New battery "break in" procedures

[Stevec3201]

As promised, here is the official answer from Trojan:

Trojan Battery Response

Dear Steven:

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Technical - Battery.

Based on your comments below:

Hello, I just purchased new T1275 (4) 12V Trojan batteries for my golf cart. I was told to "break the batts in" by running them down to about 50% and then charge them for the 1st 10-12 cycles. Is this correct? I cannot find any break in procedure on your website. Thanks, Steve

Below is Trojan Battery's response:

This is not necessary. The first step performed on newly purchased batteries is an equalize charge. This is called a refreshening charge. After that, use the batteries normally.

If you have additional comments or questions, please contact me at the information below.

Sincerely,

James M. Cobb
Technical Support Engineer
Trojan Battery Company
jcobb@trojanbattery.com
678-518-7319

Just like Scotty said: Trojan cares more about battery upkeep than a proper break-in period. I'll still follow the break-in schedule!

[Stevegrmich]

They could have explained what is meant by an "equalize charge" in their terms . . .

[SEHunter]

i have searched this also and with pretty much the same results as the op. I checked the trojan site as well as East Penn (Deka) because thats what i bought. I have found no instruction on the "discharge to XX% then recharge for the first XX cycles" but what i have read on all of the battery mfg. sites is that the shallower the discharge, the longer battery life, aka, plug up after each use, no matter how short.

It seems that the various cart mfg. sites claim the special "break in" procedure, not the actual battery manufacturers. If i had to pick, i would go with the man that made the battery, not the man that buys them. jmo. That said, im still doing the break in because the cart mfg recommends it and the battery mfg. does not oppose it.

[SEHunter]

Another observation is that being in the industrial battery business (forklift applications), i have seen the differences between the "recommendations". If a fork lift battery is limited to 50% discharge, the truck would not make a full shift of 6-8 hours. Rather it would be shortened to 3-4 hours which would halt production. They are built and designed to run 6-8 hours. Both industrial and commercial (golf cart) batteries are deep cycle batteries. They are designed to be "deep cycled" or extended service. The only warnings i have seen from Trojan and other commercial battery manufacturers is it is not advisable to bring a battery below 80% discharge, or 20% charged. That is also applied to industrial batteries so that is a common recommendation. Trojan does go on to say that 50% is potentially safer but 80% is the "safe maximum limit" state of discharge.

Another fact is that heat is the #1 killer of a battery. Examples would be overchargeing or just running the piss out of it such as charge, immediately discharge, and repeat the process with no cool down time. The lower the state of charge, the higher the temp of the battery in operateing conditions. We use various battery monitoring devices and we can log the usage of the battery as well as recorded temps and states of charge. A battery that is operated around 40 to 60 percent charged has a significantly higher tempreture than a battery that is operated between 70 to 100 percent charged. So, that does go along with the recommendation we see often that tells us to keep our carts plugged in after each use. This will keep the state of charge up each time we use it and at the same time, the temps will be better controlled. 77 degrees is the ideal temp for a battery and 115 degrees and higher will lead to premature failure. Alot of these facts are from service bulletins of industrial batteries but also have many similar characteristics to commercial batteries.

[sonicj]

Originally Posted by Stevec3201

Also: I'll be calling you for wires (after my wallet heals from the batteries), can you make 2 gage wires in neon green, blue or orange?

(I build computers, and neon wires are the rage. I think the cart would look neat with some bright cables )

Steve

i think i have some 2awg in green... i know i have some 4/0 in green
-sj

[Stevec3201]

Originally Posted by sonicj

i think i have some 2awg in green... i know i have some 4/0 in green
-sj

I appreciate it, but I'll be getting scotty's "normal" cables.

[Coltf1991]

Originally Posted by Stevec3201

I appreciate it, but I'll be getting scotty's "normal" cables.

Good Choice!

[KenTechno]

Hi Steve3201,

Recently joined the group, hence the late chime in here, thought it may be useful for others in the near future tho ), I'd second ScottyB's post that you really want to gradually cycle battery/batteries in the 10-20% range, at least the initial 10-20 cycles. Each time you go to a lower DOD, you initiate irreversible deteriorating changes to battery plates (worst effects in the CCA types). As you start breaking past the 30-50% levels, the effects appear to be cumulative and permanent - both in theory and practice (the effects are magnified in weather extremes (approaching 30F (low temps) or towards 90s (hi temps)). I've always would up with cracked Car Battery cells right after a winter freeze, and the Battery installers can confirm that sales jump after the first winter freeze). Feedback is based on a couple dozen hours of web-surfing and reviewing mind-numbing technical data by battery design engineers across the Lead Acid variety as well as Lithium types.

To make an analogy, think of the Break-in period as stretching (vs not stretching) your muscles, before a moderate (Battery undergoing a low DOD) to intense workout (Battery undergoing a high DOD), now add in the element of working out (ie chopping wood, shoveling) going out in freezing temp, for the first time in a long while. You're most likely to injure yourself without the pre-stretch (aka gently initial battery cycling) and multiplied by the Cold weather, your muscles are tight so bigger chance of pulling a muscle (aka crystalizing, warping/shorting an uncycled battery). By the way, crystal formation occurs faster at lower temperatures and more frequently with new batteries.

Hopefully this helps people get more Hi-powered battery life