(ET) battery charging

[Jeremy Gagliardi com]

I now have the solid state charge controller being sold at
> http://www.elec-trak.org/cgi-bin/classifieds/classifieds.cgi?search_and_display_db_button=on&db_id=15&query=retrieval

I have it set for te recommended 38 volts.
The way I understand it is as follows:  If the voltage drops below 38,
it turns the charger on for 5 minutes.

Since doing this, I have several nagging questions:
(1) Is this sufficient throughout the lifetime of the batteries?
(2) Will this improve or diminish the life of the batteries?
(3) Can this controller be used with solar panels?
(4) Are my batteries getting fully charged?
(5) Is this just a battery maintainer, and if so do I still need a main
charge controller (like the built-in timer switch)?

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