Which shore charger for one Lifeline GPL-31XT 12v battery

[RandyP]

I have a 125 AH Lifeline GPL-31XL battery in the 4WD camper, 80 W solar cell, Redarc BCDC 1225 25A in vehicle 3-stage 12v charger. The Redarc includes a MPPT solar controler. There is a relay to select solar cell or vehicle battery as the Redarc power supply. I am satisfied with the off-shore power battery charging scheme (except that I may need to upgrade the solar panel to 100+ watts and get a higher ampacity alternator in the truck).

I would like to have an onshore power battery charger to maintain the lifeline in full charged condition when the camper/truck and lifeline battery sit in the driveway between adventures. I could rely on the solar cell but have only seen it charge the battery at about 5 amps max (that's about 60 watts) when the sun is in just the right position. Charging current is usually just a few amps. No sun, no solar charge. I have an IOTA 12v power converter 3 stage charger that can bulk charge the Lifeline battery if it is not fully recharged on the trip home with the vehicle battery/alternator thru the Redarc.

I would like to have a battery maintainer to keep the battery at full charge between trips and do some desulphation as needed.

The lifeline battery website points at the CTEK multi us 7000 battery charger. Looked for the CTEK 7000 and only found a multi us 7002 currently available to buy. The 7000 user manual has a charge cycle graph that is quite different than the 7002 charging phases graph. Looks like the 7002 charging phase graph might be screwed up because it doesn't match the English description below the graph.....current and voltage graph designators and terminology in description of phases.

So should I get the CTEK multi us 7002 charger to maintain the lifeline battery ? I want the battery to have a long life. Any other charger/maintainer suggestions for one lifeline battery ?

 

[RandyP]

The CTEK multi us 7000 manual is at
http://smartercharger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Multi-US-7000_us.pdf
And includes the info below:
7000


The CTEK multi 7002 manual Is at
http://smartercharger.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Multi-US-7002_us.pdf
And includes the info below:
7002


The 7002 charging phases includes maintenance float charge at 13.5 volts for the first 10 days of maintenance. Then it goes into pulse maintenance.

The 7000 appears to only perform the pulse maintenance.

The Lifeline battery owners manual specifies a float of 13.2-13.4 volts. 10 days at 13.5 v float with the 7002 would exceed the battery spec for float. Could this shorten the life of the battery?

 

[RandyP]

Called Lifeline battery tech support and talked with Jim. He did not seem to be aware of the very minor differences between the Ctek multi us 7000 and the 7002 model. He indicated that an optimum float voltage should be 13.2 volts. Jim ask what the battery open circuit voltage is after sitting for a day with not charge/load. I used a digital volt meter and found it to be 13.06v . The battery is only one year 8 months old. It is fully charged and in good condition. An OC voltage at or greater then 12.8 v indicates a 0% depth of discharge. Jim indicated that getting the battery to full charge and disconnecting all loads from it (including chargers) would be the best way to treat it for up to 6 months out of service. No need to leave it on a battery maintainer. I usually use the camper at least once a month, so I guess I'll leave it with all the main fuses pulled and see what the OC voltage is just before I use the camper again and put the main battery fuses back in.
I still might get the CTEK7002 just to play with the other batteries I use in the Ford truck and Jeep.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I think Lifeline is local. Call them and then call Ctek, but don't be surprised if the battery manufacturer gives you different advice than the charger manufacturer. Based on the relatively light weight of the Lifeline 31, I think their specs may be a little optimistic. Optima also has a new line of chargers that you may want to look at.

Your post came in while I was typing mine. If you have 13.06 OCV, I'd say you are in pretty good shape with whatever you are doing now, so don't change it.

 

[RandyP]

Thank you for the reply.

Lifeline 31 weight is 74#, heaviest battery that I have lifted into a vehicle.
I see that the 2150 Odyssey battery weighs in at 78#.

I have an Odyssey Ultimizer 40 three battery charger to bring the Sears Platinum P1 34150034 and P2 65-50065 batteries back to full charge that I bought for use in the Ford diesel truck and jeep. Reading your posts about the need to bulk/absorb charge the Platinum (odyssey) battery's at 14.7 volts set me back on course to revive the Platinums. Also just got an Optima 1200 charger for the yellow tops in the Jeep at this time. Will use it to keep those yellow tops at full charge and feed the jeep parasitic loads when it sits in the driveway.
I have not been able to find the new line of Odyssey chargers in the Internet yet. Do you have a link ?

Yes 13.05 volts OC on the Lifeline battery is great. Between adventures, I have been letting it sit on a solar panel charge thru a MPPT controller in a Redarc 3 stage charger for just over a year. But I'm going to try just disconnecting it from charger & load now between adventures. I'll let if sit for about a month and see what the OC voltage is.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

I have not been able to find the new line of Odyssey chargers in the Internet yet. Do you have a link ?

I spoke with Odyssey a few weeks ago about chargers (again). Their new line was supposed to be out in October, but they are behind schedule. The first batch of the new chargers will be for their smaller batteries, and the charger for the 2150 won't be out until sometime in the spring. The big charger will be only for a single battery (no more 40 or 50 amp 3-banks), and it will probably be produced by a different manufacturer than the one building the smaller chargers. No idea who is building the new chargers.