Let's talk about batteries

[Maurice Johnson]

Dwight, your failure rate on the 2 gel cells may have been caused by too high a charging rate as I mentioned earlier. I notice from the members photo galleries that a lot of the engines are fitted with what appears to be Delco-Remy 10SI or 12SI alternators, particularly the 1 wire type. These are excellent peices of equipment, but often come with regulators allowing as high as 14.8 volt output. This is 1/2volt higher than gels can accept without cooking up. They also like to be exercised regularly, and are prone to developing a "memory condition" which is sometimes hard to break them out of. As Ron61 says, his Battery Tender just tops them off with really charging. Unless we have a really good quality battery charger, with battery type selector switch, we need to be careful.