3 stage battery charger

[BioHazard]

I just went and checked the date on the battery in my boat...1999 manufacture and it still works with my old outboard which is notoriously hard on batteries. It's not even a marine battery, just the cheapest car battery available at the time.

It gets a heavy dose of "Battery Minder" every winter. Can't prove that's why it's so old...but I can't think of any other reason! It's only a 12 month warranty battery!

I would be curious to know if telco's ever use desulphators?

[WGB]

at the risk of alienating folks here is my take on desulfators

they are a bunch of hype! and i wouldn't add anything like edta to any battery i cared about.

if you are working with old batteries that aren't responding to proper charging then use whatever you like, however
if you have a significant investment in your batteries charge them as the manufacture recommends, equalize as needed
and realize that batteries have a finite lifespan.

once they get down to about 80% capacity they are about at the end of life in most cases, as they go to hell in a non linear
fashion.

i realize there is lots of anecdotal evidence that edta and desulfators work, however there is precious little true scientific evidence
to support the use of either with a good battery.

charge them regularly and fully, keep them watered if flooded type, equalize them as needed, keep a log on every cell and list
the specific gravity of each cell.  doing so will give you a full life from the battery.

fwiw
bob g

I agree for the most part.
And I'm only doing individual batteries.
I'm doing batteries that are junk, I've got 3 batteries back to taking a good load test.
One of the batteries started under 5 volts.
The other 2 would not get above 12.3 volts before using the new charger.
Now both are at 100%, both take a couple load tests and still stay in the good battery zone.
So for the electric fence, my potable Cangfa clone generator starter, mowers, and tractors I'm a happy camper!

[Tom Reed]

I don't know about Telco's, but the first desulphator I got was mil surplus. It came with a small solar panel and detailed instructions for mounting on all types of interesting vehicles like rocket launchers, tanks and ordinance transport vehicles. I'd guess that the mil would like these trucks to start when needed. And I would like to think that the mil did some research before purchasing these desulphators at what I'm sure were outrageous prices.

There is a 48 volt desulphator on my Hawker PV1 batteries for the house. They are now almost 4 years old and seem to work as well as when they were new.