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325ah L16 bulk charging amps?

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  • 325ah L16 bulk charging amps?

    What is the collective though from you pros about giving my 325ah Trojans (L16REs) 60 amps of charging from say 80% SOC to 90% SOC? I know 60 amps is quite a bit more than what the guidelines say but if I keep an eye on the battery temps will 60 amps hurt these batteries? In other words is it the heat or the amps that hurt batteries when charging at high current?

    I would never consider doing this except in the winter when it is cold. My batteries were at 44.5 degrees and 80% SOC when I started giving them 60 amps this morning and after twenty minutes of charging are only at 48 degrees.

    Battery bank is located in my garage which is currently at 40 degrees temp.

    I sure like the increased charging speed but don't want to shorten battery life for a little diesel fuel savings and convenience.

    Thanks for any advice
    Conext XW5548
    Conext MPPT60-150

  • #2
    Got them to 90% quick. Battery Temps never went above 50 degrees. Amps tapered from 63 to 45.

    This might be my new routine on cloudy winter mornings unless I'm hurting my batteries. I may give Trojan techs a call.

    BTW I only took them to 90% because it looks like there will be enough sun today to finish them off. On days I need to generator charge to 100% I use a small inverter genset hooked to a golf cart charger for the absorption charging.
    Conext XW5548
    Conext MPPT60-150

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    • #3
      I spoke with the Trojan tech and he said the "old 20%" guideline was still fine as long as I don't let the batteries go over 100 degrees. He was not sure why they started putting 13% in the data sheets. So my batteries will never see anything close to 100 degrees I feel fine giving them a 20% charge rate for a half hour or so.
      Conext XW5548
      Conext MPPT60-150

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      • #4
        Good question.

        I am watching for someone smarter than me to chime in on this.

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        • #5
          It might help to know how many batteries you have. Are you saying 60 amps per battery? Also, I'm under the impression these batteries like to be kept at about 25 degrees C. I can't imagine keeping them at 5° C being good for them.

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          • #6
            Are they flooded?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Skunkarific View Post
              It might help to know how many batteries you have. Are you saying 60 amps per battery? Also, I'm under the impression these batteries like to be kept at about 25 degrees C. I can't imagine keeping them at 5° C being good for them.

              Sorry. I have eight of these batteries in series for a 48v system. They are in an insulated garage without heat. My understanding is cold does not hurt batteries as long as they get fully charged. Cold just causes a temporary reduction in capacity and increases charging resistance which is why charge controllers have temperature compensation. High temps is what damages batteries.
              Conext XW5548
              Conext MPPT60-150

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              • #8
                Originally posted by travissand View Post
                Are they flooded?
                Yes they are flooded L16 batteries. They are the RE (renewable energy) version which are supposed to be superior in off grid situations. Not sure if that is just marketing hype but I always make sure they get charged to 100% every day.
                Conext XW5548
                Conext MPPT60-150

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                • #9
                  60 amps would seem like a normal charget me. I would think that would be the bare minimum to keep your batteries healthy. After all 60 amps divided by a 325 amp hour battery is a charge rate of 0.2C or C/5 meaning a theoretical mainly bulk and a little absorb time combined for a total of 5 hours. Trying to go from a high state of charge to a higher state of charge with 60 amps might be more difficult so you'd have to crank up the volts in order to fit 60 amps during that last 20%. They'll be more inefficient but I understand there's times like when you're running a generator when you'd like to get it closer to full faster. a lot of times particularly with flooded lead-acid it's better to charge a little too fast so that you might spend more time near full because when a lead acid sits at a low state of charge for many hours it is worse then having a forced fast charge.
                  If they're not getting too hot just like you spoke of then they'll be fine. if you're cranking up the voltage in order to force a higher amperage in at a higher state of charge they might gas more . You might have to add water more often but I think that's a better choice than letting them sit at a low state of charge. You're on the right path.
                  The spec sheet doesn't show how many amps you would expect over the course of charge but it shows the basic voltage settings which are a bit higher than their old spec sheets for this exact reason. If you click on my link or search trogen l16 re PDF you'll quickly find the downloadable spec sheet.
                  https://www.google.com/search?q=Trojan+l16+re+PDF
                  Last edited by travissand; 01-06-2020, 07:52 PM.

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