Deep Cycle Questions

[fishyman]

hey guys

got a few questions about charging deep cycle batteries

1. Should you remove or loosen the vent caps while charging?

2. i think i read somewhere having a battery sitting on cement is bad for it while charging. is this true? i might be making something up there though haha

thanks

[maxi]

yes loosen and yes concrete not good for any battery .. better off on a block of timber or ply etc... to be sure to be sure ...

Maxi

[Hellcat Dan]

i never losen the caps i just chuck them on charge ihave no idea if it is true about leaving them on the concret thats why i dont. if you are useing it as a elictric boat by a on board charger it is much easer and you dont have to worry about it just plug it in

[fishyman]

well i charged one without the caps loosened

and one with

they are all sitting on a block of wood now so all should be sweet

thanks guys

and yeah on board charger is sounding like a good idea at this stage

15hp is sounding even better

[maxi]

most batteries have breather holes in the caps these days anyway so the gases can escape easily, but you never know if they get filled with crap from time to time and block up, i always loosen them, but maybe im to carefull sometimes ...

Maxi

[Hellcat Dan]

there is nothing quite like petrol power is there

[fishingnut]

silly question but how does the on board charger work? does it run off the motor? as you can clearly see I have no idea so I thought id ask

[flatty_catcher]

never charged a boat battery but the main thing is that you got an intelligent charger. one that stops when the battery is full.

Dan

[noname]

and best not to leave it flat, eg, after use, charge straight away,

[Hellcat Dan]

fishingnut wrote:

silly question but how does the on board charger work? does it run off the motor? as you can clearly see I have no idea so I thought id ask

it is a charger that stays in the boat all hooked up to the batterys all you have to do is plug it in to 240v and off she goes you can carge mutiple batterys at once

[Terry H]

Ok, I did a google search and found that:

Sitting a battery on cement USED to be bad for the battery. This was back in the days when batteries were made out of different materials. eg wood/glass and then hard rubber

Apparently now there is no issue with sitting batteries on cement. Although some old habits die hard

Edit:

/>http://www.kaltire.com/retail/services/batteries.php

I know it's car batteries, but meh. At the bottom of their page they even say storing battery on cement is fine. I don't think a business would say that if it wasn't true, especially given how "well known" it is.

[rayke1938]

Leaving caps off is to leave the hydrogen gas escape quickly and reduce risk of explosion.

NEVER EVER connect a charger to a battery when the charger is turned on.

You have to experience a battery explosion to believe the force generated.I had one go up in the telephone exchange at miles and the rubber casing of the battery went through the ceiling and then the fibro roof of the exchange building and landed on the roof of the next door post office.

Half the town thought a bomb had gone off.

Cheers

Ray