| Author |
Message |
Swimdad
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 4:07 pm: | |
I am going to replace four (9 year old) 8D Gel cell batteries and would like suggestions on which type of battery type GEL cell or AGM battery would serve a my application best.
My bus is all electric, but we do very little dry camping
Pat |
Jerry Liebler (Jerry_liebler)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 6:21 pm: | |
Pat,
AGMs tolerate higher charge and disscharge rates & are more tolerant of ocasional missuse. In other words I vote for the AGMs
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120 |
Arnold J Molloy (Ayjay)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 8:08 pm: | |
Hi:
Gel's are more critical in both charge rate and voltage inputs.
I have 8 "Optima" AGM's, 4 deep discharge, 4 starting, with a solenoid that allows the two banks to operate either together when charging or seperate when camped.
AyJay
79 RTS |
Stan
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 9:43 pm: | |
If I got 9 years out of a set of house battereies and had a charger system set up for them, I would seriously consider replacing them with the same type. |
herman
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - 10:40 pm: | |
In my view there is little competition between gel and AGM; the latter is a simply superior technology that has addressed all of the shortcomings of the former.
As for AGM vs. flooded, well, that's another matter. It seems that high quality flooded units will have a higher cycle life than AGMs, are available in a greater breadth of cell sizes (thus requiring fewer parallel strings) and also will outperform from a $ per (Kwh * cycle count) perspective, but require more care in charging and in maintenance. |
John MC9
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 1:09 am: | |
Stan's right. If you got 9 years out of 8D deep cycles,
I'd continue with the same.
You've proven your point, why ask for a hypothetical? |
Marc Bourget
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 - 9:01 am: | |
John TSG,
Maybe he wants to learn????
IIRC, Dave Smead was going on 9 years with a set of flooded batts with no significant drop off in capacity.
On that comparison, 9 with AGM might not be so great.
Have yet to see anybody discuss charging technique, stresses or useful life of a batt set more or less used as a back up. |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 5:46 am: | |
The great advantage of AGM is they can accept a charge at a greater rate than flooded.
And they can be discharged somewhat lower, and not kill a portion internally.
IF you need either of these features , they are worth the extra price.
Age of service is determined by how well you care for the set , and how many DEEP discharges the set is used for.
Cycle a battery "on top" (eg from 100% to 80%) and 10 years on a good quality set like Trojan is not unusual.
For LONG service life try Surettes, but the price is high unless you get a discount.
FAST FRED |
Marc Bourget
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 7:31 am: | |
The price for Surettes (or any batt for that matter) will go high unless you REALLY are responsible about charging. As FF has often stated, it's the last few percent of charging that takes soooooo long to accomplish but is sooooo important to achieve. |
FAST FRED
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 02, 2006 - 10:55 am: | |
it's the last few percent of charging that takes soooooo long to accomplish but is sooooo important to achieve.
The simplest way to FULL CHARGE (not the cheapest) is with a solar panel.
I use a 75W Shell with Trace T-12 charge controller on both boat & bus.
Really nice to climb aboards (either) and be greeted with the steady full charged light.
The coach spends all year without electric , except when were aboard & camping , the boat lives at a mooring.
A cheapo 1750W trace ($200) takes care of power tools when needed.
Works for me,
FAST FRED |