(ET) Lessons learned: batteries and diodes

[Jeremy Gagliardi com]

I hate to rehash an old discussion, but I learned a lesson after
getting  conflicting advice from this list.

Okay, I was on the wrong track with my "three 12V chargers" idea.  They
were not charging my batteries up to full.  Eric Miller was generous
enough to come over and not only diagnose the problem with the GE
charger, but to also replace my diodes and fix it.  The problem was a
blown diode that was letting electricity flow both directions, instead
of just one, causing the charger to overload and blow my house breaker. 
After the diodes were replaced, the charger showed the expected 40V
output, and after charging with it overnight, my batteries showed at the
high end of the green zone on the "fuel level" gauge.  After charging
with my three 12V chargers, the needle never went further than the
middle of the green zone.

The small, 12V, car or boat battery chargers are not really sufficient
for these large, deep-cycle batteries.  In "auto" mode, they cutoff too
quickly and indicate they're done, when they barely even recharged the
batteries.  Also, if you use the "manual" setting on these modern
chargers, and you forget to check it periodically, you could end up
boiling your batteries...if you're bound & determined to use the
"manual" setting on a 12V charger, I would suggest you find a timer
switch that can handle "x" amount of hours, then cut off power to the
charger.

The built-in GE charger has a rather rudimentary timer switch, which you
have to guess at, but at least the charger has the proper power to be
able fully charge all six batteries.  Admittedly, the
age_of_batteries-based timer switch is not the best way to choose the
proper charge for your batteries, but the charger itself is good and the
best choice.  One idea Eric had was to replace the switch with an
automatic cutoff switch from a modern golf cart -- one that monitors the
voltage of the batteries and shuts off when the voltage remains steady
for a certain period of time, indicating the batteries aren't taking any
more charge.

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