Diary 3-20-07
Latest Diary entry:
3-20-07
I started to do the first
episode of "This Old Shack" but
after stammering into the camera for a half hour I
decided to wait for a more opportune time.
If you remember from my last
entry, I've labeled all the batteries and
split them into two planned banks, Large and
Small. The large one for inverter use, the small
one for 12 volt power use.
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From
testing here at the house (our southern hacienda)
I've discovered that I can get up to 12-16 hours
from each small battery running a typical 12 volt
load, or around 30 hours when running as a bank |
After the first two tests where
I place a constant 6 amp load on each battery
individually, I discovered that the charge time
for each one (S1, S2, S3) varied. By a lot. How I
did this was by charging each unit from a 70%
charge to full charge (according to the Schumacher
Smartcharger) at a 2 amp rate (Note: yes,
this isn't a real world example. While at the
cabin, I charge at 30 amps)
in order to bring the
batteries up to full charge with as little stress
as possible. What I noticed is that battery S2
got to 90% and stayed there. A loooong time. At a
charge rate of 8 amps, it came right up to a
normal charge. What I've done is equalize the
battery with my manual charger and will test it
again tonight. The other two small bank batteries
are performing nominally (note to self: gotta
start using more NASA like terms - call it NITWIT:
Nasa Infusion of Terms With
Interesting Testing) and don't
look like they're a problem, even the one that did
in fact give me problems when it was new.
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