I've recently purchased an S-10 pickup conversion, with a new set of
twenty Sam's Club Energizer EC8 6v 105 reserve minute golf cart
batteries (120v).
I have been driving the truck 5,10,15,20 miles and then re-charging to
"break in" the battery pack.
I am in the enviable position of having a short (4.5 mile round trip)
daily commute, which is well under the maximum range of the battery pack.
My question is about how frequently I should charge the pack. I want to
maximize battery lifetime, and I don't plan on ever needing to drive the
truck past a 50% state of discharge.
My question:
Is it better to drive it a few trips (down to 25-45%) before recharging,
to lower the total number of charges?
Or is it better to charge it every night, even if only down 10-15%
because at the lower depth of discharge the more cycles I'll get?
Or some hybrid combination of charging every night usually and once a
month drive the pack to 80% depth of discharge to "exercise" it?
Any comments?
-Jay
P.S. Some details about my two chargers:
1. A Quick Charge 110V charger (possibly the SCO -120-10), it draws
about 10 amps max. It is currently set to mode F3 (Gas & then float),
but I could re-set it to mode F2 (Gas and then turn-off). This is the
easiest charger to use, as I don't have an outdoor 240v outlet (yet).
The length of charging time doesn't matter, as it will easily recharge
from 10-25% overnight. [Also, I like being able to use my Kill-o-Watt
meter on it, as I do not yet have a way to track how much power the 240v
Zivan charger uses.]
2. A 240v Zivan NG3 "high frequency charger". To use this I have to
leave my back door cracked open with a high capacity extension cord
going from my dryer vent out to the truck. This charger appears to work
fine (I have tried it once), and after it is done charging it turns it's
fans off. However, the LED indicator light is broken, and does not light
up, so I have no indicator of how far along in the charge it is at any
point in time. It has no "mode settings" that I could find, looks to be
a plug it in and forget it type of charger.
I'm wondering about the "gas" setting on the QuickCharge, as I don't
think I actually need to do a gas/equalization charge every time if I'm
charging from a low percentage discharge, and doing one too frequently
may lower the lifespan of the pack. (Or should I gas the batteries on
every charge? I have no idea what the Zivan charger is doing.)
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 260 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/private/ev/attachments/20110304/5e3d67ea/attachment.asc
_______________________________________________
| REPLYING: address your message to xxx@xxx.xxx.edu only.
| Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
| UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
| OTHER HELP: http://evdl.org/help/
| OPTIONS: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
twenty Sam's Club Energizer EC8 6v 105 reserve minute golf cart
batteries (120v).
I have been driving the truck 5,10,15,20 miles and then re-charging to
"break in" the battery pack.
I am in the enviable position of having a short (4.5 mile round trip)
daily commute, which is well under the maximum range of the battery pack.
My question is about how frequently I should charge the pack. I want to
maximize battery lifetime, and I don't plan on ever needing to drive the
truck past a 50% state of discharge.
My question:
Is it better to drive it a few trips (down to 25-45%) before recharging,
to lower the total number of charges?
Or is it better to charge it every night, even if only down 10-15%
because at the lower depth of discharge the more cycles I'll get?
Or some hybrid combination of charging every night usually and once a
month drive the pack to 80% depth of discharge to "exercise" it?
Any comments?
-Jay
P.S. Some details about my two chargers:
1. A Quick Charge 110V charger (possibly the SCO -120-10), it draws
about 10 amps max. It is currently set to mode F3 (Gas & then float),
but I could re-set it to mode F2 (Gas and then turn-off). This is the
easiest charger to use, as I don't have an outdoor 240v outlet (yet).
The length of charging time doesn't matter, as it will easily recharge
from 10-25% overnight. [Also, I like being able to use my Kill-o-Watt
meter on it, as I do not yet have a way to track how much power the 240v
Zivan charger uses.]
2. A 240v Zivan NG3 "high frequency charger". To use this I have to
leave my back door cracked open with a high capacity extension cord
going from my dryer vent out to the truck. This charger appears to work
fine (I have tried it once), and after it is done charging it turns it's
fans off. However, the LED indicator light is broken, and does not light
up, so I have no indicator of how far along in the charge it is at any
point in time. It has no "mode settings" that I could find, looks to be
a plug it in and forget it type of charger.
I'm wondering about the "gas" setting on the QuickCharge, as I don't
think I actually need to do a gas/equalization charge every time if I'm
charging from a low percentage discharge, and doing one too frequently
may lower the lifespan of the pack. (Or should I gas the batteries on
every charge? I have no idea what the Zivan charger is doing.)
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 260 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
Url : http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/private/ev/attachments/20110304/5e3d67ea/attachment.asc
_______________________________________________
| REPLYING: address your message to xxx@xxx.xxx.edu only.
| Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
| UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
| OTHER HELP: http://evdl.org/help/
| OPTIONS: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev