fast forward a year..

interesting note.. these volt pro batteries behave a LOT like odyssey extreme AGM batteries. like SUSPICIOUSLY similar! (this is a good thing) since this video ive had a lot of time for 'long term' testing..

my MM frontier V6 has a pair of the odyssey batteries in it, and using the gray upright charger works 'well enough' BUT it doesn't charge them FULLY when using daily long term. BUT using the volt pro charger in 'compatibility mode' does the trick!

on my daily 2021 F3, ive been using a victron charger for over a year now on the 'high' profile (29.5v) with the permobil branded batteries and therye still working great!

i think the answer lies somewhere in the middle.. stock volt pro - voltage is too high! gray upright charger, not QUITE enough voltage..

the problem with the volt pro charger on mode 1, is that it crosses that 15v per-battery danger zone, on EVERY charge cycle! using it occasionally as an 'equalization/reviving charge' isnt a bad thing necessarily.. but not for every cycle!

funny too, because the odyssey batteries have warnings about crossing 15v, and in cases where this has happened for me (i use a LOT of those batteries in various applications) they were destroyed within a handfull of charge cycles.

on paper the volt pro chargers with their stock settings should be fine.. but manufacturing tolerances with everything, and batteries getting slightly out of balance begs to differ in the real world. like i said in the video, my first set of volt pro batteries worked just fine from 2021! the subsequent 2 sets failed within 3-4 months.

the permobil branded batteries themselves seem to be pretty decent, and very similar to 'odyssey extreme batteries' BUT the charger is the issue.

permobil batteries, similar to the odyssey's, like to be charged up to a SLIGHTLY higher profile.. but NOT as high as the volt pro charger on its stock settings.

the gray upright charger... 'works well'

volt pro charger in mode 3.. 'also works ok' (without a full float mode cycle) which one is better? ..its as clear as mud if you're forced to use the permobil branded batteries

best options?

in order 'best' first....

1) MK power batteries with gray upright charger OR victron charger on 'normal' profile

2) Permobil batteries with victron charger on 'high 29.5v' profile

3) Permobil batteries with gray upright charger - AND a weekly overnight charge with volt pro charger on mode 3 (annoying but solves the capacity issue over time)

4) Permobil batteries with volt pro charger set to mode 3

OBV not EVERYONE is gonna have problems..

people imagine the world in black&white.. in reality its all grayscale... nothing is ALL or NOTHING. a single tech seeing 1000 sets of batteries still doesn't have a frame of reference to speak of in the grand scheme of things.

and neither do i for that matter! i only have my personal experiences and word of mouth form others to go on, which is why i did a bunch of testing with a cross section of batteries and chargers built across a 4 year period.

the results speak for themselves!

egregiously bad?... nope!

questionably splitting the line on 'industry standard tolerances'?... ABSOLUTELY!

will EVERYONE have issues?... nope!

have many had problems?... yes!

the entire point of all of this was to show DATA. not opinions, not years of experience, actual DATA.

i encourage everyone to look up data sheets on your favorite brand of AGM deep cycle batteries! i can almost guarantee they indicate spending any amount of time ABOVE 15v per battery, is bad news.

bottom line, if permobil had included a proper 'float mode' in the charge cycle for the volt pro charger in mode 3, it would be the perfect charger! (mode 1 is still bad IMO)