pmyatt
Well-Known Member
Also posted on Live-Aboard Forum
We have recently replaced our domestic bank of batteries. We now have 4 X 105 Ah Varta LFS105. These are Calcium/Calcium maintenance-free. The battery charging is either shore power/generator through a Victron Multi 12/2500/120 inverter/charger, or a 75 amp alternator controlled by a Balmar MaxCharge 614 controller. At the moment, the absorption voltage on both systems is set to 14.4 Volts. Both charging systems have temperature sensors and voltage sensors at the batteries for temperature and voltage compensation to limit gassing. Recent research on the internet indicates that calcium/calcium batteries can be charged at a significantly higher absorption voltage than lead/antimony batteries, whose maximum is 14.4 Volts. Queries to battery dealerships and equipment suppliers have produced advice that calcium/calcium batteries should indeed be charged at higher voltage than 14.4 Volts, but the advice has varied from a low of 14.7 Volts to a high of 16.0 Volts.
Despite considerable research, I have been unable to find a single authoritative source on the subject. Should anyone have definitive information on the subject, I would be grateful for details of the source.
Indeed, as lead/antimony batteries have now been almost completely removed from the market to be replaced by calcium/calcium batteries, it is perhaps timely for most boat owners to be questioning whether the advice they have been given concerning charging voltages is still extant; persistent under-charging causes premature battery failure just as much as over-charging.
We have recently replaced our domestic bank of batteries. We now have 4 X 105 Ah Varta LFS105. These are Calcium/Calcium maintenance-free. The battery charging is either shore power/generator through a Victron Multi 12/2500/120 inverter/charger, or a 75 amp alternator controlled by a Balmar MaxCharge 614 controller. At the moment, the absorption voltage on both systems is set to 14.4 Volts. Both charging systems have temperature sensors and voltage sensors at the batteries for temperature and voltage compensation to limit gassing. Recent research on the internet indicates that calcium/calcium batteries can be charged at a significantly higher absorption voltage than lead/antimony batteries, whose maximum is 14.4 Volts. Queries to battery dealerships and equipment suppliers have produced advice that calcium/calcium batteries should indeed be charged at higher voltage than 14.4 Volts, but the advice has varied from a low of 14.7 Volts to a high of 16.0 Volts.
Despite considerable research, I have been unable to find a single authoritative source on the subject. Should anyone have definitive information on the subject, I would be grateful for details of the source.
Indeed, as lead/antimony batteries have now been almost completely removed from the market to be replaced by calcium/calcium batteries, it is perhaps timely for most boat owners to be questioning whether the advice they have been given concerning charging voltages is still extant; persistent under-charging causes premature battery failure just as much as over-charging.
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