Battery: charge before first use?

rama

Hi all - what is the best practice for using new deep cycle solar batteries for the first time. Would you recommend a refresher charge before first use? Full charge or maybe when it reaches a certain pre-set voltage? Some books mentioned it but didn't go into enough detail...

Appreciate all inputs & thanks.

niel

Re: Battery: charge before first use?

i would be sure it was up to a full charge and hopefully it should not take much to achieve that. be sure to follow proper charging parameters for your batteries.

blackswan555

Re: Battery: charge before first use?

What type ?
If FLA, I fully charge then EQ, The data from that is then the first entry in the bat service record and a point for future reference,


Have a good one
Tim

BB.

Re: Battery: charge before first use?

What Tim is saying for Flooded Cell is to use a hydrometer and measure/log the Specific Gravity for each cell into a note book after the first charge/equalization (and logging the battery/cell resting voltage might be handy too)... This will be your 100% fully charged value for the bank.

From that point on, you can monitor bank to ensure proper charging / battery maintenance is being performed without guessing when your bank is fully charged and/or needs equalization (basically, when the range of specific gravity from cell to cell is greater than ~0.020 to 0.030 points per cell).

-Bill