I think that a liquid lead-acid battery plus hydrocaps may be
about the same cost as a gel or AGM.

Doug
s/v CAllista

Len wrote in message ...
Op Thu, 6 May 2004 07:19:34 -0300, schreef "Ken Heaton"
:


Anyone familiar with such problems that (maybe) arise from using the
charger as a power supply during float-charging?


I suspect that your charger sees a lower battery voltage when you are
using
it as a power supply. As a result it comes out of float and goes back to
either bulk or absorption voltage levels, boiling the electrolyte out of
your "maintenance free" batteries. Many maintenance free batteries
actually
have caps that can be removed by careful prying, they come off in groups
of
three. Check yours and see if your electrolyte level is way low. Adding
some distilled water to refill and then charging will get some capacity
back. Next time buy flooded batteries and "Hydrocaps" for them.
http://www.solar-electric.com/hydrocaps.html

Everyone , thanks for your replies.
Ken, I think you hit it spot on.
Do you use the hydrocaps yourself ? Seems like the ultimate solution.

Thanks again, Len.