Voltage Drop in AGM Under Load?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

"Posted by neelie
1) I never equalize.. My rudimentary understanding is that this is not necessary on AGMs... .?? Am I wrong?"

It is physically impossible to equalize the vast majority of AGM batteries. You would generate so much gas pressure that they would be damaged by venting, or explode. That's simply how they are made, and how their makers tell you to use them.

The singular(?) exception to this is with LifeLine/Concorde AGMs, which are military aviation batteries constructed to withstand much higher pressure, and capable of being equalized without damage. Which is why that company will tell you to equalize their batteries.

Whether equalizing does or does not have any purpose or gain in AGM batteries is another question entirely. But for most of them, you might as well put them in a campfire instead of trying to equalize them. You'll get similar results.

I think Lifeline is the only manufacturer that publishes the equalization directions. I doubt that it has to do with their construction being better than the others. Maybe they've had a too many field failures that they wanted to try and recover. When my North star AGMs failed, the factory had the distributor go through 2 bench equalizations on them.