A way To Save Charging Time

[StuM]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Bump the thing up to absorption voltage, or its likely a week from now it is still increasing, that is not too much of an exaggeration, very little charging is going on in float, its not supposed to, if there is, your float voltage is too high.

Nobody was disrespecting you on the capacity test, just to do it "right" requires equipment that no cruiser is likely to have and to purchase said equipment is not money well spent, yes you can jury rig something, like a ceramic heater for instance and it may can tell you if your bank is dead or not, but unlikely its going to be able to tell you if you have 420 AH or 390 AH, for that you need the equipment, and time.
To even begin a good cap check you need to cycle the bank at least once, and most importantly be darn sure it is really fully charged, not close, but full.

True. To do an accurate test, you need to use a variable resistance and hold the current to a steady value as the voltage drops.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Bump the thing up to absorption voltage, or its likely a week from now it is still increasing, that is not too much of an exaggeration, very little charging is going on in float, its not supposed to, if there is, your float voltage is too high.

Nobody was disrespecting you on the capacity test, just to do it "right" requires equipment that no cruiser is likely to have and to purchase said equipment is not money well spent, yes you can jury rig something, like a ceramic heater for instance and it may can tell you if your bank is dead or not, but unlikely its going to be able to tell you if you have 420 AH or 390 AH, for that you need the equipment, and time.
To even begin a good cap check you need to cycle the bank at least once, and most importantly be darn sure it is really fully charged, not close, but full.

Originally Posted by StuM

True. To do an accurate test, you need to use a variable resistance and hold the current to a steady value as the voltage drops.

I found a way to do this, by turning off, then turning on the charger it kicks it back into absorption mode for a couple of hours, but no more than six according to the manual.

My float level on the Magnetronic has now climbed up to 406Ah and is still climbing. So yes, based on some old settings entered by a knucklehead in Mallorca, I've been undercharging my house batteries by a significant amount.

I'll look for the test equipment today for the equalization procedure.

Thanks again.

[Kenomac]

Is there a good reason for me to have one of these onboard?

[weavis]

If I recall correctly, Noelex77 had his (now sold vessel) almost running solely on Solar. His soon to be completed boat will again have a large amount of solar panels.

I learned a lot from him by reading the associated threads. His approach is straightforward and useful. I have no idea if he is an electrician but his knowledge base is solid.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Is there a good reason for me to have one of these onboard?

I use mine a lot. Great for trouble shooting electrics.

[masonc]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Is there a good reason for me to have one of these onboard?

Boat power is mostly DC, this unit doesn't have DC amps. I would want the DC amp clamp feature.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by weavis

If I recall correctly, Noelex77 had his (now sold vessel) almost running solely on Solar. His soon to be completed boat will again have a large amount of solar panels.

I learned a lot from him by reading the associated threads. His approach is straightforward and useful. I have no idea if he is an electrician but his knowledge base is solid.

Early on during this thread, he recommended that I not get solar.

[Kenomac]

The house bank is now at 418Ah and still rising.

[Bleemus]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Is there a good reason for me to have one of these onboard?

Not really. It doesnt measure DC Amps.

This is what you want . . .

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

The house bank is now at 418Ah and still rising.

Watch your acceptance rate though, I'm not sure how the amp counter works, it may be that it will continue to climb even after the bank is fully charged as there is always some current going into a bank even after its fully charged if the voltage is high enough. Presumably it's lost as heat
Cycling the power switch is how I get my Sterling Pro Charge back into absorption mode too. I have to do that a couple of times to get my bank to 100% according to the Smart Gauge.
It seems Maine Sail is right, that chargers as a whole do trip into float prematurely. I assume this is for Joe Average that rarely if ever checks the water in their battery?

I do not know of any special equipment required to equalize, however its not a bad idea for you to stay on the boat during equalization just in case a battery gets hotter than it should.
I do not know how to equalize a Trojan battery but am sure that if it's allowable, Trojan has the info published

You seem to appreciate "good stuff" for me multimeter wise that is a brand called Fluke, there are very good inexpensive meters out there, however a Fluke is just easier to use and read and built a little better etc., as it should be cause it costs more, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

A good basic Fluke would be a wise investment I think, you don't need all the bells and whistles though, at least not yet.

[a64pilot]

Oh, and the Knucklehead in Mallorca may have set the monitor perfectly, its my understanding that any amp counter battery monitor is only accurate on day one, from there on it drifts to being more and more inaccurate, so you have to re-calibrate one continuously, how often being determined on how accurate you want it to be

Sit down with a beer and do some reading here, there is a wealth of knowledge here.
Maybe start with the article on how to keep your battery monitor accurate, then go on and read about the Smart Gauge as you have one coming
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/boat_projects

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Oh, and the Knucklehead in Mallorca may have set the monitor perfectly, its my understanding that any amp counter battery monitor is only accurate on day one, from there on it drifts to being more and more inaccurate, so you have to re-calibrate one continuously, how often being determined on how accurate you want it to be

Sit down with a beer and do some reading here, there is a wealth of knowledge here.
Maybe start with the article on how to keep your battery monitor accurate, then go on and read about the Smart Gauge as you have one coming
Welcome To MarineHowTo.com Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

No.... he was and is a knucklehead. He told me four summers ago that my batteries were badly damaged and set the maximum at 370Ah to indicate 100%, which is what I've been going by ever since.

Presently, my Magnatronic meter monitoring the house bank is reading 425Ah showing 94.4% and still charging at a rate of 2-3 Ah per hour going in at 28.64V.

Looks now like the system just needed a good kick in the ash. The Bimini is being sent off to Turin for the 450W Solbian factory install tomorrow morning.

This truly never would have happened unless I started this CF thread; I hope other members are getting something out of it.

[Bleemus]

I agree the Fluke is exceptional gear. I have a Fluke multimeter without an amp clamp and like it but I feel the Blue Sea that I use more is just as accurate and as durable at an excellent price point for a quality DC clamp meter.

[nigel1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I do not know of any special equipment required to equalize, however its not a bad idea for you to stay on the boat during equalization just in case a battery gets hotter than it should.
I do not know how to equalize a Trojan battery but am sure that if it's allowable, Trojan has the info published

The technical part on the Trojan Battery website suggests that their batteries should only be equalised if there is difference of 0.03 on SG readings between cells after the battery has been fully charged.
They suggest the equalisation voltage is 16.2V.

I tend to check SG's (and record them) about every 3 months.
On the last check, I found that on the start battery, I had 5 cells at 1.320 and one cell at 1.260. On the previous check they had all read at 1.32.

Having discovered how to get my Sterling charger into equalisation mode (thanks Mainesail), I ran the charger in this mode for 2 hours.
Let the battery sit for a couple of hours and rechecked the SG's, they all came in at 1.32, so it does work.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by masonc

Boat power is mostly DC, this unit doesn't have DC amps. I would want the DC amp clamp feature.

Doh! Didn't notice it was AC clamp only. Ignore my last post. DC Clamp is needed for troubleshooting boat systems.