Battery Pulser

[multihullsailor6]

I am thinking of installing a MEGAPULSE battery pulser to take care of my 4 x 110Ah house battery bank:

http://www.svb24.com/index.php?sid=7...isttype=search

The question I have is do I need one, two or four units of this battery pulser? I have been receiving conflicting answers from two different suppliers.

Has anyone personal experience with such a battery pulser?

[halcyon]

I am thinking of installing a MEGAPULSE battery pulser to take care of my 4 x 110Ah house battery bank:

http://www.svb24.com/index.php?sid=7...isttype=search

The question I have is do I need one, two or four units of this battery pulser? I have been receiving conflicting answers from two different suppliers.

Has anyone personal experience with such a battery pulser?

The first question is what do you hope to achieve.

Second question do you have a problem with batteries now or their life span ?

I had a similar thing in the charge cycle of the mains battery chargers I was making in the mid 90's, it formed the maintainance phase when the boat was not in use. As such it kept the batteries in good condition, but then it cost nothing to include as it was part of the cycle.

If you do not look after your batteries, it will help.

If you charge the batteries correctly and get 5 /6 years battery life, you will not see a lot of difference.

Brian

[alan]

I bought one of these and tried to perform a test.
I took a couple of "old" house batteries and did a discharge test; then I attached the pulser for a considerable amount of time (I don't remember how long, but maybe a month?). Then I did another discharge test; the results were more or less the same ... at least within the bounds of test accuracy. If anybody is really interested I will try and see if I can recover the results.

I now have a pulser sitting in the garage (along with lots of other bits and pieces) gathering dust!!

Alan.

[stevensuf]

high voltage pulses are iffy when the battery is connected to other electronics, the idea is that large high voltage pulses loosens sulfation off the plates, it will not make any difference to a good healthy looked after battery , but they can help revive abused batteries.

[nigelmercier]

... do I need one, two or four units of this battery pulser?...

You only "need" one. I've seen an article somewhere on building your own, I could dig it out if interested.

[LATER] Found it http://www.elektor.com/magazines/200...s.986156.lynkx, I've got the article in PDF format.

[Trundlebug]

I am thinking of installing a MEGAPULSE battery pulser to take care of my 4 x 110Ah house battery bank:

http://www.svb24.com/index.php?sid=7...isttype=search

The question I have is do I need one, two or four units of this battery pulser? I have been receiving conflicting answers from two different suppliers.

Has anyone personal experience with such a battery pulser?

One Megapulse unit will look after all 4 of your 110ah batteries.

I bought one of these units when my house bank of three 110ah batteries was 6 years old and showing it. It did improve their performance a bit, but as the manufacturers say it does take 6-8 weeks, a month is not long enough. As it happens I spotted a bargain in a local motor factors and took the opportunity to renew my house bank, as well as fitting a smart CTEK charger, so the Megapulse unit became surplus to requirements.

So I took it home and used it on a spare old suphated battery I'd had lying around, and it's restored it quite well.

When at work we purchased a second hand battery-powered cherry picker, we found it wouldn't move any further than 50 metres before the batteries went flat from fully charged. Rather than spend £5k on new batteries I suggested buying two Megapulse units, one for each bank.

Although it took a while, 6-8 weeks exactly as claimed, it has rejuvenated the batteries and the cherry picker is now transformed in its usability. Capable of driving the length of the site and doing a day's work before going flat.

So overall, if your batteries are sulphated, have reduced capacity from being stood for long periods without being used or charged, the Megapulse unit will work. One unit will work on a whole bank. Just don't expect instant results.

It won't work on old batteries that are simply worn out or have a shorted cell.