How to charge and maintain deep cycle AGM batteries with Craig from KickAss Products
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 08. 2021
- PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE VOLTAGES THAT ARE SHOW ARE WHEN THE BATTERY IS AT REST. READINGS WILL CHANGE WHEN LOAD IS APPLIED.
Craig from kickassproducts.com.au/ gives an important lesson on how to properly take care of and maintain your AGM deep cycle batteries.
AGM battery maintenance is important for maximizing the service life of your AGM battery. Note that all of the AGM batteries offered by Australian Direct are maintenance-free, in the sense that they don’t require topping up. Standard flooded batteries, also known as wet cells, require regular topping up.
This is not the case for AGM batteries since they are maintenance-free. Nevertheless, it is important to ensure that you are using your AGM battery properly, and avoid any misuse that may cause the battery’s life to be shortened. This is the type of AGM battery maintenance we are referring to. In this video, we will breakdown AGM battery maintenance.
Misusing the batteries will cause some issues that need to be maintained. One of these issues is battery sulfation, which occurs when the sulfuric acid inside the AGM battery reacts to form a lead sulfate on the battery’s negative plates and terminals.
This causes the surface area of the acid to be reduced, causing it difficult for the battery to hold a charge. In order to avoid battery sulfation, it is important to charge your AGM battery before storing away for later use. This is an important step towards smart AGM battery maintenance.
Charging your AGM battery correctly and using the proper AGM battery charger is a crucial step towards improving battery performance. Both overcharging your battery and undercharging it will cause harm to the battery. Overcharging an AGM battery will physically damage the internal structure of the battery, which usually causes it to inflate and release a lot of gas. Overcharging an AGM battery does not shorten its service life, but rather kill the battery altogether.
On the other hand, undercharging an AGM battery, especially on a regular basis, may cause the battery to never fully recharge again. With a 120Ah battery. If you constantly only charge it to 80%, the battery will lose its ability to fully recharge to 100%, even if you keep the charger plugged in. This means you’ll get a shorter service life out of your battery, which is 80% of the full capacity in this case.
Follow KickAss Products:
CZcams - / @kickassproducts
Facebook - / kickassproducts
Instagram - / kickassproducts
KickAss Products Website:
www.kickassproducts.com.au/
It's like Brad Pitt is schooling me on my battery
HAHA, Thanks.
With an Aussie accent 😆
Haha! Best comment!
😂
Thats Warrick Capper, not Brad
I'm just getting all my stuff together for my away trips .Your videos are so helpful I can't thank you enough I have an AGM and a heavy duty battery box my charger is a century 9 stage battery charger and maintainer. I will be buying my solar panel off you and one or two other things. Safe travels if you can't be good be careful. Regards Michael Murphy
That is awesome!
Outstandingly clear & good information .
Many thanks......All the way from London !
Thank you very much, this is one of your most important videos. Thanks again.
Glad it was helpful!
Just bought an AGM type battery and was unsure which charger to use for it, one is "Dad's old battery charger" lol, and one is a much newer "Smart" charger with setable voltage cutouts and adjustable charging amps etc...thanks to your excellent video, the Smart charger is certainly the best choice, cheers!
Thanks for sharing
Thank you guys for this. If only I'd known all this before I trashed my very first AGM battery. The old Arkpak battery pack is failing so I just bought the Kickass Powerstation which will mean I should have no more worries. Life's a learning curve I guess. Thanks again.
As long as you look after your battery you won't have any more troubles.
You are not the first to trash the first set of batteries! It took me over 8 months of traveling before I finally got the general gist of batteries - when I trashed both! Oh yes, a good learning curve, goes with the territory. lol
Good percentage of us do mate. I discharged my 115aH to the point of no return. Lucky it was $80 from marketplace 😂
Such an important point about the depth of discharge !
I am happy to purchase Kickass products for the fact of all the information they provide on 12V systems. Honest opinions, great advice while selling their products. Legends, much love Craig Pitt!
Our pleasure!
Awesome, been waiting on a video like this for ages. 👍
Hope you enjoyed it!
This is a super helpful video. Thank you Craig!
Very welcome!
Just got my Charger with ring terminals as an extra. Great service.
Thank Arthur. Great to hear it.
Great video and explanation. I am going to buy a AGM battery when my 2001 BMW 530i my current battery fails. I am using a PulseTech PowerPulse passive battery desulfator on it to keep it working longer, PulseTech states that there patented frequency used to desulfate a battery can extend battery life by up to three times.
Glad it was helpful!
cheers craig
G'day Mate! Gonna put some snags on the barbie. Reminds me of watching neighbours back in the 90's (Jason Donovan and Kylie) - thanks for the video love the accent from the UK
Love it
Great details. Thank you!
Thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Thanks mate for the great information,I needed it cheers from Wales U.K
No problem 👍
Thanks for watching & gllad to see it helped you out
Cheers
Craig
I like this.
Guy do I have any more videos on this guy
Hi Craig. I've been trying to get my head around this subject, for my Next Boat, so if I have to replace a battery (s) anywhere in the World, I'll be able to get something that works without too much problem. Something that does appear to cause a problem, is steadily reduced charge ceiling, due to wring voltages and I sufficient charge amps, with AGM batteries ? Such as only charging to 99%, then next charge goes to 99% of 99%, and so on, until a "100%" charge is actually under 25%, or much less, than the original Capacity. Apparently, a way to prevent this, and possibly blow through all the false ceilings, back to original Capacity, is to charge at an absolute minimum, 10% in amps of the original battery ah, so a 100 ah battery, equals at Least a 10 amp charge at the correct voltage, and your 20 amp level, if it is safe up to 27 amps, seems ideal. However, I have come across suggestions, that high quality Smart Chargers with the correct settings, can charge a bit higher given the condition of the Battery is measured, so they can boost accordingly ? it appears that as high an amperage that is safely able to charge, and blow away those False Ceilings? I've also spotted, that the difference in life if a battery can be dramatically altered by the level to which the AGM batterybis discharged. discharging to 50% level, 12.2 volts, can give about 1,000 cycles, but if you discharge to 85% level, or 12.5v with Carbon AGM, can give over 3,000 cycles (numbers may be a bit out either way, as from memory, but close to those). So to me, the answer for my boat looks to be, Two Battery Banks on the boat, and as soon as Bank 1 hits 12.5 or 12,6v, switch to Bank 2, and immediately put it onto optimised charging ? With Wind, Solar, plus two special engine alternators supplying through a Smart Charge Controller, should be able to get to nightfall with both banks fully charged, and keep 1+2 banks connected, so overnight draw from fridge and freezer, p,us charging phones, VHF Handhelds, and such, with both Banks still being above 12.5v in the morning. Seems like a plan to go on with, until it connects with the Real World anyway (plus just in case, it'll probably pay to have a diesel generator as backup, until all the rough edges get rounded off). Best Wishes, and if I arrive in Oz, I'll give a shout to see if you fancy a beer. Bob from Wales (not the New South One). 👍🏴
Great video, getting ready to sail to the Channel Islands and noticed my batteries are down to 11.8. Not sure how old they are, guessing I can’t just add water then attempt to charge them? AGM batteries are “sealed” so guess you don’t ever add water like with grandma’s batteries? Guess I’ll replace them and follow your great advice. Thanks Brad!
Thanks mate,give them a good charge as they may recover from 11.8v as it's not to low,our 22amp ac charger has a recondition feature that can help to revive old battery's & sometimes can bring them back to life
here is a link to the charger for you to take a peek at
kickassproducts.com.au/products/kickass-12v-22amp-9-stage-automatic-smart-battery-charger-for-lead-acid-agm-lithium-batteries?_pos=8&_psq=22&_ss=e&_v=1.0
thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Great video, very helpful man👍Thanks alot. Question, What would 50% voltage reading would I have for a 100 AH AGM?
Generally on a healthy battery it would be 11.8 to 12 Volts.
Great video! When batteries are not being used for several months, is it better to keep on trickle charge or occasionally put it on 240v charge?
EIther is generally fine. If you are going to leave them on trickle charge make sure you have a charger that supports that mode so that you do not over charger your batteries.
Hey, thanks for the video and info. I willonly be using my 120ah battery maybe 2-3 times a year. Should I keep it fully charged when in storage? Should I discharge it slightly and charge maybe every other month?
Try to keep it fully charged. The battery will slowly dis-charge over time so it's a good idea to check it now and then and give it a top up.
Great information thanks. Can I just clarify, if I want to use ‘shore power’ when camping at a powered site, I should run a smart charger through a DCDC charger if I’m running my fridge and other 12v appliances?
No, don't run an AC charger through a DC charger. Your charger needs to be able to read your batteries voltage so that it can input the right voltage and current.
You should have both chargers directly connected to the battery. But only use on or the other.
An adjustable setting for the LVD would not be that difficult to engineer and would be of tremendous value. What is the max amp rating the LVD can safely discounnect at without buring up the contacts? Does it have a rating for that? Thanks again for these short and to the point YTs as I always learn something of value.
Hi Ben, While an adjustable setting would be possible it would drive up the manufacturing price and make the unit more complex. We have designed this as an inexpensive last resort. The unit is rated at 50 amps.
great info thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Hey, Love the video.
I have a 120ah battery in a box with a projector dc charger sitting on top, can I plug the 240v charger straight into to it or do I have to disconnect the dc charge first
If your DC charger is not receiving any input from a solar panel or alternator then it is fine to plug in your AC charger to one of the standard input/output andersons as the DC charger has an isolator built in.
@@KickAssProducts Thanks for getting back to me.
Hi their! Interesting video and quite helpful. You said not to connect any other loads when using the 240v smart charger! Is it ok to still have a radio or CD player connected to maintain power to the memory or clock in standby mode?providing I don’t switch radio on by the radio on acc wire!
If the radio is switched off / standby mode then the current draw should be next to nothing so this should be fine.
The reason why we recommend that there is no load attached is because any current draw lowers the batteries voltage.
Therefore the smart charger will detect the the batteries voltage as lower then it actually is and over charge it.
@@KickAssProducts that’s perfectly understandable! I recently did a pet project, it’s a tool chest upper half boom box radio with a couple of power sockets it runs on x2 15 amp hour batteries. I’m using 240v smart charger to charge batteries, I was bit concerned about radio stuffing up or the battery over charging when radio on standby while on charger! So far I’ve had no dramas just as long as the accessories connected are switched off with the exception of the radio on standby! Thanks for your help!
So, the Low Voltage disconnect will "age" the battery, right? as the Cut-Out Voltage is 11.0 (which is below 10%) but as Craig said many times (as it is very important) that we should not discharge below 50% which is 12.05V
Is there an option to select the Cut-Out Voltage to be as recommended 50% (12.05), or at least not go below 20% (11.66V)?
Great vid too.
Hi Adrian, Check out our new Smart Battery Guard.
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/smart-battery-guard/KASMARTBG
It allows you to set your cut out voltage to what ever you like.
Excellent!!!
Many thanks!
Informative video
Thanks mate :),appreciate the kind feedback
cheers Craig
Hey Craig - Best video I have seen so far on battery maintenance explained in an easy to understand way. Can I ask a quick question? I am a newbie to this and recently bought a camper/motorhome with two solar panels which also came with two 80 Ah Gel Leisure Batteries already installed a few months ago by the previous owner. My understanding is that combined - these gel batteries should be capable of 160 Ah total (80 + 80 = 160). However - the camper's control panel reads as 100% capacity fully charged at 104 Ah, and not 160 Ah as I would have expected. Any idea what the reason for this apparent discrepancy might be?
Yes, they should be 160Ah.
1. The problem with buying 2nd hand batteries is that you do not know how many times they have been cycled. So they may have had more use than advertised. Same as when the used car salesman tells you a little old lady only drove it to church on Sundays.
2. Ensure that the charger is set to the correct settings. Different chemical makeups have different charging profiles. Make sure your charger has a Gel setting and is set to that.
3. Remove the batteries from the system and charge them separately on a suitable 240v AC charger (Again on the Gel Setting) This will ensure that the batteries get charged to the max. Some solar chargers especially PWM will not be able to provide a high enough voltage to fully charge the batteries.
4. The batteries may have been damaged at some point. If a battery is overly discharged it can do permanent damage. Even a brand new battery that is overly discharged will suffer a loss in capacity.
Hope this helps.
@@KickAssProducts Thanks for such a detailed and helpful answer. Subscribed. Regards.
Hi mate, just bought a caravan, first time user.
It has 2 x 225 amp AGM batteries hooked together, with solar charging.
What size 240 charger do I need to keep batteries charged at optimal level when not in use, and under a carport.
Great vid too.
I would go for a minimum of 22 amp. www.australiandirect.com.au/buy/kickass-12v-22-amp-9-stage-battery-charger/KACHG1222
Thank you for taking the time to reply mate. I must add they are two 6 volt Power AGM's hooked to make twelve volts, I also want to keep the charger in the van permanently connected and with the 240 volt plugged in and on, and it will only start when I plug into 240 power, because the batteries are under one of the beds.
I suppose what I'm trying to say, in Maintenance mode?
Pretty much all 240v chargers in caravans are connected to charge whilst load is coming off them. What is the disadvantages to this? Just time to reach full charge?
Excellent video. Thanks. Can i use an AGM battery during the night and charge it the next day? Does it affect its performance? or do I have to charge it right after using the load?
G'day mate,you defiantly can use during the night,the whole idea is to get as much charge into your battery during the day via solar panel or while your driving & have the battery fully charged up & rinse & repeat every day,as long as you make sure you don't take battery down to 12 v - if you do you defiantly need to get more charge in the battery during the day
Thanks for watching
Cheers
Craig
Alright. Thanks for the information. I have another question: a battery cycle is when you use the charge down to 30%; If I keep the charge at 60% or more, that's not even a cycle, am i right? I just got a solar kit because I want to pay less and contribute to take care of the environment, and I'm learnig how to use these technologies. @@KickAssProducts
The battery chart you showed at 1:49. Was that under load (during discharge) or Open circuit voltage of the battery?
G'day there,it'a state of charge/voltage graph no loads mate
Cheers
Thanks for watching
Hello, great video.
Just a question, I have gel batteries 48v system connected to a solar inverter.
As per datasheet, cycle use 14.4v, standby use 13.6V.
I have daily DOD arround 45%
Please advise me what to put charging parameters regarding float and bulk voltage. Thank you
Hi,
To be safe it is best to use the exact specs for your system. It is best practice to contact your battery manufacturer to get the correct charging specifications for you system.
Cool Info, what's easiest / cheapest way to charge a bank of 40 AH AGM batteries. say 3 - 5 at a time via deep cell charger @ 12 amps?
I have 120 watt solar panel with a small controller, what is the most I should charge at once? Tks Man you Rock. 👌
Check out our new 22amp charger.
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-12v-22-amp-9-stage-battery-charger/KACHG1222
It also has a slow mode (8 Amps) for smaller batteries.
Question: typically, an old skool lead-acid battery (aka "slosh" battery) should be charged at 13.6VDC (13.6 limits/avoids "cooking"); With AGM, the preferred charging voltage should be around 14.4VDC.... this may explain why, with original 13.6VDC voltage regulator (for the aforementioned "slosh" battery), replacing the original "slosh" battery with an AGM battery - with the original voltage regulator - may not effectively charge an AGM(??)
Correct, AGM batteries require the higher bulk charge rate. A new AGM battery will have a fully charged voltage of around 13.6 volts therefore requires the higher charge voltage of 14.4 volts to in essence "Push" the power in.
This is why a DC/DC charger is recommended to ensure you get the correct amount of power into the battery. It is possible to use an older voltage regulator but it will never get the AGM battery up to maximum state of charge there for can shorten the life of the battery. Hope this helps.
Hey Craig, you said in the video not to have a load running (eg 80ltr fridge) while charging the battery with a 240v charger, but then you mentioned the dcdc charger connected to my alternator. Can the dcdc charge while my 80 ltr fridge is running?
G'day Mike,Thanks for the comment,when charging via AC 240v it really is better not to have any loads on the battery when charging as the charger may increase amperage to compensate when the fridge draws current & other loads etc
it is not always the easiest thing to do as some people do still have a ac charger in there set up permanently & when camping with mains power the charger is sometimes always on pending individual set up but as a maintenance guide it is really best for the battery not to have a load
When charging on dcdc it is only going to charge when on car alternator or solar & is not a problem to have things connected
hope this helps
Cheers Craig
What's the best charger for the Odyssey Extreme AGM 34 78 PC1500 ? It's a combination battery made for both automotive and deep cycle use.
You need to check your batteries specs. A good stage charger that puts in about 20% of your batteries total capacity is ideal. www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-12v-22-amp-9-stage-battery-charger/KACHG1222
Hi, I want to use an AGM as an uninterrupted power supply for a 240v 50w fish tank filter using an inverter. The battery will need to be under constant charge through a 240v charger. Even if I disconnect the charger once a week to allow the battery to cycle, will it destroy the battery or just shorten its life? A new battery every couple of years is cheaper than losing a tank full of fish during a blackout. Thanks.
Hi, Our systems are not really designed for this kind of application. The problem is that if an AGM battery does fail at some point you won't know about until the blackout as the charger will continue to keep the voltage up. I would highly recommend buy a small UPS (uninterruptible power supply) They are designed to keep computer systems running during a blackout.
Other wise Option 2 of disconnecting the battery periodically and allowing it to cycle is more preferable.
Do u guys make a lithium battery bc I’m hearing a lot on the web how you can use a lot more amp and does better with temperature also Weighs less charges quicker as well
Hi Doug, we are working towards a lithium battery, hopefully we will will have them available early next year.
Yeah, Craig is right on the money on. this one.
Thanks for the comment appreciate it
Cheers Craig
If I leave my boat on the hard for the winter and need to maintain the bank. ( 375 ah / 12v dc). Would a solar panel with a month controller be sufficient to keep the batteries good or should I just pull them and bring them home and keep them on a maintainer?
Yes, absolutely. If there is no load on the batteries a small solar panel will be enough to keep a trickle charge on your battery bank to avoid any voltage drop.
I am considering 2 of your 120ah slim batteries for my car stereo. As of right now I only have a 90 amp alternator, but I do plan on getting a 370 amp alt, but my question is if I got two of those would I be ok with my current alt as long as I fully charge them before I install, and just keep a good eye on the voltage??? Also, are those even a good choice for car audio??? Thanks
EDIT: My cars alt stays right up to about 14.2v, is that ok for charging with my alt???
Absolutely bear you could use the battery's to power your stereo,i would suggest running a dcdc charger to look after the battery's is a link for you to look at
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/lithium-12120-slimline-battery/KA12120SLIM-LION
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-40a-dcdc-charger-8m-heavy-duty-dcdc-wiring/KADCDC40A-AND-WK65
I have a VW Passat with trunk agm battery that i guess is for the start/stop function. I think it gets recharged when using the car. I was thinking of using it for car camping, adding some kind of cables so we can power the fridge and so on... I was hoping that i could ad solar power to it as well. Any suggestions or is my idea not possible?
Hi Bob,
Does the vehicle have 2 batteries?
If so you would have to check with Volkswagon to find out what that AGM battery is used for a and if it is isolated from the starter battery when the vehicle is off.
There needs to be some sort of relay between the two batteries when the vehicle is not running. This is so any accessories running off the 2nd battery do not draw from and flatten the start battery.
Using a 12 volt solar panel to charge an AGM battery it is not a problem. Just ensure that the regulator with the solar panel has the correct charge profile. Most will have an AGM setting.
I this battery is your vehicles primary then you will need to ad an auxiliary battery with an isolator as stated above.
While it would be possible to run accessories off this it's not the best idea as you could over discharge it and you won't be able to start you car.
I hope this helps.
Can I please ask, why is it not ok to have loads on the battery when using a 240/12v to charge battery ? This is exactly what is happening when a battery is connected to an MPPT or DCDC charger. Perhaps it is optimal not to have a discharge at the same time but still acceptable. eg - camping and using a generator to power the 240/12v charger.
We recommend that you do not Discharge at the same time when charging from 240 as this should be the time that you are allowing your battery to recover and get a proper full charge. Generally charging from 12 volt sources is intermittent, your vehicle is not running constantly and the sun is not shining 24/7. So your battery is allowed to cycle. But providing a constant 240 volt source and running a load on your battery for long periods of time will eventually damage the battery.
2nd, If you have 240 volt available why would you run it through a battery to run appliances.
How high should I set the charge voltage from solar panels? 14.7? 14.4? I was hoping to hear that detail in this vid.
You need to check the recommended bulk charge from your batteries manufacturer. Different chemical types have different charge rates.
Most AGM batteries recommended charge is between 14.4 and 14.7 Volts so if you are in that range you should be safe.
So the battery meters won't drain the battery slowly if left on over time and are you saying just charging off the car alternator with a solenoid is possible to overcharge the battery, as crank batteries don't get overcharged off the alternator, or does it help only to charge the battery faster than just using alternator? Thanks
G'day there,a basic battery/volt meter will use bugger all - a flash battery management with lcd screen & bells & whistles will use more,but at least you can guage the battery voltage & connect to a charger when getting low
thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Would a battery tender plus 12v 1.25 amp be enough to charge and maintain an odyssey extreme battery with 950 cca? It says it’s rated for AGM batteries but I wonder if the amps are sufficient.
It should do the job. It will just take a long time to charge the batteries. We always just suggest to check your batteries charging profile against your battery charging specifications.
If I was using a 12v AGM battery to run a 12v camp fridge. Could I also charge the battery with a battery charger running off a generator at the same time? For times when I can’t use solar.
Hi Joel, absolutely you can. Just ensure that you have a good stageing AC charger to ensure your batteries get the correct voltage and are protected from any fluctuations in the supply.
I have 2 135Ah batteries and use the Kickass 20amp charger when they are not being used. Is this still ok to use? Or do I need a larger charger
You might find that you are running the charger very hard to charge such a large capacity and it will take a very long time to get a full charge. A larger charger would definitely be beneficial.
You may find you will get a better result charging each battery separately.
Do I need a dc to dc charger if I’m running an Engel smart battery box? Can I simply run an Anderson plug to the rear of the vehicle to plug into while driving?
G'day there,yes a dcdc would definably help with the charging for sure & also act as a battery isolator to disconnect from the start battery when engine not running
Thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
I just got a new 138ah battery to replace an aging 120ah, should i charge it right up before connecting loads?
I also have a dcdc charger and my aux battery is hard to get to so i was planning on having ring terminals from the battery to an Anderson and then just plug this charger into the Anderson from time to time. That means i cant disconnect the loads while it charges - is this a problem?
I dont plan on having anything turned on when charging from 240V, just when its parked and charging before heading camping
G'day there i always recommend charging a battery completely before putting into use & always better to disconnect any loads when charging
thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Can you give the specs for the chargers and DC toDC kit please or put links to the gear that you use
The DCDC charger specs shown are available here:
www.australiandirect.com.au/buy/kickass-25a-dc-charger-with-anderson/KADCDC25A-AND
The 20 amp 240 volt chargers are available here:
www.australiandirect.com.au/Battery-Systems/20Amp-Deep-Cycle-Battery-Charger/KACHG1220
Is the battery disconnect (the blue box, LVD) settable or is it at a fix number of volts?
Fixed
Hi Ben. The LVD has a fixed cut off at 11 volts.
Is there a LVD with a watt meter ?
you said 10% amps of the capacity. can I use a lower amp charger eg: 6A for 115ah battery? it just means it charges slower right?
Correct it will just charge slowly. We just don't recommend that you use a charger that is to large as it can cause the battery to overheat.
With Lockdown here in Melbourne continuing and I'm not going anywhere, could I purchase an AC charger and charge both my main starting battery and an AGM battery that is in the engine bay both at the same time by connecting to the main starting battery as there is a shut-off solenoid already connected and thus charge both batteries as it would normally do when the motor is running?
With our 240v battery chargers the settings are different for different battery types AGM, Wet, Gel etc. This is to ensure that the correct voltage is applied to the battery throughout the different cycles.
We recommend you charge the batteries separately for the best results.
Use the "Wet" setting for your starter battery.
And obviously the "AGM" setting for your auxiliary.
Different battery types have different charging voltages.
It is absolutely possible to charge the batteries at the same time. However using a VSR and simply charging the battery directly from the alternator at a constant voltage is not ideal.
To get the most life out of a battery from in Vehicle charging we recommend using a smart DC/DC charger. Again to ensure the correct voltage for the battery type is being supplied.
Depending on your vehicle's alternator you can possibly overcharge or undercharge your battery doing permanent damage. Modern vehicles with smart chargers do not supply enough voltage to ever fully charge your auxiliary battery.
Like I said we recommend charging your batteries separately.
I do apologize I accidently deleted your comment as I was replying.
Tim's question was along the lines of "why can a vehicle's alternator charge both batteries at the same time? and is there a product that can do this?"
Can I use a deep cycle battery as my car battery or only as the fridge or boat solar battery
G'day shazza,our battery's are for deep cycle use only & can't be used as a car start battery
Thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Can I charge my battery box direct from my Anderson plug at my tow ball, or do I need a dc charger?
G'day Mate,if you have a VSR/Battery isolator then it will be better than nothing but our DCDC charger boost's the lower amperage from cars charging system & boosts the amps so it charges quickly, completely & efficiently
cheers Craig
Thank you. So the wall charger needs to be connected directly to a battery, and the loads removed. How would i do that with a battery bank? So if i have 4 AGM (80ah) batteries connected together, do i have to remove the cables and charge each battery by itself? Do i just put the charger clamps on the posts of one battery, then move to then 2nd battery? Or do i put a clamp on the + of battery A and the - on battery D? I have a smart charger, older, 10amp, i used on my car. I never disconnected the alternator, and i just put it on the battery, and it can also be used to jump start. it has multi stage for tickle etc. I have used it on my one agm. I don't have the battery bank yet. I thought people were just attaching them to the bus bars that everything is attached to. If i have to charge the bank, then i expect i could use a + shutoff, then attach it to the +- of btty A and D, and then have a suit case powersupply i could plug into a auxilary socket on the bus bar (with a shut off and fuse) and run a fan and lights while the bank charges. This is of course in addition to my solar and dc to dc chargers - which will be attached to the buses. Thanks, i can't find this info anywhere. Few seem to show how their shore power chargers are connected to the system. Some just have a few devices and they are all connected to the btty posts with inline fuses, or they are connected to the bus - so they must be using some kind of different charger that perhaps supports lithium as well?
Correct, you can connect to the terminals to the positive terminal on battery A and then the Negative on battery D. If you want to do a full maintenance charge on your batteries say if you are putting them in storage it is a good Idea to disconnect each battery and charge them separately. This is great way to check that all of your batteries are charging and diagnosing each of your batteries.
It is not necessary to physically disconnect your loads. We just say this as a point of caution. If you are trying to do a full charge it is good to make sure there is no load draw from the battery bank and the charger will read the voltage - the load being drawn.
@@KickAssProducts excellent thank you. So removing the loads gets u a better charge ok. And the battery monitor and shunt will still somehow work with the the charger being connected right to the A and D btty posts.
I had the AGM battery in my Camper Trailer maintaining the charge off my KickAss Solar Panels for about 4 years now..... the other day I swapped the Solar Panels off my Camper Trailer so I could charge my Kickass Power Box for 3-4 days..... I came back to swap them back over again and find my Camper Trailer AGM battery at 10.5V 😪 without any items on to drain the battery, do you think the battery was on it's way out anyway or is 3-4 days (of no load) enough to take the charge on the battery from 13.1V to 10.5V?..... I have my KickAss Charger trying to "revive" my Camper Trailer AGM Battery now, hope it works!!! Cheers, Don, Perth WA 😀
Hi Don, That is very strange for the battery to drop voltage like that without load.
Are you trying to revive with an AC charger. If so, have you removed the battery from the system and tried to charge it with nothing else connected.
If you can get it to charge then run one appliance off the batter (ie a fridge) to see if it discharges correctly.
If the voltage drops again rapidly this is a good indication that your battery has expired. Sorry.
@@KickAssProducts No worries, I'll give it a go. Thank you very much for your advice :)
Hi there 'im guessing i could use the charge controller wat came with my 120 Wat solo panel sorry very new to this
You just need to ensure that the charge controller that came with your panel is compatible with your battery chemical type.
Question ❓ I am trying to charge an deep cycle battery and the indicator goes from high amperage draw to 0 and back and forth. It does the same on trickle charge or fast charge.
Any ideas?
Try using the charger on a battery that you know is good. Maybe your vehicle's starter battery. If the charger does the same thing this will give you an indication that the charger may be faulty. If it does not then the problem is most likely the battery.
I have got 115ah deep cycle AGM down to 12 volts. I realised the dual battery isolator was only charging around 13.2 volts.
Have I killed the battery or done any damage?
I have it in the garage on a 5 amp charger.
I been told let it full charge. Then check over night. Its at 14.6 volts now during the charging stage
Hi, If it is holding charge you should be OK. Down to 12 volts is low but as long as it did not remain at that state of charge for a long time it should not have sulfated. You just may find that the battery won't hold it full capacity as it used too.
Discharging the battery so far down now and again is not too bad but if done repeatedly you will lower the cycle life dramatically.
Any chance you can do this video for lithium batteries??
G'day mate,it's so much easier charging lithium with our 22 amp charger pretty much set & forget & also has a wake up feature
a good quality lithium battery's bms pretty much takes care of all the charging requirements, here's a couple of links for you to look at
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-12v-22-amp-9-stage-battery-charger/KACHG1222
here is the video for you
czcams.com/video/u16ScUUBVF0/video.html
Thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
I'm having some trouble understanding recharging my battery voltage for my car battery interstate mtx 49/h8 (AGM)
My Mercedes Benz 2003 W211 E320 states that the battery should be at 12.8v but when doing a trickle charge on the battery i reached 13.1v and it show 80% charged on the charging device.
However some people state the car battery should be at 14v when fully charged.
Unfortunately it doesn't state on the battery itself what voltage it should be at or charged to and i don't want to overcharge the battery just because it says it's only at 80% charge.
What's the proper fully charged voltage for this battery?
G'day mate you will need to find out that info from the battery or manufacturer,if it helps our kickass dcdc & ac chargers will let you know when the battery is completely charged so you don't have to worry about it yourself just select the agm battery profile & let the charger do the rest for you with no stress
here is a link to the battery chargers
kickassproducts.com.au/collections/12v-battery-chargers
tyhanks for watching
Cheers Craig
Can I charge my devices eg laptop using an inverter as it’ll need 240v whilst the battery is being charge via DC to DC whilst the vehicle is running?
G'day Mr Zodiac absolutely mate
Tyhanks for watching
Cheers Craig
My agm battery is hooked up to my kincrome 9 stage charger.
The AGM and the 12v is bothing flashing green at the same time.
Do you know what this means?
The battery has been dormant for too long and was completely flat.
G'day Neville,if chopper left you with some cash id suggest buying a new battery if it was dead flat for a long period of time,Your charger most likely is flashing due to the battery not showing any voltage for the charger to reconise,you could try connecting a good battery up to it kind of like jump starting & put charger on good battery & may bring it back to life but i would not trust a agm battery that has been completely discharged
Cheer Craig
You call that a battery? Now this is a battery!
haha.
When are you guys going to get into Lithium? It’s getting close to calling time on AGM. LiFePO4 is getting quite affordable and lots doing it themselves with cheap cells and BMS’s from China anyways. With your access into Chinese manufacturers and suppliers I’d expect to see that by now?
My research tells me AGM is still better, the only thing LifePo4 had going for it is weight. lack of weight. There are some good videos explaining the reason.
@@dennisbauer3315 I built an 80AH LiFePO4 battery with reputable quality cells and BMS in a case with USB, Anderson and 12V outlets and shunt battery monitor for $450. An equivalent agm would be a 160AH rating and doesn’t come with those accessories and would likely be more expensive. LiFePO4 is much smaller dimensionally and weight difference is huge. If you are slightly handy is a dead easy project to DIY a LiFePO4 battery. Can’t ‘DIY’ an AGM….nothing to DIY. Have to buy the battery and battery box put one in the other.
High Mike, We are currently developing a Lithium battery! We are taking our time to ensure that when we bring it to market that it is the highest quality we can produce.
@@KickAssProducts great to hear! Can’t wait to see it.
@@mikewasowski1411 I agree with the handyman aspect, but if the battery caught fire, I would be worried about insurance covering a fire started by a homemade battery?
hello i can"t understang inglish well can you tell me minimum discarge voltage for agm 12v ? Thank you!
You should only discharge an AGM to 50% of its rated capacity.
It is advised that you do not let voltage drop under 12V at rest.
Put 2 new 120agm batteries in caravan... Volt meter shows 13.2.have been on 240v since i bought them. But then it goes to 13.4 then to 14.0. And goes back to 13.2
The reading will change as the 240v charger runs through different cycles.
I'm hoping someone can explain something to me about testing an AGM with a modern style digital battery tester.
Many AGM batteries only come with an amp hour rating and no CCA or other standard rating. My Topdon branded battery tester seems to work fine but when I test some brand new AGM batteries (some, not all, Enersys Supersafe AGM batteries test fine) with it using the "GB" standard which allows me to input the Ah rating to test with I get results showing 50% health.
Is this a problem with the testing method, a problem with the battery rating or a problem with some brand new batteries actually being faulty?
This is not a problem I have seen with regular lead acid batteries or any AGM that has a CCA or similar rating I can test with.
G'day mate your topdon tester is only for cca testing & internal resistance unfortunately you would need to do a capacity test for deep cycle batteries as they don't & are not designed for cca testing - its a different testing device all together - if you google deep cycle battery tester there is a few out there
cheers Craig
6:45 I have a much smaller battery bank of 2 28Ah AGMs in parallel.(56Ah total) I assuming a 20A DCDC is too powerful for me?
Hi Jay, 20 amps is definitely too much current to put into batteries that small. You would risk over heating them and causing damage.
@@KickAssProducts yea that’s what I figured. Thanks for the input. Great video by the way.
My battery reads 12.2 volts when unloaded. With a slight load, 5 amps, it drops below 12... even lower I am sad to say. So, shouldn't the battery voltage be measured with a slight load?
G'day Mark if your battery is reading 12.2 volts after being charged you need a new battery mate,here is a link to our battery's if it helps you out
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-1200w-pure-sine-wave-digital-inverter/KAI1200WPD?query=battery&hierarchicalMenu%5Bcategories.lvl0%5D%5B0%5D=Batteries%20%26%20Systems
Cheers Craig
best part is, no fires. LG lithium battery storage systems have just had a national recall in Australia.....for catching on fire. Lithium batteries have a serious recycling problem and the national battery testing center found that some brands, including powerwall, lost 30% of their capacity in 4 years, of daily cycling.
There are different chemical make ups for lithium batteries. LiFePO 4 batteries are a lot more stable than the lithium nickel manganese oxide batteries that have been used in the LG batteries you are talking about.
Loosing 30% over 4 years of daily cycling is not only quite normal but very good performance. All batteries loose capacity over time and cycle count. Discharging an AGM to 50% of SOC over 1000 cycles (roughly 3 years) the battery will be at the end of its life.
All types of batteries have challenges when it comes to disposal / recycling.
@@KickAssProducts I would call that a refreshingly honest and realistic reply, thank you. Almost universally, the internet is swamped with lithium fanbois who think its "perfect" and has no issues or challenges. I would warn, that unless an answer is found, that lithium battery disposal will become the "asbestos" of the future...........a product nobody thought about its disposal while flooding the world with it, and burdening the end user with a crippling cost to get rid of. There are Telsa wrecks in the EU, that have lain in salvage yards for years because nobody will touch them, nobody has an answer for the toxic sludge they are at this point in time.
If using one for camper, that will charge when driving will that charge it too much and ruin it
O will have to watch again as it was pretty quick.
It is possible to overcharge a battery when using a simple system like a VSR. This is why we recommend using a DCDC charger.
So if my agm is sitting at 12.0 as my extra battery thats bad? And its at 50% and needs charged? Cause im having issues with it not giving enough juice to my amp in vehicle. Why doesnt the alternator charge it u??
G'day Mate,yes you don't really want to go below 12v in agm battery,i would suggest giving the battery a charge with a 240v ac charger & see how it goes,i also recomend our dcdc charger & a shunt that will accuratly measuer hom many amps going in & ouy of the battery,here is a couple of links for you to have a look at
Cheers Craig
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-25a-dc-charger-with-anderson/KADCDC25A-AND
www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-battery-monitoring-shunt/KABTRYSHUNT
While using the battery the watt meter says 11.5 but battery jumps back up when not in use? Is that normal?
G'day therw,yes that is normal for a battery to drop voltage while in use,a;though 11.5 is very low if not on the flat side i would give your battery a good maintenance charge with an ac charger & monotor the battery's performance
Thanks for watching
Cheers
Craig
hi craig , dont know if you can help mate , but ive got a solar set up off grid here , when i charge my battery bank ' 4 x 12v batteries hooked up for a 48v set up , the batteries are190 ah each but ran as only 190 ah together , which sux because i thought i'd get 700 odd a/h , but i cant do it , anyway my problem is , the batteries will charge upto the 56v i set them to , but then they start discharging , is that normal ? i need the 56v so i can run my set , and it runs down to 48.1 that i set as minimum then next day it recharge to 56v again , but , soon as it hits 56v , it starts coming down with no load on it , best way i can describe it is , it charges to full then discharges it , can you help me at all ? i'd very mjuch appreciate knowing how to keep my battery at 56 and it holds there until i use it .
Hi Dave, Unfortunately we do not advise on off grid solutions.
We specialise in small setups for caravans, campers, 4wd's etc. Best bet is to speak to someone who is an expert in off grid systems. Sorry.
@@KickAssProducts was worth a shot lol . thanks for replying
The MVD max load is 50AMP?
Yes. this LVD is rated at 50 amps.
4:03 , so true !
Ask me how I know
Can u do that to solar too
Yep sure, we are planning to do more educational videos.
I’ve never realized volts could
Be used for knowing capacity. Yet my AGM on my boat was over 13 v yet showed 50% on the charger 🤷🏼♂️
G'day there,thanks for watching mate,your battery should have all the info on it as well so that also comes in handy to check the specs
Thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
5:28 this is only relevant for low quality battery chargers. Any good quality one will not affect it and will help run the system
Thanks again for your input DIY
Cheers Craig
I was hoping you were going to tell me something I wanted to know not walk through a booth at a trade show.
G'day thom,im not to sure about your question mate,but thank you very much for watching the video & hope it helped you in some way
Cheers
Craig
Didn't realise Brad Pitt did videos for Kickass
LOL thanks.
You should advise people that, the figures are for "at rest" not under load...
Thanks. I have added that to the top of the description.
👍🏼💯
Thanks
I use a electric charging.Maintain your automatic battery charger which senses the battery and tells me what type of battery I have
Cool Thanks for watchin
Cheers Craig
Achilles??
haha
Brad pitt u are hillarious, $100 air
Haha Thanks.
Hi ya, I wanted to hit the like button but it's currently sitting at 666, that's pretty cool & I didn't want to mess with any bad JuJu, Lol.
HAHA! Thanks!
So now I know what Brad Pitt does in his spare time.
hahaha!
But is it posible to use a smart charger like 6ah for agm 80ah ?
Yes. As long as the chargers out put is no higher than 12 amps. Our 22 amp charger has a "slow" charge mode which is perfect for asmaller batteries. www.kickassproducts.com.au/buy/kickass-12v-22-amp-9-stage-battery-charger/KACHG1222
Did anyone else click because you thought you saw Brad Pitt in the thumbnail⁉️
Ha ha thank you appreciate the comment
thanks for watching
Cheers Craig
How many times did you so basically ffs.
G'day there pet detective.not sure about the ffs,although i do drop them all the time lol
thanks for the comment
cheers Craig
He never explained why he left Jen
i could never get a tan as i was always in Jen's shadow lol
Thanks for the funny comments
Cheers Craig
I didn't know Brad Pitt was into batteries
Thanks for watching & ill say hi to Angelina for you lol
cheers Craig
Oh crap, mines at 11.6v.
I would recommend getting that on an 240 volt AC charger ASAP and give it a good recovery charge. Leave it on float for around 24 hours.