which crowns

[Ceno]

Have a dilemma. It is time to upgrade my battery bank. Currently 3 group 24s. I was looking to go wih 2 cr-235 ($129ea) with the thought I can add 2 more down the road, but while getting prices I was informed crown has a cr-430 which is also a 6v in a group 903 size an 113lbs each ($249ea). So now I wonder if anyone has used the 430's? An which way should I go?

Either setup will be charged with 280w of solar throught a morningstar ts45. Hoping to add another 140-280w to that this year as well.

Thanks in advance for any in put.

chris

[Ceno]

I have a 1500w inverter but dont use it. It will run the microwave an the fan on the ac just to move some air. Dont use it cause I figured it wouldnt work well with my current batteries.

the 430s are 113lbs ea so 226lbs total
the 235s are 68?lbs ea so 136lbs for 2...272lbs for 4= 470ah

[BoonHauler]

That's a good price for those 903's.

Plenty of power there but heavy....

[BFL13]

"... I currently am using between 50 an 60 ah per day. I would like to have enough capacity to go a couple days of bad weather"

So get two of those 235s for 235AH and 50% is down 117AH which is two days at your usage rate.

Your 280w solar is plenty for the 235 set. Some days the batts won't get down even 50AH because your solar will do some of the draw instead, which is like having an extra battery in the afternoon when there is solar to spare sometimes.

IMO go with that and try it for a while before getting more solar.

If you get into running the microwave off an inverter and so need four batteries, that is a different story from your 50-60AH as is. Now we are talking "upgrade!"

[wa8yxm]

RoyB wrote:
The rule of thumb is to have enough battery charge capacity to provide around 20AMPS of DC current for each battery installed.

Considering that 12 volt batteries run from very small (I have one here that is less than 20 amp hours but 75 is a group 24) to very large (8-D is 260 amp hours and some I've used make it look small).

That rule of thumb makes no sense.

The rule I use is Max Converter = 30% amp hours at the c/20 rate

For all but Lifeline AGM. For Lifline AGM change Max to Minimum. and max is Min times 10.

[Ceno]

I dont have room om the roof for any more then that lol

Hmmm....decisions lol

I have a custom mount that will fit 4 cr235's but I could build one to fit 2 cr430's space isnt much of an issue in either scenario.

[pianotuna]

Hi Ceno (paradox?)

Double solar system to 560 and you should have power to burn.

I want to get to 1250 watts myself..but that is next year I fear.

430 amp-hours @ 60 per day gives you 3 rainy days in a row and still above 50% state of charge.

[Ceno]

Ok so to answer some questions. When I said upgrade I guess I should have said replace, but what better time to get something better. The current group 24s are ac delcos multi pupose. From what I've found the are only about 55-60ah ea an at this point when I pull 60ah out of the bank it is about 50%. 1 is 3 years old and the other 2 are about 2 years...

I fulltime an do have access to shore power but try to avoid it if possible. I currently am using between 50 an 60 ah per day. I would like to have enough capacity to go a couple days of bad weather.

As for adding more batteries in the future, it would be in the next 6 months if needed. I am looking to add to the solar hopefully in the next month or so. I have to climb up an see if I have room for 2 more 140w's. If not it will be a 140w and an 100w.

This is what is currently up there.....http://www.solarblvd.com/Solar-Panels-&-Systems-12-Volt-Solar-Panels/c1_269/p2711/Two-Solar-Cynergy-...

[pianotuna]

Hi Ceno,

280 watts should take good care of the 430 amp-hour battery bank between trips. Ocam's razor suggests having the minimum number of cells.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Thicker the plates the more kWh the batteries will transact before ending up in the sediment chambers. Penalty is space and weight. And $$$

[pianotuna]

Hi Roy,

Better to think of charger capacity needing to be c/5. I.E. for 430 amp-hours the OP needs 86 amp-hours of (possible) current.

That said four of my batteries are 8 years old and the other four at 4 years old, and I have but 40 amps to shore power charge them with.

[BFL13]

Crown specs
https://www.crownbattery.com/en/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/DeepCycle-PowerLine1.pdf

Better to have all batts about the same age, so if planning to get more later, get them all now.

However, it is no fun handling big heavy batteries. Better to have more lighter ones.

The 280w solar lying flat will get you (total WAG) 120AH/day one day and the 364 other days will be different from that, often a lot less. So that would support the two 6s at 235AH getting down to 50% with some chance of getting back to near full some days.

But how many AH a day do you use? The three 24s have about the same AH as the two 6s at 235 would have, but you want an "upgrade." To what? More AH? What is the actual scenario here?

How much battery footprint and height do you have anyway? Lots of questions to answer before a useful plan can be suggested. Love to spend your money thinking up good set-ups though! 🙂

[RoyB]

Keep in mind that when you up the battery bank capacity you also have to update your converter/charger unit. The rule of thumb is to have enough battery charge capacity to provide around 20AMPS of DC current for each battery installed. This is very important if you wish to have your battery bank re-charged in a three hour time frame using your on-board SMART MODE Converter/charger unit. Having less than the 20AMPS DC charging current will require much more time to re-charge the deep cycle batteries.

The same will hold true when using your on-board SOLAR systems. The SOLAR CONTROLLERs use the same smart mode charging techniques just like your on-board smart mode converter/charger unit. A typical 120WATT SOLAR PANEL will only produce around 5-6AMPS DC during high SUN periods. This a long way from the battery needing around 20AMPS of DC Charging current to fulfill a three hour re-charge time period.

Just something to think about...

Was never able to afford the high dollar CROWN DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES so have no on-hand experience for you there...

I am NO EXPERT here on charging batteries just on-hand experience over the past six years with my three each GP24 Standard issue 12VDC Interstate batteries running in parallel on my OFF-RoAD POPUP setup when camping off the power grid.


Roy Ken