Deep Cycle Battery Owners: Tips For First-Time Buyers

If you are investing in a new deep cycle battery, whether for a boat or any other application, you need to understand how to take care of it. Deep cycle batteries are complex units, and they require specific care to ensure that they stay functional for as long as possible. To make sure that your new deep cycle battery is always there when you need it, here are some basic care tips that will help.

Break It In Carefully

When you first get a deep-cycle battery, you need to break it in through some mild cycling. By mild, it means cycling the battery no more than 20 percent. That means that you shouldn't allow the battery to discharge more than 20 percent the first few times you use it. Make sure that you charge it completely again after each use. This break-in process is important because it helps ensure that the plates inside the battery are fully formed before you start using it in normal operation.

Handle Charging Properly

After you break in the battery, you should avoid frequent charging. That means that you shouldn't charge it after every single use. These short charging cycles can be damaging to the battery over time. Because the discharge process generates heat just like the charging process, short charging and rapid use of the battery can cause heat to build up in the battery. That heat accumulation will result in corrosion in the grid. This will ultimately kill the battery.

You can avoid this problem by handling your charging processes correctly. First, only charge the battery once a day. Further, when you do charge the battery, you need to allow it plenty of time to cool off after charging before you connect it and use it again.

Use The Right Charger

If you have a wet battery, you should never charge it with a sealed charger. The gel chargers don't produce the sufficient voltage required to fully charge the battery, so the unit will not reach a full charge. This short charge can cause sulfation in the battery.

Similarly, if you have a sealed battery, you should never charge it with a wet charger. The wet charger puts out more voltage, and that can cause the battery to build up gas faster than it can process it, which causes the battery to dry out and fail.

These are a few of the basics that you need to keep in mind when you buy a new deep cycle battery. Talk with a local Trojan batteries supplier for more tips and information. 

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