Bluebird storage
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09-21-2011, 14:04
Post: #7
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Bluebird storage
Hi Jana. You have already gotten good responses, the advise about switches and chargers is on target. Here are some additional things to consider... [I presume you have lead-acid type with clean cables]. A lead-acid battery does self-discharge and limits shelf life to about 6 months. After 6 months it wont be dead, but will be pretty unusable until after charging. Only use between 30 and 50% or 50AH max before recharging for every 100 amp-hrs capacity. A battery only has so many discharge cycles in it and deep discharge shortens life. A dead battery is pretty bad news, you don't get very many full discharges before failure. Notice there is no number to hang on cycles, but a well maintained battery should live many years. failure? pretty often one cell refuses to take & retain charge. A simple test is to look for one warm battery amongst a bank of cool ones after charging. Sometimes charging doesn't fully complete in one battery and prevents the others from "filling up". For lead-acid batteries, there is a de-sulfating procedure that you might look up some time. Fully charged good batteries store OK in very cold weather, but dead batteries ice up and crack the case [very very bad]. Your example of "dead in a month" speaks to some load on the battery when you think all is OFF. Refer, hidden light left on, normally some circuit not controlled by the master switch near the entry consumes energy. A disconnect switch at the battery bank is good medicine for unexpected loads. If the battery itself is bad, usually it registers some voltage [not dead] while not under load, maybe 10 volts. But a bad battery will not deliver much current [especially won't start a diesel engine]. Starting batteries and deep discharge batteries are different -- sometimes not OK for both uses. Starting batteries are high current and may be quickly charged [think a couple hours]. Deep cycle batteries are low current and should be charged more slowly [think many hours]. Don't put both types in one battery bank. One battery rated for both duties is often a compromise. Probably the best insurance for long battery life is a "smart" charger over winter. One charger for each battery bank. You probably have a large charger already on board, it might be OK but not best for all winter use. A winter charger is better than trusting the 6 month shelf life, even in warm climates. And they are very low power & it's easy to find an extension cord. OOPS -- too much? Skip On 09/21/2011 11:31 AM, Jana Ewart wrote:
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Messages In This Thread |
Bluebird storage - Jana Ewart - 09-21-2011, 03:31
Bluebird storage - Roger W Webb - 09-21-2011, 03:43
Bluebird storage - markusfmeyer@... - 09-21-2011, 03:49
Bluebird storage - Ron Thompson - 09-21-2011, 05:11
Bluebird storage - Ron Thompson - 09-21-2011, 05:13
Bluebird storage - cfsomers@... - 09-21-2011, 09:34
Bluebird storage - George F. VerDuin - 09-21-2011 14:04
Bluebird storage - nom_descono - 09-22-2011, 04:22
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