WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

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mf70
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Joined: Friday, December 1, 2006 - 09:01
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WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

I ran across a label shot of the Xantrex "Trucharge 40" smart charger that indicated that its voltage cutoffs varied considerably depending on temperature. At the Xantrex site at:

http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/69/p/docs/pt/7/product.asp

I found that the setting for AGM batteries were:

Cold Warm Hot (Below 50F) (50F - 80F) (Above 80F) (Below 10C) (10C - 27C) (Above 27C) Voltages: <Max charge voltage>/<Float Voltage> 14.6/13.7 14.3/13.4 14.0/13.1

The manual points out:

"*Temperature switch:
Selecting the correct temperature setting selects the appropriate charging voltage to compensate for battery temperature.

*Effect of temperature

*Cold battery temperature* If you choose the Cold setting,
Truecharge + delivers, for example, 14.8 volts in absorption mode and 13.9 volts in float for a Flooded battery.

*Hot battery temperature* If you choose the Hot setting for the same battery, the charger delivers 14.0 volts in absorption mode and 13.1 volts in float, nearly one volt of difference from the cold battery charge.

*Consequence of wrong selection* If you choose a cold temperature
setting for a hot battery, you risk overcharging your battery. If you are in doubt about which to choose, or if you are leaving the charger connected for an extended time, select Hot to reduce the risk of overcharging. The same is true for Gel and AGM type batteries."

Since the Soneil bricks have a charge cutoff of 14.6 and a float voltage of 1307, they conform to Xantrex's "Cold" settings. (Perhaps this is because Soneils are designed for Canada?) My use of these bricks through a Maryland summer would have done exactly what Xantrex predicted. The more so because 18AH AGM batteries have a limited overcharge tolerance.

With temperatures around 18F, I guess it would again be safe to use the Soneil's.

Too bad they no longer answer their e-mail.

Mark

NickF23
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Last seen: 14 years 11 months ago
Joined: Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 10:25
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Re: WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

I bought 2 soneils after many people sang their praises on the old forum. Both died simultaneoulsy after about 10 cycles. It really puzzled me and because I got them from the US (i'm in the uk) it wasn't possible to return them.

PJD
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Last seen: 1 week 4 days ago
Joined: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 05:44
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Re: WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

"It really puzzled me and because I got them from the US (i'm in the uk)..."

They WERE a version for 240 volts, weren't they? Or perhaps someone at Soneil just put a UK-style plug on them...

NickF23
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Last seen: 14 years 11 months ago
Joined: Saturday, November 18, 2006 - 10:25
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Re: WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

yeah, they had a switch :)

brasov
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Last seen: 13 years 9 months ago
Joined: Sunday, April 4, 2010 - 13:32
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Re: WHY Soneil's cooked my batteries

They are being sold now as ACI

This is the link to the BBB rating of ACI. ACI is rated F (the lowest possible)

http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/battery-charging-equipment/aci-advanced-charges-in-mississauga-on-1138114#ratingde...

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