Matt Mc_Carthy wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 MMC>>    ----- CHARGING.TXT begins -----
 MMC>> Charging the 12V 7AH gel cells:

 MMC>> Cycle Applications: Limit initial current to 1400mA.

 RJT> Interesting.  That works out to AH rating / 5.  Seems about 
 RJT> right to me,  though I don't think that higher currents for very 
 RJT> brief periods of time will hurt it. 

 MMC> That's only the _initial_ charge rate that MUST be limited.  The
 MMC> gel doesn't like to be gassed!  Once the charge has begun and
 MMC> stabilized, small changes in current can be tolerated.
 MMC> ...................

Still,  it seems to me that you need just a bit more than an initial surge
to get it to the point that it starts gassing significantly.  Generating
_some_ gas is normal,  in any of them,  and gels are capable of dealing
with this on a small scale.

 RJT> I have some power supply boards around here someplace that have 
 RJT> +5 and +12 regulators,  and also one that I didn't run across 
 RJT> before until I looked it up in the cross-reference.  Appears to 
 RJT> be a 3-terminal part putting out 13.8v!  And rated at 5A,  which 
 RJT> I hadn't seen before.  Most hefty part I'd seen in a TO-3 case 
 RJT> before was a 3A part...

 MMC> Keep in mind, the part in that PS you are looking at might be 
 MMC> just a 3A part.  It is common for cross-reference guides to list 
 MMC> a heavier part as a replacement for one that failed.  To _really_ 
 MMC> know what is in that PS you'd have to find the manufacturer's
 MMC> manual.

Oh,  sure,  I'd need to find the original data on it,  and current is also
going to be limited to what the transformer and rectifiers can supply,  but
I noticed that for this particular voltage ECG listed _only_ a 5A part,  if
I'm remembering right.  Where in the other voltages they listed several
different current ratings.

 RJT> Sounds good to me!

 RJT> Where'd you snag this info?

 MMC> Don't know right now, but it was last month when I was searching
 MMC> for cells for my daughter's UPS.  I had saved it and targeted it
 MMC> for you, but forgot about it until this discussion came up!

 MMC> One of the following might be the one:

 MMC> http://www.pacificbattery.com/sla.html

 MMC> http://www.ragebattery.com/power_sonic_sealed_lead_acid.html 

 MMC> http://www.statbattery.com/

 MMC> http://energy.sourceguides.com/index.shtml

Sound like sites worth taking a look at anyhow.  I've been meaning to get
into some research on the subject of batteries,  anyhow,  just not yet. 
  I wonder what that ".shtml" suffix is all about?

 MMC> WARNING!  That second-to-last "Statbattery" is one of the types 
 MMC> you have been discussing with Charles.  It takes almost 5 minutes 
 MMC> for the initial screen to load!  And, as was discussed, I quit
 MMC> dealing with them and found the listings for Pacific, and Rage,
 MMC> and I might add, much better deals.

I probably won't have the patience to sit there and wait for it,  then. 
Too bad for them!

MMC> The last item is an index of all manufacturers, gets pretty big! 

Hmm.  

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