T&T: Advice on Equalizing..

[Faure, Marin]

>Top off the water of all cells before commencing, and while equalizing,
watch cell battery temp. There is a limit. I think it is 125F. Not 100%
sure....

We had a Heart Freedom 25 inverter/charger installed in our boat about
six or seven years ago.  The very experienced shop that did the
installation told us with regards to equalizing to first make sure all
the battery cells were topped off, then disconnect the two echo charge
lines, then put the battery selector switch in "All" so that both our
main batteries received the equalizing charge, and then start the
equalizing process via the remote panel.  Obviously these instructions
were tailored to the battery layout and wiring in our boat.

 They cautioned us to make sure the engine room was well ventilated
during the equalizing cycle, and to monitor the battery temperatures by
simply feeling the batteries periodically.  The timed equalizing cycle
on the Freedom 25 is several hours long--- six or seven or something
like that.  However, the batteries start getting pretty warm before the
cycle times out on its own, so we have always stopped the equalizing
cycle manually.  I've noticed that the batteries (8Ds) don't start
getting warm until several hours have passed, but once they start
getting warm they heat up pretty fast.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington