I have a Vector 12V 2A/10A/15A charger that also has a Desulfate mode. Very little info in the manual!
Here's what I know by using it:
Once connected and you press the button, it will continue to send a pulse to the battery for 24 hours.
At the end of the 24 hours, it will check the voltage and go into a normal charge cycle if needed.
Here's what I don't know, but would like to learn:
Does it affect the efficiency of the desulfation, if the battery was in a partial state of discharge, or if it was fresh off the charger? Are those little wannbe crystals more or less likely to swim away if the battery voltage is high? or low? Or will it make no difference?
Anyone else using desulf as part of routine maintenance?
How often should I run this for a SLA pack that gets cycled almost daily, but only down to about 12.5V per battery?
Your thoughts, opinions, or suggestions are appreciated.
I'm interested in this too. I had always assumed that desulfaters don't work on gel and AGM SLAs. Don't the operate on the principle of 'shocking loose' lead sulfate crystals from the lead plates so they can settle harmlessly to the bottom of the cell? I could never see how this would work with a typical SLA. Would love to be proven wrong though.
After plugging-in my Vector charger, it makes me select one of three types: "wet" "gel" "agm" Then I need to select the charging rate and it does the rest. That's for charging.
To "dES", it has to be the first and only button you press, so it does not matter what type of battery. I have checked the voltage during the desulf cycle and have found that it is "battery voltage" and remains nearly constant during the entire 24 hour cycle. So I'm not afraid of "gassing" since the voltage usually stays around 13.2 or whatever the battery voltage was when the desulf cycle began.
I've read several threads on different battery forums that discussed desulfing VRLA's. Some say it does not work with gel's, others say they have had success with AGM's. I have revived some 10Ah SLA's that were below 9V. I can't say for sure if it was just the desulfate cycles I ran (3), or the deep discharge and slow recharge.
What experience (success/failure) have any of you had with resurrecting the lead?