A list of battery charging figures

[MtB]

I've always considered putting Vaseline on battery terminals a very bad idea.

 

Vaseline is non-conducting and it is very difficult for the next person disturbing those terminals to avoid getting any of it on the mating faces. Even the merest trace of Vaseline on either face reduces the contact area and potentially raises the resistance of the battery connection.

 

 

I know this from when aged 17 I put it on my car battery terminals. It took a lot of careful cleaning and removal of the Vaseline after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery (when changing the engine or something, which I was prone to doing of a Sunday afternoon) to actually get the engine to turn over again.

[nicknorman]

I've always considered putting Vaseline on battery terminals a very bad idea.

 

Vaseline is non-conducting and it is very difficult for the next person disturbing those terminals to avoid getting any of it on the mating faces. Even the merest trace of Vaseline on either face reduces the contact area and potentially raises the resistance of the battery connection.

 

 

I know this from when aged 17 I put it on my car battery terminals. It took a lot of careful cleaning and removal of the Vaseline after disconnecting and reconnecting the battery (when changing the engine or something, which I was prone to doing of a Sunday afternoon) to actually get the engine to turn over again.

Well all I can say is that I liberally smear Vaseline over the contacting surfaces and have never had a problem with 200A etc going through them.

[cuthound]

I was taught to ensure the terminals were cleaned until bright, then made tight and only then cover the whole lot with battery grease or Vaseline. It's purpose is to exclude air and prevent corrosion of the connections underneath.

[MtB]

I was taught to ensure the terminals were cleaned until bright, then made tight and only then cover the whole lot with battery grease or Vaseline. It's purpose is to exclude air and prevent corrosion of the connections underneath.

 

 

Can't say I've ever had a terminal corrosion problem without vaseline.

 

Why limit it to battery terminals? Why not smear Vaseline over everything in a boat that 'might' corrode?

[nicknorman]

 

Why limit it to battery terminals? Why not smear Vaseline over everything...?

No need to get personal, what Jeff and I get up to in private is no-one else's business. Edited February 4, 2016 by nicknorman

[Top cat]

Can't say I've ever had a terminal corrosion problem without vaseline.

 

Why limit it to battery terminals? Why not smear Vaseline over everything in a boat that 'might' corrode?

Actually I've done that, not with vaseline but with "Liquid electrical tape" a clear brush on gunk that goes semi hard. I did that after the shunt board on my BVM failled after condensation dripped on it. Being clear you can see if water has got under or if thing are corroding and you can pick it off if you need to , great stuff.

 

Top Cat

[cuthound]

I was taught to ensure the terminals were cleaned until bright, then made tight and only then cover the whole lot with battery grease or Vaseline. It's purpose is to exclude air and prevent corrosion of the connections underneath.

The batteries I first worked on we're a tad bigger than boat batteries, up to 15,050Ah in capacity. Each 2 volt cell comprised a large lead lined wooden box filled with plates and covered with glass splash plates to keep most of the acid in during charging. Equalisation charging resulted in a visible haze over the batteries and sometimes acid dripping off the light fittings!

 

With that much acid gassed off preventing corrosion was paramount.

[sirweste]

Swift,

 

I had 2 knackered 225ah sealed leisure batteries for a while.

I now have 6x T105's and am dead happy with them. Bought 70mm wire and a £25 terminal crimper. I have a Mastervolt Combi 12/200 which is capable of 100A charge. When it is doing it's bulk phase charge it is ragging the nuts off the 2kw honda genny, so much so you can't really run out else off it, but the 100A is enough to charge the bank I believe.

 

I also have a SmartGauge, but like Mike find that it doesn't give me much info at all on the SOC really, my expectation is that once I finally take it out of the box and install it, it will.

 

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by sirweste

[swift1894]

I eventually got a hydrometer...Hurray!

Checked my batteries showing 12.7 v on my Mastervolt MICC.

Nearly every cell showed 1225 at 14 degrees Celsius ( so 1216 after subtracting .004 per 6 degrees below 27 degrees)

Looks like l need new batteries....Booo!

Also the electrolyte, when drawn up into the hydrometer, was quite grey from most of the cells, which, apparently is a bad sign.

[Graham.m]

Also the electrolyte, when drawn up into the hydrometer, was quite grey from most of the cells, which, apparently is a bad sign.

Yes

[swift1894]

Swift,

 

I had 2 knackered 225ah sealed leisure batteries for a while.

I now have 6x T105's and am dead happy with them. Bought 70mm wire and a £25 terminal crimper. I have a Mastervolt Combi 12/200 which is capable of 100A charge. When it is doing it's bulk phase charge it is ragging the nuts off the 2kw honda genny, so much so you can't really run out else off it, but the 100A is enough to charge the bank I believe.

 

I also have a SmartGauge, but like Mike find that it doesn't give me much info at all on the SOC really, my expectation is that once I finally take it out of the box and install it, it will.

 

 

Nice, neat layout. Do these batteries not have handles?

[nicknorman]

Nice, neat layout. Do these batteries not have handles?

No unfortunately not, although you can get (or probably make) handles that temporarily attach to brackets on top of the batteries. You can see the brackets in the foreground of the picture.

Edited February 5, 2016 by nicknorman

[WotEver]

 

I also have a SmartGauge, but like Mike find that it doesn't give me much info at all on the SOC really, my expectation is that once I finally take it out of the box and install it, it will.

 

You and Mike could start a little club

[swift1894]

No unfortunately not, although you can get (or probably make) handles that temporarily attach to brackets on top of the batteries. You can see the brackets in the foreground of the picture.

Yes I assumed that those brackets were for temporary ( delivery) handles, which would be removed once the batteries were in position. Wouldn't have thought that was too much to ask when the batteries cost around £115 apiece.

Edited February 5, 2016 by swift1894

[swift1894]

So.... I have room for 8 Trojan T 105 batteries. Lots of Ah but is the school of thought that say 6 batteries would recharge quicker and it's better to wind them down further than I would if there were 8. (using 2 Mastervolt 80 amp battery chargers and 800w solar panels)?

Edited February 5, 2016 by swift1894

[WotEver]

So.... I have room for 8 Trojan T 105 batteries. Lots of Ah but is the school of thought that say 6 batteries would recharge quicker and it's better to wind them down further than I would if there were 8. (using 2 Mastervolt 80 amp battery chargers and 800w solar panels)?

 

Before answering that did we establish your daily consumption?

 

Tony

[nicknorman]

Yes I assumed that those brackets were for temporary ( delivery) handles, which would be removed once the batteries were in position. Wouldn't have thought that was too much to ask when the batteries cost around £115 apiece.

I think the point is that you only need 1 handle because once the batteries are in position it would just get in the way and so is best removed (for the next one). I just got a bit of rope and put it through the slots, then knotted the ends.

Before answering that did we establish your daily consumption?

 

Tony

Just what I was going to say. There is no point in having a huge bank if you only ever take 10% out of it. Edited February 5, 2016 by nicknorman

[WotEver]

Just what I was going to say. There is no point in having a huge bank if you only ever take 10% out of it.

 

Or a small one that's going to be thraped

[ditchcrawler]

So.... I have room for 8 Trojan T 105 batteries. Lots of Ah but is the school of thought that say 6 batteries would recharge quicker and it's better to wind them down further than I would if there were 8. (using 2 Mastervolt 80 amp battery chargers and 800w solar panels)?

What do you feed your Mastervolts with

[swift1894]

What do you feed your Mastervolts with

6kVA Mastervolt whisper 6000

[swift1894]

I think the point is that you only need 1 handle because once the batteries are in position it would just get in the way and so is best removed (for the next one). I just got a bit of rope and put it through the slots, then knotted the ends.Just what I was going to say. There is no point in having a huge bank if you only ever take 10% out of it.

Yes I thought maybe Trojan would supply 1 handle, but no problem sorting out a bit of rope, jus wanted to be sure the brackets were up to holding the weight.

 

I'm pretty much domestic standard. 32" TV, mains full size fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, Electric hob, halogen oven, toaster, electric kettle. I don't mind getting just 6 T105s just wondered if 8 would charge up as quickly and give a bit of reserve.

[sirweste]

Yer no handles is a ball ache, I nearly burst my eyes straining to get em in the bay. But I do like the lack of them for simplicity now they are installed.

 

There's a power audit excel sheet on the forum somewhere....actually I might have mine......

 

Do that and buy battery bank based on that, 6 is plenty for me: - LED lights, 32" led telly, 240v sound system, xbox one, central heating pump, fridge freezer and usual pumps.

Yes I thought maybe Trojan would supply 1 handle, but no problem sorting out a bit of rope, jus wanted to be sure the brackets were up to holding the weight.

I'm pretty much domestic standard. 32" TV, mains full size fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, Electric hob, halogen oven, toaster, electric kettle. I don't mind getting just 6 T105s just wondered if 8 would charge up as quickly and give a bit of reserve.

 

To me that seems like a lot of juice using appliances. My kitchen has a foodprocessor and everything else is off gas. You may well be up to 8 batts

Electrical audit (filled out with my use) attached

Copy of electrical_audit.xls

[WotEver]

I'm pretty much domestic standard. 32" TV, mains full size fridge, washing machine, dishwasher, Electric hob, halogen oven, toaster, electric kettle. I don't mind getting just 6 T105s just wondered if 8 would charge up as quickly and give a bit of reserve.

Without timings it's all still pretty much guesswork. See how you get on with the spreadsheet.

 

Tony

[swift1894]

Yer no handles is a ball ache, I nearly burst my eyes straining to get em in the bay. But I do like the lack of them for simplicity now they are installed.

 

There's a power audit excel sheet on the forum somewhere....actually I might have mine......

 

Do that and buy battery bank based on that, 6 is plenty for me: - LED lights, 32" led telly, 240v sound system, xbox one, central heating pump, fridge freezer and usual pumps.

 

 

To me that seems like a lot of juice using appliances. My kitchen has a foodprocessor and everything else is off gas. You may well be up to 8 battsElectrical audit (filled out with my use) attached

Thanks for taking the trouble. Maybe I'll get 6 to start with and see how I go on. Can always get 2 more soon after if necessary.

I seem to remember someone saying it's better to take Trojans down to ( maybe?) 40% state of charge then recharge up to 100% than only down to 70% ish before recharging. So winding down 6 T 105 s is better than tickling 8(?)

What think you?

[WotEver]

The most important part is getting them back up to 100%. So if you are more able to do that when (for example) only taking them down to 60% SoC then that is the best DoD for you.

 

Tony