Charging LiFePo

[MrNatural22]

I know this has been brought up before but a couldn’t find the particular post.
Most SCC charge the battery upto 14.4 before reverting to a float charge of maybe 13.5v. I know 13.6v is 100% SOC at Resting voltage. I’ve read not constantly charging to 14.4v will give a longer charge cycle life, But is constantly charging to only 13.8v before changing to float in any way not beneficial to your LiFePo?
Someone mentioned not taking it up to 14.4 may cause problems.

 

[electric]

This is common misconception. You can't really charge to 13.8V in a reasonable time because you need voltage difference to push the current into the battery. There is an important difference between OCV ( open circuit voltage ) and loaded voltage. While charging you also have "loaded" voltage, but in the opposite direction, i.e. you need more voltage to overcome battery's resistance. If you charge to 13.8V you will leave up to 30% of unused capacity at the top, which is not cost effective and not necessary. Charging to 14.4V does not reduce cycle life as long as you don't hold the battery at 14.4V for too long after the charge has finished. This is why float is very important if your charge source is continuously connected, like SCC.
You might add some life cycles if you get down to 14.2V, but I would not go below that. Even then, life cycle is not just about voltage, it is also affected by temperature and calendar life. Temperature is more important than people give it credit.