I know wet cell batts like to be ran off the top part and don't like to be ran down and just about the opposite is true for dry cells. My question is just like its harmful to drain down a wet cell batt too many times is it bad to keep a dry cell toped off all the time with an alt and not drain it down and charge it back up to keep the maximum life of the battery?
IIRC. Dry cell do not have a memory(if that makes sense and is what you are asking). Correct me if I'm wrong guys... But that is what I understand it to be.
Ok so if i have a 12V batt and a 12V alt at 220 amps would having a drycell not being drained down because the alt is constantly topping it off hurt the dry cell battery? All batteries wear out sooner or later i just do not want to speed the process up of ruining the battery if i don't have to
Hunter, let me give you a little info here. FYI, there are very few actual "dry" cell batteries out there cna chances are you are not using a dry cell but an AGM. Yellow tops, kinetics and such use some sort of AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) technology. There is liquid acid but it is absorbed and suspended by a thin fiberglass mat membrane to keep it from leaking out of the case vents. Because it is still a liquid it doesn't require special charging. Now my Batcap 8400 uses many many many c sized lead calcium cells (think it was) so it requires a special charging. It is 16V so it needs 19.2V charging, but the same goes for my 16V AGMs so I use the same charger for both and this allows me to mix types (similar characteristics). I wouldn't worry about the battery, worry more about if you will over use your alternator... Polo.
Thank you Polo for breaking it down! That made all the difference in the world and i completly understand now! Thank you very much!!
Oh i never thought about over using my alternator...would it be possible for me to over use it? I don't think i'm drawing that much power. and how would you know if you were going to over use the alternator and to prevent it?
Polo.