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Old 09-23-2018, 01:19 PM   #7
DavidM
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City: Litchfield, Ct
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Equalization is a process of driving more current into a fully charged battery to disassociate the electrolyte (boiling) which agitates the electrolyte solution and attempts to dissolve built up sulfate deposits in the bottom of the battery.

It only works if the sulfate is relatively new and can be stirred up and resolubilized and won't work on old, almost dead batteries. But it takes a lot of current to stir up the electrolyte and I doubt if your 30A charger can put out enough into 4 GC batteries to do much good. I am amused at seeing even 5A battery chargers with this feature. Well, I guess it is just a switch and a bit of wiring to bypass the 3 step algorithm.


But I don't think it will harm anything. Top up the cells before hand and after and watch for boiling after an hour or so. Maybe lay a wet rag over the filler caps to catch any splashes or mist. I would disconnect the starting batteries when you do this.

Having said all of the above, I have never equalized my GC batteries. If you recharge your batteries fully roughly every other day, then I don't think you will get any sulfating.

David
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