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Unread 05-04-2008, 00:01
eugenebrooks eugenebrooks is offline
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Re: MK Battery Problems

You might want to check each bank of the charger to confirm
that it is executing its three stage program properly, and that
the parameters are reasonably close to what MK specifies.

The suggested charge rate is C/5 amps, about 3.6 amps.
Yes, FIRST specifies the limit at 6 amps and this is reasonable
for our usage of the batteries.
The suggested absorption voltage is 2.40 to 2.45 volts per cell.
The suggested float voltage is 2.25 to 2.35 volts per cell.
There are 6 cells in the battery we use.
The last parameter is the length of time the charger sits
at the absorption voltage before kicking down to float.
The typical standard for this is 4 hours, and this is fine
for a deeply cycled battery, but is not good for a battery
that has been shallow discharged.

The Interacter charger, www.batteryweb.com,
implements timing on the absorption cycle that is proportional
to the length of time spent bulk charging. This is desired
behavior for batteries that are shallow discharged and
rotated to the charger every match, as they should be.

There is no need to trickle charge these batteries for long
periods, and if you do, the survival of the battery depends
critically on the charge voltage. The self discharge rate is
3% per month. All you need to do is store them fully charged
in a cool dry place for the summer, and then give them an
overnight charge when school starts again.

Below is a link to MK's technical manual for their GEL and AGM
batteries, the one we use is an AGM battery.
http://www.mkbattery.com/images/VRLA_TechManual.pdf

Eugene



Quote:
Originally Posted by Cory View Post
The charger is an AutoMeter Professional BusPro-600S. 6 station, 5 amp per station smart charger.

The 6 in question probably had 40 or so charge cycles, tops, on them.

The charger had one station in question which had been charging slightly warm since Atlanta 07. About a month and a half ago we noticed that it was charging extremely hot, saw one very swelled battery, and 5 more that had minor swelling.

We immediately discontinued use of the banked charger and went back to the vintage kit chargers (Xenotronix HPX-60) and have not noticed anymore issues.

Last edited by eugenebrooks : 05-04-2008 at 00:25.