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I would be interested in finding out if anyone else has had problems with the “high” tech chargers and old FLA batteries.
I have had both a Zivan NG3 and one of the early Elcon chargers. These go through an automatic equalization and degassing (for the Zivan only) and after they sense that the batteries are charged to a “float” or “off” mode.
What I found, however, was that both chargers never left the equalization and degassing mode (163 volts for Zivan and 147 for Elcon -120 volt system) for older batteries. So both chargers would run for hours (until I turned them off) creating a lot gas and further degrading the batteries. When I bought new batteries the problem stopped.
From what I could find out, the chargers were not finishing the cycling because the internal resistance of the batteries increases as they age. At some point the resistance was so high that the chargers never stopped. Is this true, and has anyone had similar problems?
My batteries (T105) were down to about 2/3 of their capacity when this happened and I was hoping to use them a bit longer. The chargers however made them fail even faster. I started with the Zivan and thought there was a problem with the charger. I even sent it back to Elcon for repair, but they were unable to find a problem. I then bought the Elcon but had exactly the same problem with the new charger.