![]() So, based on my test results, I’ve decided to hook up all three of the SolarPulse units to Betty’s battery bank in the near future and check the dnouement some time later this year. In any case, a statistical approach to several batteries over a period of several years, it seems to me, is the only way to draw accurate, definitive battery-test conclusions.īut on the other hand, the SolarPulse seems to perform. And adding an extra charger-even a small one-to an existing system may produce effects that defy explanation. One test battery, for example, may perform differently from another and produce different test results, despite identical specifications. One thing I’ve learned from this experiment is that battery testing in the real world is subject to a variety of issues and complexities. My interpretation’s somewhat more reserved. “And that means you may have extended its life slightly.” “The extra discharge time you’re getting most from your test battery likely shows some rejuvenation of your battery,” he said. Pulse Tech’s sales and marketing head Robert White offered a straightforward interpretation of this little development. Time to discharge was 55 minutes and 40 seconds, a finding that meant the battery had slightly more than half its original strength, at least compared to the 105-minute time to discharge a brand new 4D gellcell according to East Penn, the manufacturer of Deka batteries. I hauled the BDU into Betty’s engine room, and after disconnecting the test Deka from the rest of the battery bank and attaching the BDU’s positive and negative clips to its lugs, I initiated the discharge program and at length came up with some numbers that seemed plausible in light of the Deka’s age. ![]() This last bit of data is critical-the longer the time, the healthier and stronger the battery. To do this, I used a Lester Electrics Battery Discharge Unit (BDU), which in a very controlled way discharges a battery at a rate of 75 amps from full charge down to approximately 10.5 volts while recording the minutes and seconds the discharge takes. One preliminary step was necessary before I could begin though: I had to measure the baseline strength of the test battery prior to the SolarPulse hookup. This SolarPulse SP5 model is similar to the unit we tested but with a smaller solar collector. The length of that 14-foot interconnecting cord and my hinged central windshield panel that can be raised slightly and locked in place would facilitate a workable temporary arrangement, as would an engine-room shelf that could support the little plastic SolarPulse charging unit. (I was also reasonably sure the resistance inherent in the whole bank’s beefy cables and connectors would prevent the SolarPulse’s 350-milliamp shots from affecting the other two batteries.) Then I’d temporarily position the solar panel in a sunny location, like the roof of Betty’s forward cabin. ![]() Given the dollars involved, I was hesitant to directly commit all three to the experiment, at least for starters. I’d start by attaching the ring terminals of one Pulse Tech SolarPulse unit to one of my Dekas. Given the $600 cost of one new Deka 4D gellcell, I theorized that being able to extend the life of all three would save me hundreds of dollars in the long term. But I had a financial axe to grind as well. Certainly I had a scientific axe to grind by adding Pulse Tech technology to Betty’s electrics: I wanted to know whether it actually works in the real world. I had three Deka Dominator 4D gellcell batteries onboard, all approximately five years old-prime candidates for some life-extending rejuvenation-and parallel-wired into a single battery bank maintained by a shore power-energized Freedom 2000 inverter/charger. My test platform was my own boat, Betty Jane. Such conditioning, Burkett concluded, could keep sulfates from building up in new batteries and rejuvenate older batteries by reducing established sulfate accumulations, and even bring some dead batteries back to life. This ringing, Burkett further discovered, could cause sulfation crystals-the little devils that accumulate on the lead plates of older and/or unused lead-acid batteries and reduce both capacity and cranking power-to shatter like wine glasses and return to the battery’s acid as active electrolyte. According to Pulse Tech, the idea was initially stumbled upon by accident when inventor Wilford Burkett found that for some reason charging a battery with fast rise-time pulses at carefully controlled frequencies and rates could cause a resonance within the battery, rather like ringing a bell. The concept of desulfation is a little mysterious. The SP2 with the smallest collector carries a list price of $99.95. The ERV model that we tested has a larger collector than the SP5 model and retails for $199.95.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |