The worst of it all is that when one of the 6 cells (of 12V battery) expires due to sulphation (which happens 99% of the time) the whole battery is lost, and your battery salesman is laughing his head off! (I.e. we cannot simply replace one cell.)
My experience is that sulphation occurs in stages.
If you catch it early (i.e. normal use and never "fully charged" such as the classic 13.8V auto alternator-regulated system and most PV- or alternative charging systems, because "13.80V" does NOT mean fully charged), you can easily over-charge the battery comfortably up to 15.0V or even higher once a month, provided that
(a) you monitor the electrolyte level and keep it topped up
(b) you control the charge current to prevent the battery over-heating (say, more than 30 degC above ambient).
The current run down phase varies depending on battery impedance, but is always less than about 500uS in practice.
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