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what is a battery regime ?


14skipper

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Short answer: charge them to 100% after every use and never drop them below around 50% SoC. If you can't get them to 100% every day then at least get them to 80%+ and do the full charge every few days. If you can't do the full charge every few days then do it weekly.

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Short answer: charge them to 100% after every use and never drop them below around 50% SoC. If you can't get them to 100% every day then at least get them to 80%+ and do the full charge every few days. If you can't do the full charge every few days then do it weekly.

 

And if you cannot do that then budget to buy a new battery-bank every 3-4 weeks.

 

Next question - do you know how to test if your battery is fully charged ?

  • Greenie 1
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boat is connected to shore power and so to a charger.l assumed that the charger would know when to charge them up.But as this is my third charger and third set of batteries in 5 yrs l am beginning to wonder !

 

14 skipper

Assume nothing. Check for yourself.

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boat is connected to shore power and so to a charger.l assumed that the charger would know when to charge them up.But as this is my third charger and third set of batteries in 5 yrs l am beginning to wonder !

 

14 skipper

 

See Wotever above.

 

Modern intelligent chargers are about as intelligent as a thick plank. They are computer controlled and the algorithms they use tend to follow something known as adaptive charging. The upshot is that they tend to drop to float voltage far too soon so the batteries never get fully charged, especially if you are living aboard.

 

There are two ways around this.

 

1. If possible turn adaptive charging off and treat the charger like the alternator. keep charging until the charging current stops falling for about an hour. Then turn the charger off.

 

2. When it drops to float turn it off for a few moments and then back on again. Keep doing this until the charging current fails to fall over about an hour but make sure the charging voltage is above 14 volts..

 

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1. If possible turn adaptive charging off and treat the charger like the alternator. keep charging until the charging current stops falling for about an hour. Then turn the charger off.

 

2. When it drops to float turn it off for a few moments and then back on again. Keep doing this until the charging current fails to fall over about an hour but make sure the charging voltage is above 14 volts..

 

 

Thanks for that Tony,but i really don,nt know what it means !

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Thanks for that Tony,but i really don,nt know what it means !

 

That's the problem and unless you really study the documentation that comes with the charger you may not get much further, especially as I have not noticed any identification of the charger - make, model etc.

 

At some point during the charge the charger will decide that it thinks the batteries are fully charged. At the point it will reduce the charging voltage to save damaging the battery yet at the same time make up for the batteries self discharge. This voltage is typically around 13.4 to 13.6 volts and is known as the float voltage. If you are taking electricity from your battery on a daily basis that voltage is unlikely to be able to push as much charge back into the battery as you have taken out so the batteries never get fully charged. Especially if the charger decides to go into float too early.

 

The procedure the charger uses to decide when to drop to float, and incidently to tell you the batteries are fully charged, is often called adaptive charging. Without the charger details we have no idea if your charge does this or not or of it can be turned off. Because we do not know this I have given you two procedures to overcome the problem.

 

However my website will not help you much with this. The link WotEver gave you may do.

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boat is connected to shore power and so to a charger.l assumed that the charger would know when to charge them up.But as this is my third charger and third set of batteries in 5 yrs l am beginning to wonder !

 

14 skipper

It sounds to me that you need a "Regime Change". Or perhaps just a decent charger? My last set of batteries lasted 10 years with most of that time spent on shore power with a basic 10 year old sterling digital charger. But even knackered batteries will still run a 12v system if kept connected to a half decent charger, so I don't really understand what you're doing wrong?

 

Are they flooded batteries? Do you top them up occasionally?

Edited by blackrose
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Are you permanently or nearly permanently on your mooring? If you go on extended cruises then your charging issues may be caused there. However, you say you've got through 3 chargers in 5 years. This is a bit unusual. Either you're unlucky or you have an issue with the way your charger is installed. My best guess would be that your shoreline power isn't as stable as it should be.

 

Third set of batteries isn't so unusual if you're cruising a lot but if you're on a landline all the time, then they ought to run almost indefinitely through a charger.

 

Before you keep forking out more money, I'd advise to get a boat electrician to have a proper look at your system.


added: Just noticed that you say you're on a shoreline but your profile says you're a cc'er. Could you give some detail on how you use your boat and what sort of charging regime you currently have?

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.........added: Just noticed that you say you're on a shoreline but your profile says you're a cc'er. Could you give some detail on how you use your boat and what sort of charging regime you currently have?

 

On the internet you can be whatever you want to be, the trick is remembering what you have said.

He (?) maybe a banned member with a new alias who wants to start a discussion that always generates a difference of opinions.

Alternatively, he may have a very, very, long landline.

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As the tile says really what is considered to be a good battery regime ?

 

14Skipper

 

Firstly you read everything about batteries before deciding to buy very expensive ones that you will look after for ever and ever. On delivery you smile at them and give each one a name to make them feel at home. You connect them up in their lovely little area and wish them night night. Every 3rd day you look in each and every cell and top up with PROPER battery stuff and check the electrolite to see if you are keeping them as fully charged as is possible. During charging EVERY DAY you check them every few seconds to see that they are happy. If you buy " Trojans " they will last four hundred and eighteen years no others will possibly do.

Or buy cheap, charge as often as is possible without being anal and make sure you buy sealed for life so you never ever need to look at them again and bin em evry 2 or 3 years. It depends on wether you have " A life " or not biggrin.png

 

Tim

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Or buy cheap, charge as often as is possible without being anal and make sure you buy sealed for life so you never ever need to look at them again and bin em evry 2 or 3 years. It depends on wether you have " A life " or not :D

Tim

This is my sort of battery regime. Nice one!

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l cruise during the summer, in the the winter am on a mooring with a shore line connection.Charger is mounted in back cabin above the floor,would not consider it to be a damp area because of heating.

Charger only has two connections pos/neg and a temperature sensor.charger is on 24/7.

l do aslo have 3 100w solar panels fitted for my summer cruising.

Edited by 14skipper
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You are basically running 'off the batteries' for 6 months of the year, and running of mains reduced to 12v DC for the other 6 months.

You could run your boat from the mains with 'totally' dead batteries.

 

You have replaced your battery bank 3 times in 5 years ( ie about every 18 months)

 

What decides you to replace the batteries ?

What is the battery acid level like when you replace them (boiled dry ?)

Does this happen during / the start / the end of the cruising season, or during the 'shore-line' season ?

 

You have replaced 3 battery chargers in 5 years

 

What decides you to replace the battery charger ?

How do you know it is not 'working' ?

Is there any 'smell' (burning) with the 'faulty' chargers ?

Have you checked fuses ?

Does the battery charger replacement coincide with the battery replacement ?

 

 

It cannot be 'bad luck' or just a bad 'regime', something is fundamentally wrong with your installation or operation.

 

If is all 'happening' during the cruising season - Can you give a full breakdown of how you operate at the moment, the amount of cruising / engine hours per day etc.

Have you done a full electrical audit ? (input & output) ?

 

If it 'happens' whilst on the land-line is anyone else on the same bollard / system experiencing similar problems ?

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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You are basically running 'off the batteries' for 6 months of the year, and running of mains reduced to 12v DC for the other 6 months.

You could run your boat from the mains with 'totally' dead batteries.

 

You have replaced your battery bank 3 times in 5 years ( ie about every 18 months)

 

What decides you to replace the batteries ?

What is the battery acid level like when you replace them (boiled dry ?)

Does this happen during / the start / the end of the cruising season, or during the 'shore-line' season ?

 

You have replaced 3 battery chargers in 5 years

 

What decides you to replace the battery charger ?

How do you know it is not 'working' ?

Is there any 'smell' (burning) with the 'faulty' chargers ?

Have you checked fuses ?

Does the battery charger replacement coincide with the battery replacement ?

 

 

It cannot be 'bad luck' or just a bad 'regime', something is fundamentally wrong with your installation or operation.

 

If is all 'happening' during the cruising season - Can you give a full breakdown of how you operate at the moment, the amount of cruising / engine hours per day etc.

Have you done a full electrical audit ? (input & output) ?

 

If it 'happens' whilst on the land-line is anyone else on the same bollard / system experiencing similar problems ?

on two occasions the batteries were replace because they were "cooking "

the chargers were replaced because they stopped charging ,output voltage was checked unit would turn on and light up but no output charge.

the cruising time is more like 4/5 months depending on my cruise,and the weather.

would say that l spend more time on shore power than off,but when sun shines turn off charger and use solar.

my 12v usage is down to lights/fridge/water pump.

Yes, but is the temperature sensor attached to one of the batteries??

Really ?

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on two occasions the batteries were replace because they were "cooking "

the chargers were replaced because they stopped charging ,output voltage was checked unit would turn on and light up but no output charge.

the cruising time is more like 4/5 months depending on my cruise,and the weather.

would say that l spend more time on shore power than off,but when sun shines turn off charger and use solar.

my 12v usage is down to lights/fridge/water pump.

Really ?

 

Were the batteries 'cooking' whilst 'cruising' or whilst on 'landline' ?

What about the 'other time ?

 

What exactly do you mean by 'cooking' ?

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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