Vector Battery Chargers?
Also, do you know if they properly charge AGM batteries in addition to
the more traditional wet cells?
there is a
setting for wet cell, AGM or gel cell.
Not all Vector chargers have the switch for battery type, but the box
art and the manual for those units makes the claim "safe for all
lead-acid batteries including flooded, AGM and gel."
This is false.
During the second stage of charging they ramp up to 14.8+ volts and
that greatly exceeds the max charge voltage for gels, and for some
AGMs. I learned this by cooking a Group 31 gel battery. When I noticed
the side of the battery had developed ripples (each cell bulging out) I
checked the voltage and saw the problem.
Vector tech support made the outrageous claim that they "could not be
held to know the proper voltage for 'all' gel batteries." I replied
that the 14.1 max volt for the SeaGel batteries was a norm, not an
anomaly. And that since Vector made chargers with a selector switch
they had to know that different types needed different voltage limts.
And finally, that their box text and their manual made exactly the
claim that it was "safe for _all_... flooded, gel and agm..."
"All means _all_" I told him.
Tech support said nothing in reply and after a half minute of silence
from him I hung up.
So be careful! If you have a gel or agm, be sure to buy the unit with
the selector switch. And check the voltage yourself! Don't believe the
box or the manual. (And save your receipt. I owned my VEC1092 charger
for 4 months before using them on the gels. Well beyond the return
window.)
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