(Continued from Part 1.)
Charging Overview
At a high level, the stages of charging a battery include: bulk, absorption, and float. On batteries that have been discharged deeply, there is also an equalization charge required.
Bulk charging demands high current. Absorption charging requires less current but a slightly elevated voltage. Float is your trickle charge which has low current at about one volt above the stasis voltage of a charged battery.
As covered in a recent SurvivalBlog article, the charge levels of flooded batteries can be determined accurately using a hydrometer. Each cell should have an equal level of charge. If the levels differ, it is time to equalize them. The equalization charge requires a voltage about 10% higher than what is standardly used for absorption. Equalization time will vary slightly, but generally it is one to two hours. With experience, you will learn whether equalization needs to be performed monthly, or more frequently. In the case of infrequent discharge cycles, it might even be sufficient to equalize annually.Continue reading“Weather the Storm with Backup Power – Part 2, by E.R.”