| Author |
Message |
Richard (64.12.96.235)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 3:29 pm: | |
OK, I've enjoyed this board for years. Especially the good humored bantering over any and I do mean any subject. But I never seemed to have the go nads to submit an item until now.
However, this may help all that are pondering what to get when it is time for those expensive house batteries that we all need for our inverter. So here gos.
Most cities of any size will have a company or a number of companies that deal in the emergency power inverter business for large building installations, computer rooms being their main target. In order for these companies to keep a continuouse supply of customers, they will convince the building maintenance or I.T. geeks that a new inverter system with all the bells and whistles is just what they need. They will take the old inverter system in trade and then "refurbish" the used inverter and offer it for sale to the next sucker. The down side for them is that in order for them to guarantee that their re-man system will work, they have to install new battery banks. This is where we bus nuts come in. These batteries are the sealed type that never need servicing, venting, or anything else. The great thing is that they can be had for free or nearly so as these re-man guys don't want to pay to dispose of them. I got 20 - 12V lead/calcium gell cell batteries from our local place for the cost of hauling them off! I put mine in the corner of the garage for six years till I needed them in my Eagle conversion. Even setting there year-in and out, they never lost their charge. Have now had them installed for over two years in the coach and am extremely pleased with the set-up.
Sorry to upset all of you in the battery business, but feel that this is some very helpfull info for the average guy trying to save some real green. |
Voodoo Lounge (66.159.206.150)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 10:38 pm: | |
I have availed myself of just such batteries. The Coca Cola Company in LA replaces about 90 Yuasa 14 AH gels every 3 years (should be coming up soon). The Tech that does the work is a fellow ham radio operator and gave heads up on a Ham radio board. I got 6 of the batteries and though I'm not using them in the Voodoo Lounge, they did come in very handy as back ups for my radio equipment and as a aux battery in my 4WD pickup.
Since they aren't designed for mobil use they tend to be a bit more fragile than an automotive battery but since I got a bunch for free I wasn't complaining when they failed from offroading stresses.
Philosophically, I tend to not economize too much on things like tires and batteries but for a coach that doesn't spend too much time on bumpy roads they should work out OK as long as you recharge them according to spec.
Alan Heaberlin |
drivingmisslazy (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 10:48 pm: | |
The companies dealing in the power inverter business are typically found under the correct title or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies). The batteries utilized are identified by the battery manufacturers as "float service" batteries.
They are supposed to live their life on float charge and are typically identified as having a life of limited (300-500) deep discharges. I.e., a discharge down to 1.7 volts per cell, or 10.2 volts for a 12 volt, 6 cell battery. The batteries are typically sold with an expected life of 5, 10 or 20 years.
I manufactured systems like this for many years ranging in size from 10,000 va (10 kva) up to one million va (10,000 kva), and sold literally thousands of the batteries to support the systems. Every new system always got a new set of batteries.
I had many customers that routinely replaced their batteries on a fairly routine basis, before they failed. Typical was three years for a 5 year warrant battery, seven years for the ten year battery and 15 years for the 20 year battery.
Disposal of the old batteries was always a problem. They are extremely heavy, are an environmental hazard, and usually consisted of quantities from 50 to 200 batteries.
Quite truthfully, I had never considered them for use in the bus, due to the manufacturers statements that they had such a limited life in other than the service they were designed for.
I would suspect that any UPS manufacturer would be glad to get rid of a few of the batteries at no cost and might even pay someone to haul them off.
Richard |
two dogs (67.30.23.75)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 9:02 am: | |
some guy gave me 4 of them....one is in my Cadilac,they have 1/4 " bolts instead of the normal battery hook-up , planing on put them in the Eagle for house batterys...."WHEN YOU ARE POOR,EVERYTHING YA'PICK UP, WILL FIT SOMEWHERE" |
drivingmisslazy (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 11:36 am: | |
two dogs, you are correct that they all have bolt studs instead or regular battery posts. However all automotive stores sell adapters to convert from stud to post connection for very few bucks.
Richard |
two dogs (67.30.23.20)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 12:08 pm: | |
know that |
john (150.199.209.34)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 2:24 pm: | |
Power failure is common in rual Missouri, anywhere from an hour to days. I have old UPS batteries for emergency lighting routed via an old UPS that has been on line for six years, works great. |
drivingmisslazy (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, August 22, 2003 - 11:16 pm: | |
I was sure you did know, the posting was for the many other readers of the board.
Richard |
two dogs (67.30.23.19)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2003 - 9:08 am: | |
in reality,they don't make adaptors for 1/4 bolts ,they make them for 5/16...what I did was cut the plastic off a side terminal battery cable & that leaves a washer ...bolted that to the battery.....the batteries I got had 1/4 bolts sticking up |
Doug Dickinson (Dougd470) (65.161.188.11)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 2:45 pm: | |
I have a lot of years experience with UPS batteries and systems and I don't think I would waste my time with them for a bus. DML's assessment is right-on as to how long they last. I used to routinely replace 5 year batteries at the 3 year mark. Almost without exception, they would fail before reaching 5 years. The only batteries I had any luck with for longivity is the old glass "fish tank" batteries. They last forever it seems (OK, I only was at the job 12 years and never had a failure). Problem is, they don't travel very well. Something about containers cracking.
I appreciate the comment about those with limited check-books, but in this case, you will get just about what you pay for. You might be able to sort through a batch and get enough good ones, but I would be interested in what you have to say in a couple of years. THe charge regulators in UPSs are frequently not set correctly, and often not checked from year to year.
But - that's just my opinion!
Doug
St Louis MC9 |
Brian Houk (65.41.120.12)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2003 - 12:17 am: | |
Many battery manufacturers will stamp their batteries with a date code, or afix a sticker with it. At least two companies use the letter that corresponds to the month and the last digit of the year; such as I3 for Sept. 2003. If you know the brand, you can contact the company and ask if they date code their batteries, where do they put them on the battery, and what is the code! At least that way if you have a pile to choose from you might be able to at least find the freshest ones! Also, if you take a volt meter with you you can also pick a set of batteries from that group with the greatest charge remaining!
Brian Houk |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2003 - 7:29 am: | |
I would also recommend that everyone purchase one of the small digital battery testers from NAPA or wherever. I have either tested or had my technicians test literally thousands of batteries, and if the digital tester says it is bad, IT IS BAD. It is not unusual to find one or two bad out of a string of 200 new batteries.
Richard |
FAST FRED (67.75.110.86)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, September 05, 2003 - 7:13 am: | |
The latest issue of Practical Sailor has a battery test contest.
The bottom line was the Interstate won (srm27B) at having closest to advertised 20 hour rate and crank amps.
Perhaps becaude it spent less time in the shelf than other brands.
Use the date code & pass up on anything over 6 months from mfg.
Amazingly for fun , they tested a 7 year old sears Die hard , & found it was still about 80% of rating !!
Better than some of the new batts.
FAST FRED |
Don KS/TX (66.82.9.25)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 07, 2003 - 10:51 pm: | |
Richard happens to live close by, is a good friend, and we have shared converting ideas for a quite a few years. I can vouch for what he says about the batteries, I used a pair of them for a 12 volt dead loss system on my GMC for a few years.
I too was highly skeptical about his strange idea at first, and kidded him unmercifully about the battery holder that looked much more like a great place for pigeons than storing batteries. After all, he HAD bought an Eagle so we had a right to question his good sense.
For those that think it won't work, you are simply wrong, it does. AND it is free! |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 08, 2003 - 7:15 am: | |
They will also work for starting batteries. Most of my technicians and production people ended up with a UPS battery in their car. Anytime anyone in the plant had a battery failure, they replaced it with one of these.
Richard |