As I muddle through my CO/Battery issues, I began to question the "battery charge" settings on my Trace SW2512MC inverter.
In the other threads, I mentioned that recently my batteries seem to be using a lot of water. About 2 months ago my Trace control unit had a bunch of funny characters that could not be cleared. I reset the unit and all was well. However, that puts all of the settings back to the default Trace values. I think that might be what is contributing to my problem.
Recall that my batteries are wet cell Exide golf cart units.
The default settings for the Trace are:
Bulk Volts DC: 14.4
Absorption Time: 2:00
Float Volts DC: 13.4
The Bulk seems to be OK but I am concerned about the float volts. At least one source I saw said it should be between 13.02 and 13.2. I have to wonder if I am cooking the batteries with the float voltage.
Jim
Exide wet cells? Check manufacturer's site for info. 13.4 seems to be OK. Might be a touch on the high side. Check to verify charging curves.
Bill
I have always looked for 13.5 to 13.6 volts for float charging on wet lead acid batteries. If only because that's what most of the findable literature says and that's what my chargers happen to produce... ???
Brian
Many replies say to get the manufacturer data. I am pretty good at searching, but I just can't find any technical data on exide golf cart battery. The Exide website is a joke.
I did find data at Trojan for "flooded batteries". The bulk charge is 14.8 volts, Float is 13.2 volts and equalize is 15.5 volts.
Anyone got a link for Exide data?
Jim
Jim,
I, too, hunted the Exide/GNB site to no avail. I would call the rep.
That said, 13.4 is considered the upper limit for float on flooded batteries, and many manufacturers recommend 13.2. More importantly: All these ratings are for 70°F ambient -- you need to lower the voltage a little bit for every degree above that. Generally above 85°, 12.6v is the highest float voltage you should use; above 100°F I would drop that even further to 12.1-12.2v. If you don't already have it, I highly recommend you get the battery temperature sensor for your SW inverter, which will let the inverter automatically make these adjustments for you. Find the hottest spot on your battery bank and affix the sensor there.
HTH,
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com (http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com)
This whole CO meter/battery issue has now been detailed in three threads. I separated them for better search options, but that means I have to update each thread :(. The details of my temperature compensation are in this thread: http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=16851.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=16851.0)
Here is the text:
QuoteI have that option, but never explored how it functions. Since I am down to 6 batteries, I need to change the Bogart to reflect the lower capacity. I won't do that for a while, as I have hopes that I can salvage the battery with the dead cell. In-the-meantime, I have been watching the voltage and it is really interesting. I have float set at 13.2 volts, but it does not get there because of the temperature compensation. Yesterday it was pretty hot where we were, and the voltage was 12.9. This morning it is about 70* and the voltage is 13.0. That is a bit misleading, since the batteries are in a fairly tight wood box and the batteries are at a higher temperature than ambient.
Jim