pianotuna wrote:
JoeChiOhki,
I'm aiming at 600 amp-hours @ 12 volts myself. I'll be using SiO2 batteries.
Do SiO2 batteries require special charging sauce like the LiPOs where DC-DC charger is needed? My equipment is all old school so the alternators a bit more on the "dumb" side and has worked well charging my battery banks back up going down the road with the 100amp charging setup I use.
I've been sticking with standard flooded lead batteries, simply because I can usually find replacements anywhere on the road, but other stuff may be a bit trickier.
wopachop wrote:
I still think the reason costco batteries are getting a bad rap is because of solar charging and the internet.
People think their solar is maintaining their flooded batteries. Which is not true.
Those same people have a battery fail and within 5 minutes they sign into costco and leave a bad review.
Most of the reviews were not from Solar folks but from folks who had been using them in golf carts and were seeing poor durability with them vs the previous ones.
StirCrazy wrote:
when I put GC batteries in mine I measured the size of each one, then measured the space and opening I had to get them in. granted I was putting them into an older one that wanst made for more than a car battery so I had to turn the battery compartment into a small storage compartment and use the storage compartment for my batteries. the deciding factor on the batteries was the door opening. the 210AH batteries left me 3/4" of clearance through the door, the 220AH set would only leave me 1/8" and the 235AH were bigger than the door. I also bought a watering kit as although the space was bigger inside there just want enough room to get a turkey baster or measuring cup in there to add water, or your head to see how far it was down. the watering kit works awsome, I just plug the pump extension into the harness put the end in my distilled water and pump it till it wont pump anymore. fills the batteries perfect and takes two min. so now I do this every time I am getting ready to leave instead of the twice a year check I do on the 5th wheel. I am buying a set for the 5th also I like them so much.
Steve
In this situation, the compartments are loaded from the top from inside the camper (the sealed exterior vented compartments I built are part of the dinette seats), so there's quite a bit of height left. My main thing I need to still measure for is if the batteries are too wide to fit turned 90 degrees from the current group 31 sitting in there and if there's enough space to fit two in without making it impossible to fit them and the wires.
I use the aftermarket refilling caps that you use with the squeeze ball to correct fill them every time from a jug of distilled water, and since they have a hose that runs between the two compartments, I only have to open one to top up all the batteries in one go.
