Trjan T105's

[smileypete]

Just an update.

 

Smart gauge shows charging at 14.65 to 14.70 now.

 

As Nick says, well worth looking at the batt cell SGs (specific gravity) with a half decent hydrometer.

 

For all you know they could be all over the place, with some very low and requiring urgent eq (equalisation) charging.

 

I think this is how decent semi traction and traction batts can 'get killed'.

 

OTOH they'll give excellent life with a bit of pampering - the right charging as recommended by the manufacturer (not Mr Sterling or anyone else )

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited January 29, 2015 by smileypete

[dmr]

I have the cheap Sterling charger (Budget Pro???) for those rare occasions when we have shore power

My observations suggest that it goes into float mode much too quickly, so if you get a touch of sulphation it may never recover and so let things go downhill very quickly. Hopefully his more expensive chargers do better???.

 

I would say 14.8v is the minimum charging voltage for an off grid boat.

 

............Dave

[by'eck]

I have the cheap Sterling charger (Budget Pro???) for those rare occasions when we have shore power

My observations suggest that it goes into float mode much too quickly, so if you get a touch of sulphation it may never recover and so let things go downhill very quickly. Hopefully his more expensive chargers do better???.

 

I would say 14.8v is the minimum charging voltage for an off grid boat.

 

............Dave

 

Sulphation could be an issue on an unattended boat left on float. As mentioned, turning the charger off briefly then on again will force it to run through all phases. As this includes the timed absorb mode, the higher voltage will be held for an hour or two even with fully charged batteries. Some Sterling chargers invoke this automatically every 15 days.

[ralphclaydon]

This morning the smart gauge readings are 100% 13.30 to 13.35 volts.

 

Thanks again everyone for your help.

 

Just to add.

After a days charging.

I turned battery charger off for a few minutes, when turned back on smart gauge went to 14.75 Volts

Edited January 31, 2015 by ralphclaydon

[ralphclaydon]

Hi

Just a very late update.

Since my last post i have had the batteries on charge 24/7. Due to other commitments have not been able to take boat out till last week.

The Smart gauge read 100% when we started,Only cruised about an hour a day(Spent the week between Whilton and Blissworth).

We used the 12v Fridge, and at night 240v TV for about 6 hours ,this sent the smartgauge down to about 93%. my wife used her 240v hair dryer on a couple of occasions!

The Smart gauge never went below 80% all week, I checked the water level when we got back to mooring , they did not need topping up(Thats the first time they have been checked since i installed the Sterling Pro).

It seems that the problem was with the way i had wired the battery bank after all!

 

Thanks for your help