Re: Battery Cycle Life/Cost

[Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net>]

Seth wrote:
> 
> Lee, out of curiosity, what sort of charger do you use? Is the
> overcharge fixed, or variable with DOD?

I have a bunch of different chargers, all the way from very smart to
very stupid.

The one on my LeCar is a Bonn charger, which is really just a bridge
rectifier, series inductor, and timer. There is a capacitor across the
AC input to improve power factor. On a 120vac outlet, it can only reach
165vdc at 0.2amps. For my 132v pack, this is 15v per 12v battery. I only
let it run this high for equalization, once every month or two.

For daily charging, I normally set the charger to run overnight, and it
shuts off at around 162v at 0.5a. This is just barely enough for the
E-meter to reset.

However, remember that I also have a Battery Balancing system that
charges each battery individually so they are all at the same voltage.
Even 4 years old, my batteries are unusually well matched. Here are the
last resting voltage I recorded on 1/16/02: 12.69, 12.69, 12.69, 12.64,
12.64, 12.69, 12.65, 12.72, 12.71, 12.64, 12.71.
-- 
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen