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LIfeline rep says that 50amps is insufficient
I spoke to a very knowledgable family memer at the family run LIfeline batteries who was confident that our battery chargers should be hitting at a minimum of 100 amps (total) when bulk charging. He was surprised to learn that my 2500 watt Trace inverters (circa 1997) only show a maxium charge rate of 25amps each. While he was not intimatly familiar with what these inverters should spec out at, he was dismayed at the rate saying that a 2-3 hour bulk/absorption cycle at 25amps was insufficient to adequatly charge my bank of 6 of the 4d’s.
I would welcome being poitned toward any other threads that have previsouly discussed charging topics in addition to any comments on the LIfeline reps remarks.
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8 Replies
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Before anyone panics about Jeff’s comments keep in mind there are now thousands of coaches with inverter / chargers, a lot of which have been set as low as 10 amps for charging when power management has required such low settings when the coach is plugged into 50 amp shore power.
If a high current level was required for charging Lifeline would make it a point to specifiy that on their battery owner’s manual.
The PDF below is the ultimate word in Lifeline batteries. In another thread charging voltages were discussed and in the PDF all the details relating to charging are tabulated and what is significant is how temperatures impact the voltages for charging.
http://lifelinebatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/manual.pdf
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The problem with a low charge rate comes in play when dry campiing and recharging the batteries from the generator. Running the generator hours on end, trying to charge up the battery bank in preperation for a night of quiet time, is unnecessary when a higher charge rate is possible with a different inverter/charger.
Running pole to pole like Jon does makes the recharge rate a non issue for him.
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Who did you talk to? I’ve been a Lifeline Rep for 7 years and never heard this.
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Les you are correct and what I assume everyone should understand is they actually have to do some energy management dependent upon individual circumstances. When I am on shore power I set for a 10 amp charge curent, but when I am on generator I kick up the amperage. What needs to be understood is that to me dry camping is I run my generator. I do not rely on auto-start.
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Tom, I spoke to Andrew at LIfeline whic I think (but am not certain) is part of Lifelines family. I should clarify that his admonishment was pertaining to charging while dry camping which I failed to mention. So he said that hitting the batteries with 2 chargers that max out at 25amps was inadequate for a 2-3 hour charge cycle. He just seemed so resolute and confident that I posted here to verify but I guess his confidence must have been misplaced. When I stop to reflect on personal experience of charging off the generator, I have found that the batteries recharge adequatly on 25 amps. Do newer chargers even go higher than this or is a max. 25 amps par ? The Lifeline rep said that I should be charging at 100amps but I don’t belive our typical chargers even have that option.
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Andrew is correct…A 25 amp charge (even times two) FOR 2-3 HOURS will not be enough to recharge most prevost battery banks. Simple math, it will take longer. I have no idea what actual charge rate is best for the batteries but when I’m in storage or plugged in at RV parks, I limit my AC charging input to 5 amps/charger. Not sure what the charge output is at 5 amps input, but at 20 amps input (rate I use when dry camping recharging) my chargers put out 82 amps each at 24 volts for a total charge rate of 164 amps at 24 volts. I’m using Outback FX3524’s.
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I do belive there is some confusion on this issue.
The 25 amp charge rate is the AC input amps. This equals 100 DC amps going to the battery.
If you have both inverters set to 25 amp charge rate, you have the potential to put 200 amps of DC into the batteries All tis info is avaiable in the inverter manuals. below is an example of what I found in a Trace manual:
The SET MAX CHARGE AMPS AC menu item will need to be reduced if you are using a small battery
bank. High charge rates can cause a small battery to overheat. This may cause damage and is not an
efficient way to recharge the battery. With the Control Panel, adjust the charger for a maximum rate that is
less than 1/5 of the battery capacity for efficient recharging. For example, if the battery is rated at 500
amp-hours, set the maximum charge rate for 100 amps DC. Since the setting is adjusted in amps AC
drawn by the battery charger, divide the DC charge rate by 8 for 12 volt systems, 4 for 24 volt systems and
2 for 48 volt systems (these factors are for 120 VAC systems and include the power lost in the battery
charger). If the example battery bank of 500 amp hours was a 24 volt system, the maximum AC amps
setting should be around 25 amps AC (500 x 1/5 = 100 amps DC, 100 / 4 = 25 amps AC.) -
Andre is correct, the batteries are charged with DC not AC and when Andrew stated 100 amps he was talking about DC amps. The Lifelines will take any amount of DC amps you can throw at them without any damage.
I believe Jeff’s charger has a maximum charge rate of 120 amps DC.
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