BFL13 wrote:

When the Vector says "full" the first time, run it again at the low amp setting until it says "full" again. That will get you closer to a real full. if it has the Equalize feature with the hidden button, do that next until it says "full" again from that.

Next, very important, is take an hydrometer reading. If the battery has been undercharged, it will be sulfated. It might read 1.260 instead of 1.275. Now use the Vector for three or four days in a row of "Reconditioning" Charge again to "full" See if SG is up closer to 1.275.

If you need more amp hours for camping you can get a pair of batteries instead of just one. One battery usually won't get you through the night if you run the furnace.

IMO wait till you get a grip on the battery situation before spending $200 on a fancy monitor. You should have a $15 digital multimeter though for your voltmeter. That and the hydrometer will tell you enough for most needs..

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:

Hi PT,
Love the graph!
OK, so I have an Interstate 12V Deep Cycle SRM-24 battery.
With my Vector "Smart" charger running at 2amps to charge the battery it takes about 24 hours or less to obtain a "Full" reading. If this is the time the graph is referring to for charging my battery in storage then I'm nowhere near the hours the graph shows it would take to achieve 90% or full charge.

That brings up the question, does repeat charging add up or does it have to be a continuous "100" hours of charging?

Has to be a continuous charge. If you use the battery, then you have to "start over".

At this stage, per some previous advice, going to desulfate x 3 then charge, use for the weekend, then charge x 4. Am I in the ballpark or still clueless?

You need a glass float hydrometer. After each equalization with the Vector, check your specific gravity (SG). Unfortunately, you don't have a baseline to go from but generally 1.275 @ 77F is 100% full.

Also, what is the difference between charging at 2amps, or 10 or 35? Those are the options on my charger.

Yes, generally the more amps the faster the charge BUT those amps must be in conjunction with a high voltage (your charger does 14.7V compensated for temperature if you have the VEC1093DBD). I believe the interstate grp 24 is ~82 amp hours (Ah) so a safe charge rate is ~20 amps.

Thanks

pianotuna wrote:

Hi,

I got a surprize this week when I tried to use my Vector charger at -6 C (21 f). It immediately gave me a fault code. I guess it is temperature compensated and will not work at those (mild) temperatures?

pianotuna wrote:

Hi,

I got a surprize this week when I tried to use my Vector charger at -6 C (21 f). It immediately gave me a fault code. I guess it is temperature compensated and will not work at those (mild) temperatures?

mexbungalows wrote:

Trimetric's website just told me that the 2025 can be set to reflect kWh transactions.