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Date:         Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:37:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      What I Learned from Trojan Battery's tech support guy
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

Disclaimer: this posting is about Trojan flooded-plate [vented] deep cycle lead-acid batteries ONLY and NOT about other battery types like sealed lead-acid, AGM/VRLA, Gel, lithium-ion, alkaline, carbon-zinc, lithium-air, nickel-cadmium, dry cells, frog cells, the Bunsen Cell, the Baghdad Battery of Antiquity, or anything NOT a flooded-plate deep cycle lead-acid battery.)

I emailed Trojan's tech support to see if they could recommend a battery tender with an equalize function.

I explained that I wanted something to keep the battery in good condition during a few months of sitting idle during winter.

The guy said that as long as the tender applied 2.2V per cell (13.2V for a 12V battery), it should work, but he did not "...advise using tenders due to safety reasons unless you are at the location."

So I asked him how he would keep an idle battery in an RV happy over winter:

"I would initially make sure that it was fully charged by checking the voltage and gravity and comparing to the state of charge table. Then I would check the battery after 4-6 wks and charge if the voltage drop below the 70% SOC."

I asked whether it mattered to the battery whether one followed that procedure or kept the battery on float with a tender, and whether stratification of the electrolyte would be a problem either way?

He said it didn't matter to the battery, they both work equally well, and that, "If the battery is fully charged before placing on float, then it will not stratify."

I asked why using a battery tender poses a safety problem, and he wrote back, saying, "Circuit malfunction of the tender causing possible overheating…etc."

I'm just posting this for the archives, for those that are wondering how Trojan recommends storing their flooded-plate lead-acid batteries. This does not apply to any other battery technology or chemistry. Even the Baghdad Battery of Antiquity.

-- Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott Bend, Ore. 1984 Westfalia. A poor but proud people. 1971 "Ladybug"-brand utility trailer ca. 1972 from a defunct company in San Clemente, Calif., now repurposed as The Westrailia.

Sent from my kitchen.


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