Napa 85-5000 battery charger manual

SkiMore wrote:

...
I think we should consider AGMs also. That way nobody needs to check the levels. The batteries are on a shelf about 6 feet off the floor so weight is an issue. The shelf is strong, but I don't want to lift anything much heavier than the GC2s up there. Are there suitable AGMs that are less than 75 lbs each?

No need for 4 x 6V GCs to get the Amp draw you need for the MWO. You can get 24V and adequate AHs for MWO runs from 2 x 12V 100AH AGMs in series. 100AH AGMs weigh 65lbs. If you need more MWO time then 3 x 100AH will give you a 300AH bank. No need to build the battery pack in 220AH/130lb increments.

AGMs give up Amps without the Volt drop you get from GCs. In a capacity test, I pulled 78A from my 79AH 53lb Deka AGM for 7 minutes and the Volts held at 11.6, so no inverter shutdown. Within minutes, the Volts bounced back to 12.37. That is 100% of AHs. A pair of 100AH AGMs will weigh 130lbs.

With AGM, you get a better balanced bank size for both high and low draws.

HTH;
John

2oldman wrote:

SkiMore wrote:
Will a pair of 6V GC2 batteries be enough? I assume it is that is what many RVs have.

Maybe.. that's iffy for running a coffee maker, but with a bit of solar backup it's do-able.

You can't get 24v from 2 6v batteries.. maybe stick with 4.

I thought I could easily switch to a 12V system, but I just checked the specs of my inverter and it is 24V input only. So I need to stick with 24V or get a new inverter.

I'll talk to the coffee drinkers about using the propane stove or maybe stick with 24V( from 4x6V or 2x12V).

oops. Did I type 24V from 2 6v batteries?

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Switch to led lighting. Make coffee on the propane stove. The coffee maker I use draws about 8 amp-hours from the battery bank--but it is a two cup unit. 300 watts of panels would meet your needs and keep the battery bank in tip top shape. I'd prefer to see you go to six two volt cells rather than six volt jars. I'd look seriously at agm chemistry for the bank.

Yes, we will switch to LED lighting.
I agree about the coffee making and need to talk to the coffee drinkers in the family - I know enough not to mess with people's coffee.

When you say "six two volt cells" do you mean 12V batteries? How is that batter than a pair of 6V ("three two volt cells")?

I think we should consider AGMs also. That way nobody needs to check the levels. The batteries are on a shelf about 6 feet off the floor so weight is an issue. The shelf is strong, but I don't want to lift anything much heavier than the GC2s up there. Are there suitable AGMs that are less than 75 lbs each?

SkiMore wrote:
Will a pair of 6V GC2 batteries be enough? I assume it is that is what many RVs have.

Maybe.. that's iffy for running a coffee maker, but with a bit of solar backup it's do-able.

You can't get 24v from 2 6v batteries.. maybe stick with 4.

Hi,

Switch to led lighting. Make coffee on the propane stove. The coffee maker I use draws about 8 amp-hours from the battery bank--but it is a two cup unit. 300 watts of panels would meet your needs and keep the battery bank in tip top shape. I'd prefer to see you go to six two volt cells rather than six volt jars. I'd look seriously at agm chemistry for the bank.

SkiMore wrote:
Our electric use is light (No AC, NO refrigerator, 50 watts of lights max and coffee maker). Will a pair of 6V GC2 batteries be enough? I assume it is that is what many RVs have.

I'm going to look into adding a solar panel and controller in the future. As mena661 said I don't need to be concerned with the physical size of the solar panel.

Until then I'd like to get what we have working as well as it can. Since batteries work better if they are fully charged I think it makes sense to reduce the number of batteries so that our charger can fully charge them in as short a time as possible and reduce generator time.

I'd also like to determine if the current batteries are still good.

Our charger can do
6V@60A
12V@30A
12V@60A fast charge
24V@30A

Our electric use is light (No AC, NO refrigerator, 50 watts of lights max and coffee maker). Will a pair of 6V GC2 batteries be enough? I assume it is that is what many RVs have.

I'm having a problem finding an AH spec for the NAPA 8144 batteries we have. It says 115MINS@75A does that mean it is a 144AH battery? How long do you think it would take to charge a pair of them from the 50% point? From what I've been reading it sounds like people are saying 2-3 hours.

If we want to run the water heater we can turn on the generator.

If we get solar down the the road we could get one of those 12V coolers or maybe a 12V frig.

mena661: We have a 24V battery bank, but the batteries are old and they have been treated well. At best they are past their prime. I agree size isn't an issue and if I'm going to go though the process of installing a panel I should put up a bigger one.

I would get a single 235W-250W solar panel and a 24V PWM controller since you have a 24V battery bank. It's a cabin, you don't need a small panel.

Mr Wiz is all-season, so AFAIK it varies a lot. He does replace batts every three years or so, based on so many cycles per year he does compared with most of us. I don't know if he could improve on that any by getting to 100% more often.

He certainly knows what he is doing and is an example to us all!

Hi BFL13,

Mr Wizard seems to manage to get to 100% and he doesn't plug in. Perhaps he bank switches?

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