Interesting. George Peroni at Hydrocap says to remove them before
equalizing. If they get to hot to touch either a cell is bad or you are
charging to hard. Peroni is an odd bird. If you both have the time he
will talk your ears off. Reminds me a lot of Mr. Surrette. I have had
the privilege of receiving sermons from both. :-)

Peroni takes a different position about equalizing. He claims that it
is not needed with modern 3 stage chargers and actually reduce service
life.

Jim Woodward wrote:

Surrette, says that they work fine and solve all problems, even during
equalization. Certainly if they don't work during equalization, they're
worth less (not "worthless", just "worth less").

I guess I trust Surrette -- the family has been making boat batteries for a
long time -- but I'll still have a vent above the battery box. I saw a
Hinckley 70 in Bermuda in 1996 that was going back to Maine to be repaired
after a battery explosion. They were gel cells, mounted under a bunk, with
no vent. Wasn't a pretty sight. Lucky there was no one in the stateroom at
the time. Even gel cells need venting.



--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com