Don't forget the batteries.

I got an amazing 10 years out of my last 58 series Costco battery for my Cherokee
Maintenance free, never added water. I believe it was a Johnson controls made for Costco
I probably won't see that ever again. I have an Interstate now that cost 3X as much. Lucky if it goes for 6
Wayback: Thanks for the tip about sarracenia
 
If you're looking for a good multipurpose battery charger, consider the Pro-Logic line. They charge both 6- and 12-volt batteries at 2-, 10-, and 20-amp rates as well as float and boost features. When we bought ours, they had several models. I now see them under several brand names with prices all over the map.
 
I have used a charge voltage of 14 volts for forty years because that was the voltage recommended by Panasonic as a maintenance voltage for their Gel Cells. I charge my deep cycle batteries at a constant voltage of 14 volts. The initial charge current will often be as high as 40 amps but drops very quickly to under 10 amps as the surface charge is replaced and gradually drops off to less that 10 milliamps. That strategy has served me well over many years. In thirty years, I have replaced three deep cycle batteries, two of them due to my error. (The one mentioned above and one where I accidentally when I left a circuit on and the battery totally discharged and subsequently froze)

If you think about it, an automotive battery is basically on float charge during its operating life. The alternators in my vehicles over the last thirty years output 14 volts +/- a few tenths. I have not replaced a vehicle battery in decades. I currently have several vehicles with OEM batteries that are over ten years old,

13.6 volts is certainly a safe trickle voltage but it is my belief that 14.0 volts is as well. OTOH, trickle chargers are seldom regulated and function on the principle of providing a small trickle current. That charge can't be used to further charge a fully charged battery and is going into electrolysis of water. The rate is low enough that it will take some time to dry out a battery but it is happening.

During the summer, I am using most of my batteries on a fairly regular basis so I don't have a charge schedule but during the winter I make it a practice to charge my unused batteries once a month. Most of the time, the charge current drops to zero within a few minutes and I disconnect the charger then. Fast chargers are death on a battery and I only use onr when I have run a battery down (my tractors are absolute pigs for sub zero starting). The bubbling that you see/hear is hydrogen and oxygen gas coming form electrolysis of water in the battery.
 
markba633csi said:
Batteries need tlc, for sure
Distilled water is getting more expensive too, since the pandemic
I have pitcher plants so I buy it regularly
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$1.80 for 1 gal, not bad... if you order from amazon it's a crazy price if you order 5 gal.
Amazon charges you for shipping , even if your a prime member, there's no free lunch.
 
projectnut said:
Back in 2000 I purchased a JD 445 garden tractor. When it was delivered the salesperson went through all the operating procedures and lightly touched on the needed maintenance. I asked about the battery and was told it didn't need any maintenance since it was maintenance free.

I used the tractor for over 6 years and performed all the necessary maintenance per the recommended schedule. Late in the 6th year I went to start it and it was deader than a door nail. I removed the Grille and necessary panels to find it actually had a flooded wet cell battery. The battery was bone dry. I filled it with distilled water just to see what would happen. After a slow charge I gave it a try. Much to my surprise it started. It lasted another 2 years before it finally gave up the ship.

In over 23 years it's still on its 3rd battery. The last 2 have been the maintenance free variety from Battery's Plus.
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I tried to check the water in the Duralast battery on one of my little Ford Ranger pickups yesterday and i guess it is not supposed to need water. I could not get the top off of it.
 
If it is VRLA the top will not co.e off as there is no removable top.

Some flooded MF batteries have a substantial latching to make them more like a VRLA battery by holding some pressure.

If a battery is having some loads sometimes then the 14 volts may be okay, but is it really 14 volts?

Review the manufacturer data sheet for the battery, most will NOT specify float current as most can not measure it accurately without removing wires.

Instead, the full charge voltage is usually listed per cell, so one multiplies by 6 for a 12 volt package.

They use per cell so it can be applied to any size plant, 12, 24, 36 and 48 VDC are common sizes.

If one has a GOOD voltmeter and sets the float voltage to what the dataset specifies, (13.5 for 12 volt jar is usually close enough), the current after battery is fully charged and truly floating is in the milliamp range.

14 volts in constant voltage is closer to equalize charge, this is where we use excess current to get the acid working to clean off the plates.

We had a 1 Amp float charger that was connected to a 36 volt forklift battery built from 3 8D batteries, 225 Amp hour capacity.

The charger was properly floating but we forgot about it and over time, it failed and was just outputting a higher voltage, was limited to 1 Amp.

Boiled all the water out and ruined the batteries.

We now use a group af stand alone small chargers all with Anderson connectors.

We attach and activate, when they float we disconnect.

This is for equipment with no parasitic loads.

Batteries happy now.

Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk
 
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