Battery status (NO ONE CAN ANSWER THIS QUESTION)

[boxcar]

I have a battery status indicator that come off my old vexilar. Would this work on my deep cycle batteries in my permanate shack.

boxcar

[Bobberstop]

If its a 12 volt battery it should.               Ron

[UncleFluffy]

I don't know if this will make a lot of sense, but here goes.  The battery type that you use for a Vexilar is a Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery.  Deep cycle marine batteries are referred to as flooded batteries.  On average, SLA batteries will rest fully charged at around 13-13.2 Volts.  Flooded batteries such as your deep cycle marine batteries tend to be full at around 12.5-12.7 volts.  That being said, your battery status indicator may indicate that your batteries are much lower than they really are due to this voltage differential.  The best way to test this would be to place the battery tester on your marine battery and see if it reads as full when the battery is fully charged.  Another down side to this would be that your marine battery will probably have much more life left in it than the indicator may be telling you.  As marine batteries not only have more capacity due to their size difference, they also have the ability to supply good usable power for much longer than a SLA battery due to their construction. 

Bottom line - Buy yourself a cheap VOM meter and check the voltage with that instead.  You'll get a better reading, and won't be second guessing yourself.

[Tombo]

I don't know what you are using the deep cycle battery for in your shack--is it just for lights? If so then the Battery indicator out of the vex should work(both 12 v) although the scale could be wrong-It may read "replace" and yet you'll still have enough power to provide light. on the other end of the scale when fully charged...the meter may not read as such. I guess what I saying is you may have to re-calibrate (observe where it is at full charge and where it is when the lights are too dim) this meter.I think I would go with Uncle Fluffy's advise and buy a cheap VOM and use that-you will still have to experiment with it to find out what "fully charged" and "almost dead" is in your situation.The VOM will be easier to read than that little vex meter. Just my 2cts.
Tombo

[boxcar]

I guess guys I was hoping on using it to tell me when my batteries where fully charged. I will be using my generator to charge my batteries and thought it might help with not over charging.

boxcar

[UncleFluffy]

The 12V output of your generator may seem like a good way to charge your batteries, but to safely and properly charge your batteries, they need to be charged with a device made for they job.  If you put too much current into your batteries, you'll cook them off and create hydrogen gas (think Hindenburg) inside your perm. shack.  This may also physically damage the plates inside your battery.  The best way to charge a battery is with a regulated charger.  Batteries need to be charged at a regulated voltage as well as a regulated current, and the direct output from your generator is not the right tool for the job.  It's like driving in finishing nails with a sledge hammer.  You'll drive in the nail, but you'll probably break something in the process.

[IceGeek]

Here's a recycled post from last year to add to the debate of charging......someone asked if it was OK to disconnect the battery from the charger once it reads 100%  or if it should be left on for some time.  Sorry to recycle old posts but I though it might be of some interest.....

As you charge a battery the current (charge) that flows into the battery decreases exponentially with time.  The ac line voltage is converted to a dc voltage via a rectifier which is part of the charger which plugs into the wall.  You can look at the specs on the rectifier, but basically it will take an ac source (in this case the ac line voltage (current)) and convert it to a dc source at the output.  This is where you connect it to the battery.  One can solve a diff. equation relating the charge flowing into the battery, time, the time constant (equal to the product of R and C which is the resistance both internal from the battery and resistance in the usual sense and the capacitance of the battery)  Upon solving for the current one gets I = Qo/RC (e-t/RC) where t is time, I represents the current, e the base of the natural logarithm,  and Qo the charge.  As you can see by letting the time get very large, the quantity (e-t/RC) approaches zero no matter what values the other variables take on.  Thus when you multiply zero by anything you get zero and this is no different when you multiply zero by the quantity Qo/RC.  Thus everything on the Right hand side of the equation becomes zero and what you get is that almost no current and thus no charge is flowing into the battery anymore, at which point you can consider it charged.  You could leave the charge on forever in fact and theoretically it will never be 100% charged, but will only approach 100% asymptotically.  You could also just take an ammeter and place it in series between the rectifier and battery to measure just how much current is flowing or look at the voltage across the battery leads themselves....when the current flowing reaches a value of 3RC the battery will be approximately 95% charged....