Sunday, Jan 03, 2010 at 14:03
@ CJ,
to answer your original question:
yes, the ctek will charge your AGM, but not to its maximum available capacity at the shortest possible time.
Reason for this is (as pointed out by others) the lack of a 14.7V boost voltage, it only goes to 14.4V.
As you measured the output voltages when charging for flooded and AGM, I assume both time it only went to 14.4V.
As current asian made AGM batteries are designed for boost voltages of around 14.7V, the implications of the lower 14.4V boost are as follows:
At 14.7V boost, the battery is capable of restoring 108% of its rated capacity in 13.8 hours, if charged at the 0.1C rate (10% of rated Ah).
At 14.4V boost, the charger can only restore 95% after 15 hours, at the same current rate.
The above figures are for a totally discharged battery, and the times represent the end of the absorption stage.
These times will be shortened by higher charge currents, but there will always be a time advantage of the 14.7V charger versus the 14.4V unit @ equal max currents.
In other words, your 25A 14.4V charger is only capable of performing like a 20A 14.7V charger on these popular type of batteries.
Looking at this the other way around, for a 14.4V charger to restore 108% of capacity, it'll take around 24 hours, versus 13.8 hours, which is quite significant if you use a gennie to power your charger.
The gennie will have to be run 1.7 times longer with the ctek versus a 14.7V charger if you want to restore the maximum amount of charge.
@ Marty,
one product being sold and marketed in Australia with all the compulsory Australian approval markings, may look identical to the one you imported yourself.
Fact is, that for insurance purposes, this '
grey' import will NOT be classified as Australian approved, because it simply doesn't carry the approval numbers.
Reason for this can be a non approved power cord, or some missing electro magnetic filters, or the lack of power factor correction, or sub standard internal components like non fire rated, and so on.
Just relying on the 'big name' itself doesn't mean all products of the same model are of the same high standard and quality, as the manufacturer adjusts the amount of investment depending on the destination markets' quality requirements.
Every Australian importer has to have the models tested by an accredited lab, and only if it's found to be compliant in ALL aspects, then he'll be given the ok to use the appropriate approval signs/numbers. There are heavy penalties for non compliance to these regulations.
Best regards, batterymeister
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