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.
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