Re: How do I read this guage???
A "marine starting and deep cycle battery" is a compromise battery. Its plates are made to be more deep cycle than starting, but more starting than true deep cycle. They can be and are effectively used by many, though I believe I get better life span with a true deep cycle flooded cell battery sized large enough to start my 55 HP outboard. At any rate I think I'd see if I could find more detail from the battery manufacturer and whoever made the charger. My hunch is you may be told to use the conventional mode, though I could be wrong.<br /><br />Even the best deep cycle batteries will live a shorter than necessary life if frequently discharged much beyond 25% of their CAPACITY. If the voltage while "at rest" (no load) has dropped to 12.4 volts the battery has used a quarter of its capacity and should be drained no further, but charged as soon as is possible the same day. Probably we all fudge on that once in the while, but the battery will tolerate only so much abuse. Quality of the care we give our battery determines how soon we will need to replace it. Those expensive conditioning chargers are great, but won't entirely make up for merciless neglect.
A "marine starting and deep cycle battery" is a compromise battery. Its plates are made to be more deep cycle than starting, but more starting than true deep cycle. They can be and are effectively used by many, though I believe I get better life span with a true deep cycle flooded cell battery sized large enough to start my 55 HP outboard. At any rate I think I'd see if I could find more detail from the battery manufacturer and whoever made the charger. My hunch is you may be told to use the conventional mode, though I could be wrong.<br /><br />Even the best deep cycle batteries will live a shorter than necessary life if frequently discharged much beyond 25% of their CAPACITY. If the voltage while "at rest" (no load) has dropped to 12.4 volts the battery has used a quarter of its capacity and should be drained no further, but charged as soon as is possible the same day. Probably we all fudge on that once in the while, but the battery will tolerate only so much abuse. Quality of the care we give our battery determines how soon we will need to replace it. Those expensive conditioning chargers are great, but won't entirely make up for merciless neglect.
