| Author |
Message |
Al Spanjer (148.78.248.10)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 10:33 pm: | |
Are 8D's the best house batteries???
-al |
Scott Whitney (63.151.64.84)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 10:59 pm: | |
I would think 8Ds are not the best. 8Ds are like automotive batteries in that they are designed to put out a high current for a short time (to start the engine). Then they want to be charged right up again.
Better to go with a deep cycle battery that has thick lead plates and hence is more tolerant to being discharged over a period of time. Golf cart batteries seem to be the battery of choice - about six are on my shopping list. You have to wire them series-parallel as they are six volt and buy them in multiples of two. If you have lots of verticle height, you can get the big industrial batteries as used in fork lifts etc - but they are spendy and huge. Golf cart batteries are readily available, reasonably priced and can be lifted by one person.
Scott |
Neil4jesus (205.188.192.188)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 11:18 pm: | |
I have been using 8d deep cycles in mine for about 7 years they seem to work good. But you must get deep cycles. Neil |
jmaxwell (66.42.93.122)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 2:48 am: | |
From all the specs i've seen on 8d's, they are no more deep cycle than group 27s or group 31's, just bigger. But, many people are using them for house batteries and getting at least fair service from them. Golf cart 6v, either Trojan or the brand that Sam's Club sells, are true deep cycles and will give u many times more discharges without failure or damage to the plates. Maybe someone makes a deep cycle 8d, but i've not come across one yet. From what i've read about batteries, no battery designed for the high amp output of cranking motor service can be true deep cycle by virtue of the design for high output. |
FAST FRED (63.215.235.170)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 5:34 am: | |
AN 8 D is a measure like size 9 shoes or size 42 suit.
IT has NOTHING to do with the way the internals of the batt are constructed.
Real deep cycle batts have different lead compounds, different insulation and spacers, different hight in the case and different terminals {somtimes}.
The only resembelance to start batts is that there somtimes in the same size case ,,, 8D,31,27 .
Start batts have lots of very thin plates that make a huge surface area , so have a huge CCA {cold crank amps} this is what spins the DD FAST at low temps.
House batts have fewer THICK plates and can be discharged to the 50% DOD {Depth of Discharge}point an still be recharged for most of the batts cap.
Start batts suffer loss of cap.if taken below 85% DOD.
Some folks with enough solar to never bring starts down below 85% to 90% full , have existed with cheapo starts as a house system, but this takes loads of practice , and a few hundred bucks of monitoring gear, and special charging , and lots of practice.
The real deep cycle will be rated at whats called the 20 Hour Rate.
Starts are rated in CCA , which is useless as measure for deep cycling , only starting .
Surette is great batts , but NEVER as first set to learn with ,
Trojans are 1/2 the cost and almost as good .
Sears golf cart are OK if your learning and will need to kill a few sets on warentee to learn the methods of living on 12V.
The Batts are only a small start to a 12V {or 24V } system , you need it ALL to camp with out Killing the set.
FAST FRED |
Wulf P. Ward (66.19.31.123)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 9:31 am: | |
I am using 10 deep cycle 105 Amp/hour group 31's
in my RTS. I also use 1/2 of them for the house 12 Volt system and I am also using them to start the bus 24 Volt starting system. I am using the bus 24 Volt alternator to charge all batteries. The 12 Volt side is charged off two 50 Amp equalizers. I also use a 40 Amp West Marine Converter to charge the 12 Volt side off my Freedom 25 24 Volt Inverter. My bus stays plucked in most of the time in my shop and I add water about every three month. In 5 years I have lost one battery and that's about it. |
Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (152.163.207.43)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 30, 2001 - 6:17 pm: | |
Everything I have read indicates that golf car batteries are the best value for the money. Mulit-multi discharge cycles and very little trouble with overcharging, etc. Yes, you can get better batteries, like the Surette or Trojan like Fred said, but for the dollars spent and the inadvertent deep discharges, which shorten the life of any batteries, my vote is for the golf car batteries. They come in several amphour ratings so be careful you are comparing apples with apples when pricing the batteries.
Jim |
Gary Carter (216.17.1.172)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2001 - 1:22 pm: | |
I have been using 8Ds for 10 years in our 4106 as house/coach batteries. In fact we have only one battery system except for the generator starting battery. A pair of 8Ds from Sams club last about 5years and just installed out 3rd set. One of the cells in one battery went open. Never saw it before. The hygrometer reads the cell as plain water. All the other cells in both batteries were at full charge. Strange.
I did have a long talk with GNB engineers a few years ago about using 8Ds as deep cycle and they said go for it. 8Ds are built different than other starting batteries. Heavy plates like deep cycle. In fact according the the GNB engineers I talked to indicated that their 8Ds are actually better deep cycle batteries than the labeled deep cycle they manufacture.
In summary I will listen to the battery engineers. |
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