I finally got around to re-wiring my charge circuit, fusing everything and installing a good battery charger. My new charger (Sterling Pro Ultra 60 amp) has an option to change the power of the charger. I can charge my batteries at a full 60 amps, 45 amp, 30 amps or 15 amps.
Eventually i will upgrade to a 500-600 amp hour battery bank and will need the full 60 amp output from the charger, but for right now i have a small 130 Ah battery bank, two small West Marie group 24's.
Since i have the option to set the power level of the charger i started wondering which power level might be best? I have been playing around a bit with charging them at 15 amps and 30 amps and it seems i get more usable amp hours out of them when i charge at the lower setting. regardless of which power setting i use they get the full 14.5 volts it just takes quite a bit longer for them to get to float when charging them at 15 amps.
do lead acid batteries respond better to a slower charge versus a quicker charge? are my observations accurate and the slower charge is getting more usable power into the batteries before i turn it off?
Also a secondary related question. How long should i leave them in float? Is there a general rule of thumb based on battery bank size, charger size or something else to determine the float time? Im not a fan of unattended charging and turn off all power when i leave the boat, so i try and time my charging cycle to get the batteries as charged as possible, but i understand they do need a certain amount of time in float cycle to get the last 10-20% of chartge into the batteries, if i understand charging correctly.
Eventually i will upgrade to a 500-600 amp hour battery bank and will need the full 60 amp output from the charger, but for right now i have a small 130 Ah battery bank, two small West Marie group 24's.
Since i have the option to set the power level of the charger i started wondering which power level might be best? I have been playing around a bit with charging them at 15 amps and 30 amps and it seems i get more usable amp hours out of them when i charge at the lower setting. regardless of which power setting i use they get the full 14.5 volts it just takes quite a bit longer for them to get to float when charging them at 15 amps.
do lead acid batteries respond better to a slower charge versus a quicker charge? are my observations accurate and the slower charge is getting more usable power into the batteries before i turn it off?
Also a secondary related question. How long should i leave them in float? Is there a general rule of thumb based on battery bank size, charger size or something else to determine the float time? Im not a fan of unattended charging and turn off all power when i leave the boat, so i try and time my charging cycle to get the batteries as charged as possible, but i understand they do need a certain amount of time in float cycle to get the last 10-20% of chartge into the batteries, if i understand charging correctly.