Re: Gel Cell Battery Problems
Airman I absolutely agree with you both on the shortcomings of an alternator and on the choice of flooded cell batteries. Most alternators are not capable of providing a full charge to a battery. Anyone that depends solely on their alternator to maintain a starting battery is almost guaranteed to be living a fantasy. Alternators are getting better but they lack the sophisticated electronics to manage the charging cycles.<br /><br />Several companies make smart regulators that fit in between the alternators output and the battery to control the charging function so that a full charge can be obtained.<br /><br />There are 3 primary stages to charging a flooded battery:<br /><br />- Bulk charge , stage 1: pump as many amps as possible, as fast as possible, without frying the battery. As a charge is put back into the battery, the voltage rises and starts resisting the incoming current when at about 80% capacity. Many alternators cannot manage their charging voltage and simply reduce the amps at this point and never get past charging a battery to 80-85% capacity.<br /><br />- Accept charge , stage 2: increases voltage to overcome the resistance of the battery and reduce the amps. Typically takes a battery up to about 95% of the its capacity.<br /><br />- Float charge , stage 3: a.k.a. trickle charge
drops the amps further, and increases the voltage higher. It tops off the battery at 100% of its capacity. Most 3-stage charging systems have the ability to shut down charging and monitor the batterys voltage until it drops to 1% or 2% of the batterys capacity, then switch the float charge back on as needed. Not all 2-stage charge have this auto off/on function
but that isnt always a problem if the float charge is outputting amps at about 1% or less of the batterys capacity. In that case it can be left on indefinitely.<br /><br />Managing the charge with these 3 stages is the minimum of what it takes to get a battery to 100% charge without damaging it. A 2-stage charger omits the mid stage, the accept charge. The faster you can get a battery back to 100% capacity, the better. Anything less and sulfur from the sulfuric acid is bonding to the lead plates inside. A sealed batterys advantage during use is also its disadvantage during charging.<br /><br />A forth charging stage, the equalizing charge , is better describes as electroshock therapy for the battery. It is very high voltage with appropriate amps applied to a fully charged battery. The battery cant accept the charge, but the voltage is enough to physically remove the build up of sulfur that naturally forms on the lead with normal discharging of the battery. The greater the discharge and the longer a battery stays there, the more it is a candidate for equalizing charge voltage. Equalizing causes serious off gassing from the battery and should never be done to AGM, gel, or other sealed batteries.<br /><br />Having just said never do it, I have read that is it possible to take a dead gel battery and apply the equalizing voltage for a short period and that will inevitably bring the gel battery back to life, and it will begin accepting and holding a charge with only a minor loss of capacity. Stauter99s battery may be a candidate for this because its not that old. Also, a lot of flooded batteries discarded as dead can be brought back to usable life with equalizing as well.
Sorry.