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Old 02-22-2011, 12:54 PM   #1
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Tripplite Dip Switches

Possibly a heads up, and maybe it has been discussed before, but my 4 year old OEM starting batteries died and I'm in the process of replacing them with a pair of Odyssey 1750's and was looking into what my dip switch settings on my Inverter/Charger were set at.

On my build (RB50) it was such a pain gaining access that I ended up removing the bench seat and still had to use a little mirror to read the settings as they are incredibly hard to see. Most of the settings seemed to make sense (basically the mfd. default), but on Group A, switch A1 was "down", which is the setting for a "wet cell" battery ("up" = Gel Cell). I have the AGM Lifeline batteries that came with the van for my house batteries, and if my thinking is correct, that switch should be "up", so not sure if or to what extent my AGM batteries have been degraded as a result of this improper setting.

The Tripplite manual further states, "Caution: .....setting must match the type of batteries you connect, or your batteries may be degraded over an extended period of time...".

I also have the Surepower battery separator #1315 (SMB West install with van) which I understand will charge your starting batteries once it detects your house batteries are charged so this setting should work for my new AGM starting batteries as well.

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Old 02-22-2011, 01:39 PM   #2
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

I believe the settings for AGM and wet cell are the same. The Gel cell gets the slightly lower voltage charge.
Bill
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Old 02-22-2011, 02:18 PM   #3
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Nope, that is wrong at least as far as Tripplite is concerned. I called their tech. support to verify and they said any battery you have to add water to is defined as a wet cell and any sealed battery, that you never have to add water too is termed a gel cell and you would want Dip Switch A1 in the "up" position for a sealed type house battery (ie Lifeline AGM or such).
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Old 02-22-2011, 07:23 PM   #4
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Before you go pouring the coals to a Gel Cell battery, I 'd check a couple of other sources.....
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Old 02-22-2011, 07:26 PM   #5
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

By the by: An AGM is NOT a gel cell. An AGM is BASICALLY a wet cell battery. Just because one can't service a battery does NOT a gel cell make.
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Old 02-22-2011, 09:15 PM   #6
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Concorde Battery corporation makes Lifeline Batteries:

AGM Batteries Are Not Gelled Batteries
Concorde AGM batteries are NOT a gelled electrolyte. It is considered a "Recombinant Gas Absorbed Electrolyte" battery. This cuts water loss by up to 98%. Loss of charge due to self-discharge is 3 to 10 times better than with conventional gelled, and 5 to 50 times less than with flooded batteries. The gasses recombine almost 100% within the battery, reducing Hydrogen emissions to a level far below most battery types, and less than half the lower explosive limit for Hydrogen. In addition, they do not have the charge and discharge current limitations that most gelled batteries have.
In AGM sealed batteries, the acid is absorbed between the plates and immobilized by a very fine fiberglass mat. No silica gel, as is used in gelled, is necessary. This glass mat absorbs and immobilizes the acid while still keeping the acid available to the plates. This allows a fast reaction between acid and plate material. Even if the battery is broken, no electrolyte will be spilled.
The AGM battery has an extremely low internal electrical resistance. This, combined with faster acid migration, allows the Concorde AGM batteries to deliver and absorb higher rates of amperage than any other sealed batteries during discharging and charging. In addition, AGM technology batteries can be charged at normal flooded lead-acid regulated charging voltages, therefore, it is not necessary to recalibrate charging systems or purchase special chargers. Concorde AGM batteries can be bulk charged at high rates without damage - up to 10 times as fast as most gelled cells, and 4 times as fast as flooded batteries.


[edit]

Table III: Suggested charge times for ODYSSEY® batteries
Charge time for 100% discharged battery
Model
10A charger 20A charger
PC 545 1½ hr. 45 min.
PC 680 2 hr. 1 hr.
PC 925 2 ½ hr. 1¼ hr.
PC
1200 4 hr. 2 hr.
In general, do not use either the gel cell or maintenance free setting, if provided on your charger.
Choose the deep cycle option, should there be one on your charger. Table III below provides
suggestions on charge times based on charger currents.



It never hurts to call them to make sure this info is correct.
http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/
http://www.hrpworld.com/client_images/e ... /812_1.pdf
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Old 02-22-2011, 09:47 PM   #7
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Well to heck with the Triplite tech man, I think I will just set the dip switch back to where it was, for a wet cell battery, based on the above.
Thanks - Scotty
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Old 02-24-2011, 09:13 AM   #8
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Thanks for all the great info and links - found this quite interesting in the Lifeline PDF under charging:

"If the recharge does not return 102% to 110% of the discharged capacity, the battery’s state of charge will gradually “walk down” as it is cycled leading to premature failure. Therefore, it is important to verify that the battery is not being undercharged."

Edit: Called Lifeline and they said use setting for "Wet Cell"
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Old 04-22-2011, 01:02 PM   #9
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

Thanks for all the information about the battery switch settings.

Here is a little information I just learned today. I have been trouble shooting my battery/charger setup and noticed that with all loads disconnected, fuses pulled, and only the Tripplite connected with an amp meter in series, I was still pulling 0.215 amps. That doesn't sound like much, but if you take that times 24 hours per day, for 18 days, you come up with 93 Amp Hours. Since I have 2 Group 27 batteries with 92 Amp Hour ratings on each, that means that in 18 days, I am down to the 50% charge level that we don't want to go below. If you don't run the van or charge it pretty soon, you can be in the danger zone (which I have been several times). What to do? You could pull the leads from the battery if leaving it for an extended period of time, but that's a pain in my RB50 with the batteries enclosed in a cabinet that has to have 30 screws removed just to get to the batteries.

After much reading, I find that on the front of the Tripplite inverter, there is a small swith on the upper right of the front panel that has three positions. Auto = left, Middle = Off, and Charge Only = right. If you put that switch in the middle position, the Tripplite goes totally off and no power drain. It's a good idea if you are going to park it for a while. It' still a little hard to see on the RB50, but if you tip the couch up about 1/2 way, you can feel it. There is a vent on the panel in front of mine, and after removing it (4 screws), I could actually see the switch.


Edit: I thought my dip switches were wrong for the battery type, but after realizing that switch A is on the right and B is on the left, it looks like they were OK. Also remember, that the individual switches are also numbered right to left, 1 through 4.

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Old 07-12-2014, 05:36 PM   #10
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Re: Tripplite Dip Switches

I ran into this Wet (Vented) vs Gel (Sealed) battery type issue when servicing the AGM batteries connected to our Tripp Lite MRV2012 Charger/Inverter. Tripp Lite technical support still gives the same response - that AGM batteries are sealed and therefore should use the Gel(Sealed) charger setting.

Tech support did open a ticket for my question about DIP switch 1 charge settings, and emailed the following response:

Thank you for your recent inquiry.
Our inverter chargers use a 3 stage charger. The dip switch for GEL and WET sets the float and absorption voltage as follows.

*Absorption/Acceptance
*14.4 VDC WET
*14.1 VDC GEL
*
*Float
*13.5 VDC WET
*13.6 VDC GEL

Comparing these voltages to published AGM charge recommendations I found online appears to support comments earlier in this thread that AGM batteries be charged on the WET (Vented) setting, the opposite of Tripp Lite's recommended setting:

(Specifications at 77 deg F / 25 deg C temperature):

Trojan AGM
*14.4 volt absorption (14.1 - 14.7 allowable range)
*13.5 volt float

Rolls Surrette AGM
*14.7 volt absorption
*13.65 volt float

Optima Spiracell AGM
*14.7 volt absorption
*13.6 volt float* (13.2 - 13.8 range)

So unless someone else has heard otherwise it looks like I need to set my TrippLite switch A1 back to the WET (vented) setting for AGM batteries. Ignore the Tripplite written instructions and match the voltage settings to the battery specs seems to be the rule. This could be a useful addition to the Battery FAQ sticky post.

Time to grab the extension mirror and bent paperclip again to get at those DIP switches...
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