bshanafelt
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2007
- Messages
- 427
- Vessel Name
- Isobel K
- Vessel Make
- 37' Custom Pilothouse
Greetings list.
I posted this on T&T as well.* what do you all think?
The question I have has to do with leaving your shore charger on 24/7 when tied up at the dock.* In theory, the charger is supposed to completely turn itself off when the final charge cycle is completed.
The reality is some(perhaps most)*chargers do not actually shut off, but stay in a 'float' mode, causing possible gassing to occur.*
Also, if continually plugged in, the charger will kick into the regular bulk, absorption, float cycle even if the bank is ever so slightly discharged for lights, bilge pumps etc.
This becomes a problem since you are initiating a charge cycle when the bank is at 99% capacity.* I certainly am no battery expert, but I think everyone agrees that there is a finite number of cycles a battery will provide before death, so one would think limiting the number of cycles would be prudent.
There are charts for batteries that discuss the theoretical number of charge/discharge cycles and the percentage of discharge for the expected number of these same cycles - the idea being to select the optimum number vs. % of drawdown - also factoring in the actual total amount of power for the life cycle of the battery.* This hopefully gives you a 'plan' for how much to deplete the battery before a prudent charge cycle should be initiated.
My practice has been to just leave the shore charger on 24/7 when the boat is in the slip.* If I visit the boat dockside, any loads of lights, pumps. TV etc are picked up by the charger/battery bank.* Watching the Link 10 battery monitor tells me how many amps I may use (which are few) and the shore charger puts back the difference, then returns to 'float' mode.
So, back to the original query.* Is this foolish battery management?*
Some say it is better to shut off the battery charger after a complete recharge, then*let the battery bank deplete to the % that has been selected before beginning a new recharge cycle. The batteries should last longer this way.
Those that like things to be more ''automatic'' can even put a timer on the batt charger circuit to shut it off after a set period of time.
I am pretty sure I have not seen this topic on this forum discussed in the last few years.
Brian Shanafelt
Isobel K 37' Custom Pilothouse
Seattle
I posted this on T&T as well.* what do you all think?
The question I have has to do with leaving your shore charger on 24/7 when tied up at the dock.* In theory, the charger is supposed to completely turn itself off when the final charge cycle is completed.
The reality is some(perhaps most)*chargers do not actually shut off, but stay in a 'float' mode, causing possible gassing to occur.*
Also, if continually plugged in, the charger will kick into the regular bulk, absorption, float cycle even if the bank is ever so slightly discharged for lights, bilge pumps etc.
This becomes a problem since you are initiating a charge cycle when the bank is at 99% capacity.* I certainly am no battery expert, but I think everyone agrees that there is a finite number of cycles a battery will provide before death, so one would think limiting the number of cycles would be prudent.
There are charts for batteries that discuss the theoretical number of charge/discharge cycles and the percentage of discharge for the expected number of these same cycles - the idea being to select the optimum number vs. % of drawdown - also factoring in the actual total amount of power for the life cycle of the battery.* This hopefully gives you a 'plan' for how much to deplete the battery before a prudent charge cycle should be initiated.
My practice has been to just leave the shore charger on 24/7 when the boat is in the slip.* If I visit the boat dockside, any loads of lights, pumps. TV etc are picked up by the charger/battery bank.* Watching the Link 10 battery monitor tells me how many amps I may use (which are few) and the shore charger puts back the difference, then returns to 'float' mode.
So, back to the original query.* Is this foolish battery management?*
Some say it is better to shut off the battery charger after a complete recharge, then*let the battery bank deplete to the % that has been selected before beginning a new recharge cycle. The batteries should last longer this way.
Those that like things to be more ''automatic'' can even put a timer on the batt charger circuit to shut it off after a set period of time.
I am pretty sure I have not seen this topic on this forum discussed in the last few years.
Brian Shanafelt
Isobel K 37' Custom Pilothouse
Seattle