We had a Mr. York present to us today at the Grand Vention.
He was knowledgable and showed a nice video of their process and plant.
Take aways:
1. - Gel Vs AGM - "depends" - he left a nice brochure that discusses the pros and cons and the whens and whys - click on this link to go to their website and view this document :
http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/1927.pdf (http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/1927.pdf)
2. Has been in the business a number of years and seemed to know batteries but said he didn't know what a desulfator was until it was brought up at his table at breakfast. He did say sulfating is the major killer of batteries, especially Gel/AGM when left in a deep discharge state for a prolonged period, so that anything that reverses the sulfur crystallization that occurs when bat ties left deeply discharged would be a goo thing. So he validated the concept of desulfation, without claiming any knowledge of the subject.
I have three week House 8D Gels, and I put a Wizbang $25 desulfator on each one, (per Wyatt), without shortening the cable length to as short as possible (I did not, left them as they came from Amazon) it will take up to a year for the full possible improvement to take place. Since my coach is almost always plugged in (especially from Now till May 1) I will not worry about testing house batteries till then and see what if any improvement occurs. (They were super easy to install, one wire on each battery terminal post, a little velcro to attach to small box side of battery.) Anyone can do it.
Buy them here on Amazon:
Amazon.com: Wizbang Battery Desulfator Solar Wind EV Marine Storage: Everything (http://www.amazon.com/Wizbang-Battery-Desulfator-Marine-Storage/dp/B006RJW538)
Just had three new Optimas installed, my worthless Xantrax echo charger has been killing them while I thought it was keeping them up. Would come to coach and the chassis batteries would be low or dead. Removed Non functioning Echo charger this week and installed a Batteryminder 1500 which is a combination trickle charger and desulfator. Running across all three batteries, as is is connected to the main positive and negative lug at wither end of the battery bank.
Since coach plugged in when not in storage, I hope this solves for Optima issues:
Info on product here:
Batteryminders Specials | BatteryMinders.com (http://batteryminders.com/details.php?prod=1500)
If you like it you can buy it here on Amazon.
BatteryMINDer Model 1500: 12 Volt 1.5 Amp Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator : (http://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer-Model-1500-Maintainer-Desulfator/dp/B00D7HZ6FC/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380298427&sr=8-1&keywords=batteryminder+1500)
Will let you know how these work for me.
Someone wanted this non working Echo Charger, I have it and will look up in my emails who that was and get it out next week.
Tim
Kinda Rushed - Mr. York was from Eat Penn Battery, a factory sales representative.
And one correction, my coach is plugged in while in storage, plus it will be plugged in from now to May 1 in NorthCarolina and FL
Nice report. I have always felt that a company that makes ALL THREE TYPES of batteries would most likely be more objective in their battery reviews/evaluations that those companies that only produce ONE TYPE of battery.
The website at East Penn Manufacturing is quite confusing to find the information you might be looking for, but with diligence one can find a LOT of good info on various types of batteries, and maybe it is unbiased.
Here is an example of their various articles..
http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/1927.pdf (http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/1927.pdf)
Regards,
I'm not totally up to speed on de-sulphators, but my understanding of them is that they hit the battery with a higher than normal charge voltage (16.5 volts?) and some or all have a rapidly changing voltage that acts to loosen and vibrate the sulphur from the plates. I'm not sure why I have this info because I couldn't refer to any source, it just was buried back in the spider web side in the O'l brain. I'm sure that some one some where has good knowledge of them. Have a great day ---- Fritz
I laughed when Mr York, said he was not familiar with the Desulfating of batteries, Why would he, He sells batteries, why would he want to extend the life of them ?
I so far am not using any such devices, my origional MK 8D Gels were 8 years old when I installed the new set (3), and could never see any difference in battery performance, the biggest difference / improvement was changing from the 26" Sony LCD to the Samsung 32" LED. The Sony was a heat generator, the Samsung is NOT.
My old factory 2500 Watt Xantracs ? inverter with the 100 amp charger does just fine, so no need to fix what is not needed.
A desulfator hits the battery not with a 16 volt spike, but in fact a 50 volt, 6 amp spike. If unchecked, this voltage and amperage would cause the battery to explode. The 50 volt (capacitor discharge) spike lasts for a few microseconds and occurs a thousand times a second (that is what causes the buzz).
If I sold batteries for a living, I would not want you to know about desulfators, because, after 8 years of service, I would rather you replaced your batteries with new, as long as you felt that you had received good service from the batteries you bought from me 8 years ago.
I will do a 10 hour load test on a battery before replacing it. I am still amazed that my 10 year old Gel battery continues to provide excellent service.
I replaced the OEM 2500 Watt Heart Interface Inverter/Charger with two seperate units, a "pure sign" inverter and an Iota converter because I need to use them both at the same time. The wifee believes we are on 30 amp shore power when we are on 15amp shore power.