I use several pre-owned APC 1500VA True sine smart UPS. They were 960W but I fully populated them, and did some hardware battery float voltage calibration mods. Now they are 1500W continuous, 3200W surge. I phase lock them, and use them with a 1500KVA transformer that has three isolated windings. One winding has selectable taps to input increments from 100v to 480v. the other too windings are 120v and can be switched between parallel and series. But back to batteries... The thing to remember about float voltage is what chemistry are you using. True deep cycle will often use lead antimony and will offgas a lot. Most UPS and small sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries today are lead calcium, and actually valve regulated lead acid (VRLA.) Occasionally, or rather rarely you will find a pure lead battery, but where I get used cells for restoration, those are rare as a unicorn burger.
West Mountain Radio and others have a box that you can contact your power supply, battery and the radios and it controls everything. The one West Mountain has has a small bust to charge Lifepo4 batteries, there are jumpers to set the type of battery and the charger amps!
DAVID, You are 100 % correct in telling the charger what type of battery you are using. You forgot to mention an AGM type battery. I use a Noco 5 amp automatic for my classic car & other cars. It works great on radios too, 73's TMP from N.J.
I currently use an IC-705 as my primary HF rig because I want to get into POTA and QRP portable HF operations primarily (and I'm very limited in antenna options due to nearby power lines). I mostly run off either the built in HT battery which allows operation up to 5 W or I can add an additional external 4.5 AH LiFePO4 battery for up to a full 10W of power. When not mobile, I've been using a modified PC power supply that outputs a fairly clean 12 W of power which fits within the 13.8 V +- 15% rating for both charging the HT battery as well as operate up to a full 10 W.
My dad worked at the phone company in the "power room" after the war. They had bays of open cell (no tops) lead acid batteries and when they went into their periodic maintenance overcharge cycle they would produce a lot of gas and bubbles. This caused little splashes that often got on clothing. All growing up, every undershirt he had contained little round holes. This was long before the days of OSHA obviously.
My dad worked in the phone company as well. The battery room was interesting. Giant lead acid batteries in clear (glass?) containers. The office was a 4000 amp load so there were a lot of batteries. The bus bar was 6"x1" copper. Pretty cool to see. Once they moved from the old canister switches to the ESS the load dropped considerably. In this office there was quite an event that involved the batteries and the ESS on Christmas eve. Wasn't pretty.
Thanks for the detailed explanation! I use a small UPS, replacing the normal 7VA gel batt with a 75 VA car battery connected to it. The charging cycle is slow, but ends at 13.9 V and keeps the battery in good condition. When operating HF, I simply unplug the UPS "Charger". Regards!
I run off a Nortstar 180 Ah battery. I use a Victon charger that is programmable for different bulk charge, absorption, recondition, storage/float voltage and has temperature compensation. It can handle lithium chemistries as well with different settings. Some chargers have different settings for lead-acid vs LiFePO4 but you may or may not be able to adjust for the manufacturer's recommended charging settings. I have ferrites on both the AC and DC power lines and float at 13.2v which is the manufacturer recommendation for the battery. Weekly the charger ramps up to 14.4v.
Another good vid, thanks! Here, been using a 32 Ah AGM continuously connected to Guest 1.5 Amp charger for the last three years. Radio; Alinco DR 735. Seems to work a treat. Typical float Voltage ~12.9 V. The kit , no longer available, came from Powerwerx. They now apparently do only LiPoFe units. The battery is held in a plastic case sporting direct connected Anderson Power Pole and screw/banana terminals and an on/off switch for Voltmeter, USB connectors, automotive plug. The handle on the case is hefty. Powerwerx and other sources were specific about using an AGM compatible float charger. Advice indicated that for longevity, AGMs need a lesser float voltage than standard wet plate automotive units though they can be charged to capacity with a regular wet plate charger. Hoping useful, 73s KI7MBR
I actually use a charge controller between my supply and batteries, going solar with it soon. The controller keeps the charger from damaging the battery.
