"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 1 Mar 2018 13:43:49 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

...SLI31s are the largest batteries I can
carry up and down stairs with one hand, the other free for the
handrail or doorknob.

Could weight be considered a negative in the LA chart of features?

Only if I can't carry it upstairs. They rarely move.

I turn up my LM350 charger until the current reads 0.5 - 1 Amp,
being
careful not to go too high and damage any electronics. Usually 15V
is
enough for a road vehicle battery that still has enough capacity
to
start, the U1R in my garden tractor which gets less use sometimes
needs 17V.

Low and slow amperage. No reason to upgrade to an LM338?
I think the order of LM338s I received was counterfeit.
So the cheap Chinese semiconductors are no good, or what? Why did
you
think they were counterfit? Low output?

The printing matched Internet warnings, and one burned out too easily.
The vendor refunded my money without any argument.

The limiting item is the 30V/3A current meter, which has much better
voltage and current resolution than the 30V/10A model. I also use an
LM317 that limits at 1.5A, and that is enough for the 105A-h SLI31s
and everything smaller.

When you say "slow charge", you mean it, don't you?

Replacing a month's self discharge doesn't take long. I can charge at
25A if necessary, or borrow a neighbor's 50A wheeled charger.

A battery could be left on that topping-off setting for days because
the current is low.

"float"?

A somwhat higher voltage. Most charger setting recommendations only
specify voltage. Inexpensive Volt+Amp meters like this now make
current monitoring practical, so I use parameters from battery data
sheets that include current values for charger designers. They allow
higher voltage if the current and/or charging time is limited.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-0-30V-0-...-/321772149729

...The acoustic tile box should be enough to conceal it from
thieves driving by. I can't hear it from the street if a car is
within
1/4 mile.

Yabbut, the bad guys have impeccable hearing and sense of smell.
sigh

Other people' generators are louder.

I've never owned a chest-type freezer before and have to learn how to
use it, like how much air space to leave, when/how to defrost and not
letting things get stuck. I do have a Fluke thermocouple meter to
measure temperatures around the compartment.

-jsw