Judging/comparing Battery Performance
We've all read about person X who does nothing more than plug in their converter and claims the batteries are just as good as new 6 years later, although this is an impossibility. More accurate wou...
Forum Discussion
I do find it interesting that the smaller physical size group 27 AGM has a lower AH rating of only 90 yet has a much higher CCA rating of 930. I guess that AGM batteries are going to give off more energy quickly while cranking over a engine.
The group 31 battery is flooded and thus has a 13.5 volt charging at about 5 amps then it is full, and will rest at 12.8 volts. You can equalize charge a flooded battery at up to 14.5 volts once a month or so, and then add a bunch of water to replace what was boiled off, and it is good for a flooded battery. Not so good for a AGM battery, 14.5 volts for 5 hours can do un-repairable damage to a AGM battery.
That is why flooded and AGM batteries should not be connected together. The higher voltage AGM will try to charge the lower voltage flooded battery when there is no charging current coming in.
I have an "E-Meter" in my motorhome. The original design was built for a couple of years before being bought out by Xanterex and then called the Link 10. It will carefully measure the amp hours leaving the battery bank, as well as the amp hours going back in (at a discounted rate). I say discounted rate because the designers of the E-Meter knew that there is in-efficiency with the battery, so as you slowly put back 10 amps at a time, then the meter counts down about 9 amps per hour as going back in. If you quickly put back about 47 amps per hour, it might count down at 40 amps per hour.
In the morning I would have a reading of something like -120 AH. I would know that my solar system can make up about 100 AH daily when it is sunny, and would run the generator for a hour or so early in the day (when it will put out more than 50 amps per hour into the battery) if I wanted full batteries that day, or if it would be cloudy. If less than -100 AH, I would not need to run the generator.
My first set of 4 golf cart T-105 batteries lasted 13 years and I gave them away to a friend who still used them a little longer. I was diligent with keeping it full of water, had hydrocaps to keep them full, and took good care of them, recharging when they where still about 1/2 full of power.
My second set of batteries only lasted 6 years. I was diligent with keeping them full of water for only about the first 3 years, then became lazy.
Hydrocaps recycle the gas leaving the battery back into water, so you only need to add water about once every 6 months. They have been advertized in HomePower.com for many years, and I bought some in 1997 for my then new motorhome.
Fred.
The group 31 battery is flooded and thus has a 13.5 volt charging at about 5 amps then it is full, and will rest at 12.8 volts. You can equalize charge a flooded battery at up to 14.5 volts once a month or so, and then add a bunch of water to replace what was boiled off, and it is good for a flooded battery. Not so good for a AGM battery, 14.5 volts for 5 hours can do un-repairable damage to a AGM battery.
That is why flooded and AGM batteries should not be connected together. The higher voltage AGM will try to charge the lower voltage flooded battery when there is no charging current coming in.
I have an "E-Meter" in my motorhome. The original design was built for a couple of years before being bought out by Xanterex and then called the Link 10. It will carefully measure the amp hours leaving the battery bank, as well as the amp hours going back in (at a discounted rate). I say discounted rate because the designers of the E-Meter knew that there is in-efficiency with the battery, so as you slowly put back 10 amps at a time, then the meter counts down about 9 amps per hour as going back in. If you quickly put back about 47 amps per hour, it might count down at 40 amps per hour.
In the morning I would have a reading of something like -120 AH. I would know that my solar system can make up about 100 AH daily when it is sunny, and would run the generator for a hour or so early in the day (when it will put out more than 50 amps per hour into the battery) if I wanted full batteries that day, or if it would be cloudy. If less than -100 AH, I would not need to run the generator.
My first set of 4 golf cart T-105 batteries lasted 13 years and I gave them away to a friend who still used them a little longer. I was diligent with keeping it full of water, had hydrocaps to keep them full, and took good care of them, recharging when they where still about 1/2 full of power.
My second set of batteries only lasted 6 years. I was diligent with keeping them full of water for only about the first 3 years, then became lazy.
Hydrocaps recycle the gas leaving the battery back into water, so you only need to add water about once every 6 months. They have been advertized in HomePower.com for many years, and I bought some in 1997 for my then new motorhome.
Fred.
