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Re: (ET) Battery dilemma



         I only got 16 years out of the last set of batteries I purchased. That was with the "Apollo Era" Charger. What was done differently ?

        During long periods of idleness, {Think late Fall to early Spring}  I used a 15 A twenty-four hour timer to switch the charger on one or two hours in the wee hours of the morning.

      Periodically I would have to restart the ET timer, but I think the results were worth it.


RJ


On 6/4/2019 1:57 PM, Robert Laird wrote:
As I think you now see, it's not the so much bad batteries as the one bad cell.  (#5)    I think once you replace that battery, things will work pretty well.

I do think that the float voltage is a bit low, but I'm not sure.   Personally, I'm not a fan of chargers that change their output voltage based on how "smart" they are.    But if those voltages are the final charge voltage, it's too low.   If they finish at a higher voltage, and then the charger drops to that, it might be OK, but I'm skeptical.  A good solid charger that just runs at 13.8-14 volts, (in 12v land), is my preference.   Charge, and shut the charger off.   Even if you leave it on for a few days, the amperage should only be a few amps, which these batteries can handle.   Personally, I like the GE charger, I think it works very well, _if_ it's working correctly.   Mostly that means the right voltage, which in turn means the right capacitor, one that has not drifted from old age.   But the GE charger, working correctly, is powerful and simple.   Combined with the timer, it's a good setup. 

Robbie

On Mon, Jun 3, 2019 at 11:05 PM David Tiefenbrunn <davidtief comcast net> wrote:
Ok, wow!

Here is the additional battery data -

6V Duracell Golf cart batteries.  GC2   75Amp   105 Minutes

The readings below are grouped by battery pairs, 2x6V = 12V for the
battery maintainers.  All cells make fine bubbles, always have, but far
less than with the fancy Soneil  4A charger.

The chargers I have been using since 09 of 2017.  No sign of problems
until this spring. -
Schumacher SEM-1562A-CA 1.5A 6V/12V Automatic Maintainer

Unfortunately, the rubber parts of my fancy hydrometer have
deteriorated.  I have a simple one, that reads state of charge by 4
floats, 0 -1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4 - full.  Not ideal, but what shows below,
good enough....

Number     V       Hydrometer
   1            6.72       3/4
   2            6.70       3/4
                13.42

   3            6.76       Full
   4            6.71       2 cells shy of full, 1 full
                13.47

   5            6.50       1/4   -  0  -   Full
   6            6.83       2 cells full, 1 shy of full
                 13.33

Looks like battery number 5 is toast.

I probably should buy 1 to replace the dead one.  I have little hope of
finding the receipt to try for a warranty return, which would be pro
rated by now anyway.  They only had a 12 month free replacement, and
they made it past that.  I think I got them around the same time as the
chargers, as I was aiming to improve the maintenance situation.


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