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Old 12-15-2014, 03:52 PM   #101
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Originally Posted by Brian B-P View Post
The NOCO response is surprising to me.

It almost looks like the response is for a pair of parallel batteries - if you substituted "parallel" for "series", it would make more sense (and even then no multi-bank model would have enough output).
I was wondering along those same lines, and I think you might have nailed it Brian about parallel rather than series.

I suppose with 2 unmatched batteries, it might present a problem. But with 2 identical models of the same age, I would think it would just "see" them as one large 12V and charge it accordingly. Or am I missing something?

(Interestingly, before I bought my Battery Tender model I asked them the same question and they replied that it would work very well in that battery configuration.)

I will see what I get back next and post it.
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Old 12-15-2014, 05:33 PM   #102
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Yeah, there is no way the charger can tell if there is two 6V batteries in series, or 1 12V. I agree that maybe they were thinking they were in parallel. A high equalization voltage, will bring all the cells up to their maximum voltage regardless of which setup you have, just so long as there is adequate amperage available.
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Old 12-15-2014, 06:11 PM   #103
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...and Happy Birthday Jim!

(There its been at least a week since I've done any serious thread drifting)
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Old 12-15-2014, 06:28 PM   #104
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...and Happy Birthday Jim!

(There its been at least a week since I've done any serious thread drifting)
Thanks, but not until tomorrow. Then I get old(er).
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Old 12-16-2014, 02:50 PM   #105
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I was wondering along those same lines, and I think you might have nailed it Brian about parallel rather than series.

I suppose with 2 unmatched batteries, it might present a problem. But with 2 identical models of the same age, I would think it would just "see" them as one large 12V and charge it accordingly. Or am I missing something?

(Interestingly, before I bought my Battery Tender model I asked them the same question and they replied that it would work very well in that battery configuration.)

I will see what I get back next and post it.
Well I have a lot of respect for this company. Rather than try to convince me to buy their product, the sales rep sent this in further reply:

"We do not have a 2 bank charger that can handle the 6V batteries at 230Ah. I'm letting you know that you can use the G7200 but that application is not ideal and I'm guessing those batteries were expensive so I hate to see you spend the money on the G7200 when its not ideal to charge a bank of batteries with one charger."


I thanked her for her help and honestly and told her what we had been discussing here (series/parallel) I also told her that it is very hard to find an external smart charger that DOES meet the requirements of our dual 6v setups and that theirs may well be as good as any available to us at any sort of reasonable price.
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Old 12-16-2014, 03:00 PM   #106
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I also told her that it is very hard to find an external smart charger that DOES meet the requirements of our dual 6v setups and that theirs may well be as good as any available to us at any sort of reasonable price.
Here's one worth looking at Black & Decker VEC1093DBD 4/10/20/40 Amp 12 Volt Smart Battery Charger With 110 Amp Engine Start // www.boatandrvaccessories.com

This model is now out of production but can still be had. At 40A it'll handle the twin 6's.
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Old 12-16-2014, 04:12 PM   #107
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I've already got one of these: Battery Tender
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Old 12-16-2014, 06:42 PM   #108
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That's the old Vector line, which was absorbed by Black&Decker. I have a smaller model, and I think it's a good product. Keep in mind that (unlike a typical RV converter/charger) these chargers need to be manually started each time AC power is restored to them.

The Vectors actually show charge current - not just voltage - which I think is a good feature.

Quote:
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I've already got one of these: Battery Tender
At 5 amps maximum output, I think this is a maintainer for a 230 amp-hour battery bank, not much of a charger - but then, if that's all you need...
This model seems to have been replaced by Battery Tender® 5A Power Tender Series High Efficiency (PN: 022-0186G-DL-WH)
The higher-current chargers from Battery Tender appear to be quite expensive.
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Old 12-16-2014, 09:41 PM   #109
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T
At 5 amps maximum output, I think this is a maintainer for a 230 amp-hour battery bank, not much of a charger - but then, if that's all you need...
The higher-current chargers from Battery Tender appear to be quite expensive.
Not sure on your differentiation, other than the amount of time it takes to charge?
From what I have read, Interstate talks about charging volts not watts, and when I take multimeter readings, this one is reaching the 14.7v it is rated at during the absorption phase. So why is it not a charger?

It has always charged the batteries to 12.8V (but then the trailer has always been driven home and the batteries charged on the drive home, so they are already mostly charged)

What I liked about it when I bought it was that the absorption charge is 14.7v. While that is not as high as Interstate's recommendations, it was higher than many others in its price range when I got it on sale at Woot for $70.

The NOCO uses 14.4v in normal mode and 14.7v if put into the cold mode. What the Battery Tender doesn't have is the high voltage desulfatization mode that the NOCO, thus my interest in the NOCO.
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Old 12-16-2014, 10:18 PM   #110
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I use my 5 amp Battery Tender to keep my four 6 volt Interstate batteries on a float charge of 13.2 - 13.4 volts constantly while not camping. I believe this is the best way to store batteries while not in use to prolong their life. I used to keep them charging on the trailer solar charging system but they got hammered every morning when the sun came up even when not used the previous day. I now disconnect the solar charger via switch I installed and plug the battery bank into the Tender plugged into my house. The batteries are now always ready to go camping and the water level stay up where they are supposed to on the float charge.
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Old 12-17-2014, 01:26 AM   #111
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Can you explain what you mean by the batteries getting "hammered every morning" by letting the solar charge them?

Thanks,
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Old 12-17-2014, 06:32 AM   #112
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Can you explain what you mean by the batteries getting "hammered every morning" by letting the solar charge them?

Thanks,
Yes, I'm curious also as I always thought that solar was the best charger for the batteries.
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Old 12-17-2014, 06:39 AM   #113
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I think he means the effect of charging a lot during a certain part of the day vs a low level constant "trickle". Some battery experts suggest that the 'tender' charge will maintain the battery life span better.
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Old 12-17-2014, 09:01 AM   #114
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Can you explain what you mean by the batteries getting "hammered every morning" by letting the solar charge them?

Thanks,
Batteries have a finite life to them based on how many times they are charged and discharged and how they are maintained. I believe that the batteries should not receive a higher voltage "bulk" charge every day if they don't need it and when my trailer is parked at home and the batteries are not being used I don't want them to go through charging cycles every day. My Battery Tender takes the batteries through only one charge cycle then keeps them at the "float" voltage until I go camping again. I feel this is best for my batteries.
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Old 12-17-2014, 09:08 AM   #115
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After that post about my Battery Tender I realized that the main charger for my batteries (and maybe many others?) the last 4+ years has been the alternator on my tow vehicle. We rarely have shore power, I've only used our expensive Honda generator about 2 times and up until our last short trip have had no solar. I plug the Battery Tender in about once a month (in storage) for a top up and run through its cycles. We often have long drives to National Parks and our dual 6v almost always give us enough power until we move to a new area or Park.

So, I guess I should start putting my little INNOVA 3721 Battery and Charging System Monitor into the Tacoma while driving and notice what its delivering.
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Old 12-17-2014, 09:22 AM   #116
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HFT, you have a lot of solar charging and battery maintaining experience . What's you opinion on the whole stratified (sulfated) battery cycle?

Some places I have read maintain that it doesn't really work to do much of anything and others talk about it as essential. The lack of one on my Battery Tender is the only reason I have been looking at the NOCO. Battery Tender claims they prevent it rather than needing to remedy it.
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Old 12-17-2014, 09:43 AM   #117
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HFT, you have a lot of solar charging and battery maintaining experience . What's you opinion on the whole stratified (sulfated) battery cycle?

Some places I have read maintain that it doesn't really work to do much of anything and others talk about it as essential. The lack of one on my Battery Tender is the only reason I have been looking at the NOCO. Battery Tender claims they prevent it rather than needing to remedy it.
I am no expert on batteries but have read a lot on deep cycle wet cell batteries like mine and all the manufacturers state that deep cycle batteries need to be equalized periodically. ""Sulfation" occurs if the battery’s specific gravity falls below 1.225 or below 12.4 volts." So the Tender keeps the battery voltage up and does reduce the likely hood of sulfation occurring when I'm not camping. When I'm camping, my solar charger runs an equalizing cycle every 30 days, needed or not. I keep my motorcycles on Tenders and sometimes don't ride them for months...and they always start right up and I've had no premature battery failures.
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Old 12-17-2014, 10:10 AM   #118
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Thanks HFT, I appreciate your experience based opinion. Now I have to decide if the NOCO is worth the money just to add the anti-sulfated cycle since nothing I have runs that cycle. Apparently, in normal operation I would need to run it on the Cold setting to get it to use 14.7 rather then the standard 14.4 for our deep cycles- I guess Could probably just sell my Battery Tender on eBay to reduce clutter and keep Mary from asking me how many of them we need!
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Old 12-18-2014, 01:57 PM   #119
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Latest reply from NOCO about their charger:

You can use the G7200 to charge the two 6V batteries its just not ideal. Even though they are the same size, condition and age, when your batteries are in use one battery is going to discharge faster than the other. Charging two batteries in series with a one bank charger (the G7200) both batteries will not charge at the 100% which will decrease the life of one of the batteries. That is why we recommend using a multiple bank battery when charging batteries in series. With the multibank charger each battery will get a 100% charge which will extend the life of the batteries.

I don't see why one would discharge faster than the other as they contend, when they are wired in series.
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Old 12-18-2014, 06:49 PM   #120
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I don't get it either. You can have 6 single cell, 2 triple cell, or 1 six cell battery, and they are all essentially the same thing, no? Are not the individual cells in a multi-cell battery all independent any way?

When I worked in the power industry building and maintaining electrical substations, they used 130V DC to power all the equipment, so in the event of power outage, all the controls would still work. They used big racks of large shingle cell batteries hooked in series, and were charged by a big ass panel mounted battery charger. They did run an equalize charge through them every once in a while, but that was through the bank of batteries in series, not individually.

Maybe I need to learn more on these multibank battery chargers, and how they work, as it sure seems like they are dealing with either separate batteries, or or ones in parallel. Though, this sure wouldn't be the first time I was out to lunch on something.
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