wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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IF they are for a boat, Read above responses
IF they are for house batereis on an RV, you should look for DEEP CYCLE without the word MARINE in front of it. Marine/Deep cycle are starting batteries, not much different from what gets you to the store. DEEP CYCLE are what you want for house work. This applies to AGM as well as other types.
Home is where I park it.
Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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HiTech
Texas
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Thanks for the tip on the date code molded into the case. Both were made 3/12 so odds are decent they are from the same lot.
So how do I baseline AGMs? The OEM says it takes 15 cycles for them to reach their stated performance numbers but I would like some indication of where they are starting out before that if it is possible.
I specifically wanted Marine deep cycle hybrid for my application in my RV rather than straight deep cycle. These two little batteries will run a heavy load like a microwave down to a 10% SOC and stay above 11 volts the whole time. They are nearly perfectly suited to my application (not boon docking) from my battery selection thread. Their grids are heavy duty motive battery style grids similar to those found in fork truck batteries. 100 % tested and matched plates before placing in the jars (tank formed plates). High purity lead plates and forged posts to eliminate the oxygen poisoning many AGM batteries die from as oxygen permeates into the battery through the posts, blackening them.
92 Amp Hours each
580 CCA
900 MCA
180 minute reserve capacity at 25A draw
My plan is to draw them down no lower than 60% SOC under any normal use. 99.9% standby use. Very rarely a max 20 amp hour per day draw, supported by 136 watts of thin film solar with high output in rain or clouds.
Jim
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HiTech
Texas
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I'm charging them now. The smart charger only ran a short time and took them up slightly to 12.71 resting voltage so I put the 8 amp manual charger on the pair. It was drawing 7 amps which fell quickly to 5 at 13.31 v so they have a way to go.
Price was $188 each plus tax, no core or shipping charges. I found slightly lower prices on line, but not after shipping.
The missing piece in my equation is a 2k or larger inverter. I have a number of them from 140w to 700w but no large one yet. So I have no real way to test it with large load capability. I could run the fridge for a few days to see how it does if I disconnected the Unisolars. Maybe it is time to find a Harbor Freight and get that $60 battery tester.
Jim
* This post was
edited 01/24/13 07:28pm by HiTech *
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi Jim,
So, what was the "bottom line" cost on the new batteries?
Regards, Don
Full Time in a Kustom Koach Class C 28'5", 256 watts Unisolar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, Magnum 3000 watt PSW inverter.
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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Joined: 12/06/2007
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There is no reason to waste cycling the batteries to get maximum capacity. That capacity amounts to less than 5%SOC.
After charging them I would just do a test run using the appliance you wanted to use the batteries for. Run it for the amount of time you would normally use it. Check the voltage on battery-bank terminals after use to calculate battery %SOC. If you have an amp-meter you can measure the current drawn during the test.
Let the batteries rest about 1/2 hour after the run to get the actual voltage reading after recovery. If the batteries recover to 70%SOC or more, you could repeat the same run time and check before recharging the batteries.
I did the same load test on my 12v Trojan, 80 amp deep-cycle battery used for my HD television just last month. Battery puchased last spring. Tested out correctly for theoretical and actual use and recharged to labelled 80 AH when new.
Mark & Jan "Old age & treachery win over youth & enthusiasm"
2003 Fleetwood Jamboree 29
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mena661
Southern California
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You'll have to load test them I'd imagine but first you need to charge them up as full as you can get them. Maybe Mex will weigh in.
2009 Newmar Canyon Star 3205, Ford F53 V10
Trojan L16 6V's 740 Amp-hours
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HiTech
Texas
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Ah this is the question isn't it? I want to run the built in microwave a handful of times a year. The coffee maker is not such an issue. I think a quality MSW could work for this light usage, though obviously PSW is better. Have not even begun that research other than casual reading here.
Jim
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HiTech
Texas
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They have really come down quite a bit.
Jim
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Hi Jim,
MSW or pure?
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mena661
Southern California
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You can do it with certain MSW's. MrWiz uses a MSW inverter but I don't know which one. I'm probably going to buy a PSW inverter, Xantrex ProWatt SW2000, next week. They're around $400 online.
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