If you have discovered a way of preventing batteries ever reaching the stage at which they do not 'hold charge' for a useful period of time, then I am very happy for you.
Kind Regards, John
Multimeter sampling rate
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Kind Regards, John
Good to hear it. That was keeping me awake thinking about it. Yes, it starts instantly.
I don't have the math grounding you have, as demonstrated with the worry above. I wish I could do what you do, but never mind.
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Experience over more than 50 years, shows you are wrong. What you need to remember is both over and under charging causes problems. The Sterling charger does use pulse charging, where it monitors the voltage after each pulse, it is claimed to allow faster recharging than a simply float voltage.
But this is mainly used in boats, where the batteries need to run everything dusk to dawn, although travelling in the dark is permitted, most tie up over night, and travel in day light only, and the problem is engine is likely only to run for 6 hours, so 18 hours battery power only.
All sorts have been tried to recharge the batteries within the 6 hours, both stage charging and pulse charging, but most people realised they need to once a month find some mooring where they can charge batteries for 24 hours, and in the main that seems to work.
But unless using engine management computers to record energy in and out of batteries, one has to strike a balance, so battery not damage by either over or under charging to any great extent. If you regularly charge at 16.2 volt, they will not last long.
The Ackermann principal for steering geometry is only correct in three positions, toe in or out, caster, camber, kin pin inclination, is all a balance there is no perfect setting, and if we use the manufacturers recommendations it is normally near enough. The same with charging, it is near enough, not perfect.
Yes, thank you, I did make a discovery just now. I got very puzzled why I was able to charge the battery to 16V at one point and was unable to do so subsequently. It turned out when I was able to do it, the 5w panel had a volt range of upto 23V. The 9w panel I am currently using maxed out at 18V. So, if I go get myself a 23V trickle charger, I could restore my infinity battery to like new, at least I hope so.
I found my way and will be doing it at 23v. I do not need them to last long. I need them to last as long as they last which could be a long time.
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Now armed with new knowledge, I can make these observations:
An 18V max 200mA max charger can bring the final battery charge to 13.65V. This was observed on 2 batteries.
In order to attain 16.2V final state for the battery, a 20.55V 200mA charger is theorized to be needed: 18 - 13.65 + 16.2 = 20.55.
For reason of economy, a 24V 200mA charger will be obtained for experimentation. The battery chemistry will prevent the battery voltage to go beyond 16.2V. The 3.5V excessive charging voltage will likely to result in increased electrolysis, aka bubbles in the electrolyte. This may not occur because during charging the measured voltage is the voltage of the battery - the battery will drag the charge voltage down to the battery's level. This dragging will also lower the charge amperage. Additional risk is the dragging damaging the charger. Damage by dragging on the 18V charger was not observed over multiple extended periods (months). But dragging an additional 3.5V increases the risk.
An 18V max 200mA max charger can bring the final battery charge to 13.65V. This was observed on 2 batteries.
In order to attain 16.2V final state for the battery, a 20.55V 200mA charger is theorized to be needed: 18 - 13.65 + 16.2 = 20.55.
For reason of economy, a 24V 200mA charger will be obtained for experimentation. The battery chemistry will prevent the battery voltage to go beyond 16.2V. The 3.5V excessive charging voltage will likely to result in increased electrolysis, aka bubbles in the electrolyte. This may not occur because during charging the measured voltage is the voltage of the battery - the battery will drag the charge voltage down to the battery's level. This dragging will also lower the charge amperage. Additional risk is the dragging damaging the charger. Damage by dragging on the 18V charger was not observed over multiple extended periods (months). But dragging an additional 3.5V increases the risk.
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13.3V - 10.xV Battery fully charged and has excellent capacity
12.1V - 9.xV Battery needs charging and capacity remains good
12.3v - 8.xV Battery needs charging and capacity is low. Normal charging could bring battery back to health. If not, then maintenance required
13.8V - 8.xV Battery cannot be charged by the alternator or any other conventional charger including the singing and dancing types, and has no capacity. Maintenance could return health, or battery health could be in terminal/natural decline
More accurate assessment could be done additionally using hydrometer and internal resistance measurement. Hydrometer may not be possible any more because batteries are now sealed to prevent chemistry maintenance. Special electrical maintenance remains possible.
Settled on a 8000 count for under £19 from china. Given the price, I might get 15 day delivery. Getting this mainly for the MAX/MIN and greater precision than the meter I have. If I didn't need a better meter, I would have gotten a dedicated battery tester that has absolutely everything for the job.
From what I could see, most meters have sampling rates of 2 or 3 samples per second. This means MAX/MIN may not always pick up the right readings. Still, having this is batter than trying to pick them up manually as I am doing now.
From what I could see, most meters have sampling rates of 2 or 3 samples per second. This means MAX/MIN may not always pick up the right readings. Still, having this is batter than trying to pick them up manually as I am doing now.
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Have you looked at bluetooth 12V battery monitors? Might be more relevant to your curiosity than a multimeter.
Bluetooth consumes a lot of power, at least it used to. Also, I am not as curious as I appear. I only look at the battery when I have start hesitation, which happens once a year on my old battery when there isn't enough sky light to keep it going via a permanently connected solar panel. My interest in car batteries is more in the area of health restoration, rather on its running state. When the battery struggles to run, I rotate it out.
I can't really see why it should. Plenty of very small things, with small batteries, (mobile phones, earphones/earpieces/hearing aids etc. etc.) have it switched on more-or-less permanently.
In any event, your interest is surely only in a very brief period whilst the starter moor operates, isn't it - in which case you would not have to have the bluetooth device turned on for more than a handful of seconds, would you?
Kind Regards, John
The meter will do the job just as well. Since I don't do monitoring, the other features of the bluetooth devices won't benefit me. The best battery tool is kingbolen BM580. It has everything for battery diagnosis except hydrometer readings. I got the cheaper BM550 that has internal resistance reading and CCA calculation. On hindsight, I probably should have paid more for the other one. Then again, I can still manage without all the bells and whistles.
Agreed, and I wasn't suggesting otherwise.
Although one can pay a lot for bluetooth battery monitors which have all sorts of bells and whisles, there are also a lot of cheap ones out there, many of which use a cellphone 'app'. Given what you have said of your interests, I thought that one which did something like the pic below might suit you. It comes from a US ad for a device which currently costs $29.95 (a bit over £25).
Also, in view of your previously-voiced concern most of these things seem to claim a current consumption of about 2 mA (about 0.024W at 12V), which you might find reassuring.
China is slow at processing my order. So, I jumped ship to amazon for cheaper and 3 day delivery on a 2000 count. They also throw in the batteries, all for £14.25. The money saved goes towards a set of carbide grout removal bits.
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