[ausev] Lead sulfate questions

[Joby Wieser]

A year ago I bought 13 six volt Sam’s club batteries made by interstate.  They are a cheap imitation of Trojan T105s.    I read a lot of information about proper battery charging, purchased intelligent chargers that do the Bulk, Absorption, and Float stages of charging,  I concluded that it was good to always plug in and recharge whenever possible.  My typical use charge day went like this: 

Drive 4 miles to work and plug in.  Drive home and plug in.  Drive 4 miles to school and get daughter then maybe around town, sometimes parking for a while without plugging in, go home and plug in till the next morning.   By morning the stack would be completely recharged and floating. 

I thought this would minimize lead sulfate buildup, but now I notice that there are large clumps of white stuff that look like calcium buildup on a faucet on the top of my plates.  Is that what lead sulfate looks like?  The stack still takes a full charge and I still get similar range to what I did when they were new.  In a year I probably have only dropped below 30% SOC 10 times and there have been times when I let the water drop slightly below the top of the plates before refilling.  Could it be that the crud is only on the top of the plates and mainly due to the times the water got low?   Is it bad to constantly keep a full charge on the stack?  Any comments would be appreciated.

Joby Wieser
Fredericksburg