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87

One thing we have noticed is the huge range of beliefs which are held about batteries and how to look after them to get the most out of them. If one tried to follow all the conflicting advice given one would lose ones' mind. 

If you care to tell us of your experiences with batteries (as opposed to theories about what is supposed to happen) we will start compiling some sort of feedback on what actually happens when people follow one course or another. On one and the same day, congratulating the editors on having replaced their batteries with new ones, two seemingly knowledgeable people gave a piece of advice each:

1) "Keep the amp level up at all times, if you let the level of power in the battery sink below 50% you'll never get it back up to beyond 80% again. "

2) "It does a battery good to be used until it's flat and then re-charged, from time to time. "

Both these statements cannot be simultaneously true. Is either of them? Even in books on the subject there seem to be conflicts of opinion, hence we'd like to compile some evidence of how people treat their batteries and what they get out of them in exchange...e-mail us with your comments, we're looking forward to hearing from you.

In the meantime here are a few thoughts to be going on with...

  • Our batteries don't die. We kill them.

  • An alternator charge controller is a VERY GOOD THING

  • The less you take out of batteries the longer they last

  • A battery left discharged for a long time is a battery on its way to the scrap heap

  • It is quicker to 'top up' (re-charge) a slightly used battery than to fill up a nearly empty one

  • In hot countries the liquid in batteries evaporates FAST

  • The area around the terminals should be kept clean and dry to avoid voltage drop

  • Battery terminals need to be kept SHINING clean

Care to add to the list? Tell us of your experiences and, if you have expert knowledge, coupled with that experience, we'd love to hear it. But do remember, please, that technical knowledge gleaned from any source is only worthwhile if it can demonstrate itself to be true when applied...

 


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