioned how with most battery manufacturers (US-based, I'd assume) those numbers usually come from Marketing, with input from product liability lawyers, rather than from Engineering. As an Engineer, I don't hold most lawyers in high regard. Something about ethics, I guess

[Microship]

Originally Posted by Beausoleil

As an Engineer, I don't hold most lawyers in high regard. Something about ethics, I guess

99% of them give the rest a bad name. Shame, really.

I'll go take a look at those datasheets; thanks. Returned to boat today and charger is now in float, batts sitting at 13.45 or so. Outback now aboard.

Cheers!
Steve

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Beausoleil

Steve,

You might want to re-visit the Balmar ARS regulator pre-programmed AGM settings - they're actually set lower that what Fullriver recommends. If you check Fullriver's recommend charging voltages, you'll see that they're just about in line with Balmar's regular FLA settings.

Also, is the ProSine's current display referenced to the point of view from the charger itself, rather than the battery bank? I.e., it's actually wired correctly?

I bought a 120 Amp Balmar (small case unfortunately) along with the MC-612-H external regulator and now see that it won't take the voltage as high as I might like to using Amp hour law charging (even manually setting up the charge profile).
I think it will come close enough though and doubt it would be worth changing the external regulator (If that's all I'd have to change). Will see.

Regards,
Extemp.

[Microship]

Interesting... I hope it works OK. I'm a tad puzzled at the moment about the nomenclature of the FullRiver batteries. The dealer wrote them up as DC115-12, but the batteries are printed DC110-12. I naturally asked about this, and he said they spec'd out better than the original product definition so the same batteries are now described as DC115-12. Anyone know if this is true? It was Saturday and I had no chance to shop around, and the price seemed fair... and he said they are quite fresh (May manufacture). All sound legit?

Cheers,
Steve

[bowring]

Hi there, I am having problems with my batteries overcharging (cooking) sometimes when on shore power(240v), I have 4 x 125amh wet Batteries(500amh total) with a 40 amp charger. I leave the boat with the fridge going drawing 7amp

I am thinking there could be 2 problems
1/ fridge is drawing power so the charger is not going into float

or
2/ the charger is poked,

A sparky has also told me that I should use a 240v to 12v transformer so I can leave the fridge going when on shore power (like to keep the beers cold when we use it as an apartment) He said the frridge is causing the problem.

Also I was thinking of upgrading the charger to an 80 amp (Quick SBC) to get a faster charge from my 3kva genset

Any advice would be very helpful - thanks

[Mark Johnson]

I chose Trojan L-16 wet batteries. (2 @ 6v in series) They are the footprint of Golf Cart batteries, 16" tall. These are 380 ah, and with Hydrocaps and our shallow discharges, they only need watering about 4X per year! The shallow discharges we make, and bringing them back 100% daily, with a 3 stage smart regulator, should assure a 10 year or more lifespan... They are the "(number of cycles, per $ spent)" champs! IF taken care of, possibly even overall reliability champs.

That is a big IF! We eventually ruined our first pair from my stupidly forgetting to water them. They didn't need it often, and that lulled me into it... So the above asessment comes with a BIG IF... The Trojan 12v wet batteries, of similar size, have about half the cycle life, but are normal height, so might fit better. Personally, I would go out of my way to go with the tall L-16s, if I went with wet batteries... They are that much better!!!

If money is no object, and you change them out regularly, say... every 2 or 3 years, the AGMs will probably work a bit better in taking a charge efficiently, and not self discharging like my wet batteries do. Less maintenance hassle too!

For us, it was a financial / reliability issue, and we're pleased with our choice...

Mark