Diary May, 2007

 5-19-07; I've been busily working on gas mileage. As I update this entry, Stinkerbutt (my 2000 Dodge Dakota) is getting an astounding 26.6 mpg on the highway and 25.5 in the city. See the video here. The truck now has an updated front air dam, grill blockers, grill inserts, the AirRaid air filter, side skirts and cab mounted spoilers (to reduce the wake).

5-12-07; Now that the latest video is done, I have time to get back to doing meat-and-potatoes stuff. If you tune into the next episode of "This Old Shack" you will see the unpacking of the long term test batteries, the Marathon GNB 90ah AGM.. Yes, I said batteries. The first one had a shattered case from shipping. The second was dead, dead, dead. The third one appears to be serviceable, so we may be good to go. But wait, there's more. This is going to be complicated so stay with me here. AGM batteries have the acid absorbed into glass matting that surrounds the lead plates in the battery. 

They are sealed, the hydrogen produced during charging  is recombined into the acid, providing a sealed system. With me so far? Now, if one of these batteries is overcharged you have the vent opening and the hydrogen is released and the mats will dry out and then they will be perfect for a boat anchor. The second battery that I got was that way. 10.2 volts before charging, 10.4 volts after charging for 24 hours which went down to 9.9 volts after sitting a few hours. Plus these batteries have to be charged with a "constant voltage" charger. The third battery is on it's way to being dead - the highest charge so far after charging is 12.57 volts. 

Thus, with nothing to lose and after reading an obscure battery industry paper on "Restoring capacity and extending useful life in VRLA AGM batteries through the process of dehydration and catalyst installation". Huh? Here, read it yourself. So with nothing to lose and everything to gain (sounds like a shipwreck novel, doesn't it?) I pulled the label off the top of the dead battery. Wouldn't you know it, there were 6 little sealed caps. Cutting the caps off, I looked inside the battery, which was sitting there at 9.9 volts. Dry as a desert in there. I mean it looked like cake frosting that had been sitting in the fridge for a month (that's what an AGM looks like inside. I'll have photos soon. Adding 1/4 ounce of water at a time until the matting was moist, I put my Schumacher Signature series constant voltage charger on it. After 30 minutes the battery was holding 11.52 volts, and I mean holding steady. Now comes the real test. Applying 6 amps at 14.4 volts (recommended by the manufacturer) for 12 hours as stated in the manual and seeing if it actually will take a full charge. If it does, I will do the same with the battery that is cracked, which is also at 9.9 volts. Who knows, I may have 3 batteries sitting here that I can revive by doing things that can only be described as "not recommended under any circumstances". Unless you're like me, that is.

5-11-07; Well it's been a few weeks since that last update. I've been busy on a new exciting episode of "This Old Shack" and working with the AGM battery. Yes, we've finally gotten a good one from the supplier. It's on the bench right now and is being charged. This type of battery is charged differently than a regular deep cycle which I'll detail later this weekend so check back.