Ben,
I've had my 4D Deka AGM battery onboard as part of my house bank since 2006 and it's still going strong.
THE bible on Deka VRLA batteries is:
http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/0139.pdf
Temperature compensation of the charging regimen is most important, and the table in the above document shows the changing voltage requirements. You will find that when you hold the voltage constant that the battery keeps absorbing but the current continues to drop ... I have mine set to drop down to float when the current drops to 800ma, float being around 13.5v, depending on temperature. Having it drop down into float at a higher current (e.g., 2A) would also be just fine IMO.
As a general rule in shirtsleeve weather I don't allow the voltage to go over 14.4v and have an alarm just in case.
I've had very good results violating the basic rule against paralleling AGMs with FLAs, documented here:
http://www.katiekat.net/Cruise/KatieKat2007H.html#Battery
Furthermore, regarding paralleling batteries, here's another corroborating perspective:
http://www.battcon.com/PapersFinal2002/McDowallPaper2002.pdf
My ranting on paralleling batteries is here:
http://www.katiekat.net/Cruise/KatieKat2004F.html#Batteries
I've since replaced all the onboard FLAs with spent Optimas from my Corbin Sparrows. Their quiescent voltage is 13.1v (vs a FLA's 12.65v), but so far they are doing quite well paralleled with the Deka AGM probably because the solar system keeps the float voltage constantly fluctuating between 13.2v and 13.8v (I no longer live aboard).
It's all academic, as I'll hopefully be migrating to Lithiums now that I have installed my Torqeedo (replacing one of the Yamahas) and am running on on a separate 48v bank of 36AH Headway LiFePO4.
HTH, JoeS.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Re: [Electric Boats] AGM battery charging
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