Truck Conversion & Toterhome Community - View Single Post

Ran D. St. Clair · 08-23-2009, 08:42 PM

Assault and Batteries…

This web site is an excellent source of information about deep cycle batteries.

http://www.windsun.com/Batteri...ery_FAQ.htm#Amp-Hour Capacity

Now I can begin to choose the actual batteries. There are many technologies to choose from including the cheaper flooded cells, or the higher quality AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat), or even gel cells, and those are just the lead acid batteries of one sort or another. Nowhere on this list are car batteries. They are just not suitable.

There are also many configurations, like 6V batteries, 12V batteries, 2V batteries (or individual cells), and various capacities in series and parallel combinations. I may be cheap, but I am willing to spend money for quality when it’s something I really need to rely on. That means AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat). I would also like to be able to pick up one of these batteries without killing myself. A 12V battery at 210 amp hours is 135 pounds. I could probably pick that up if I had to, but wrestling it into a battery compartment sounds ugly. Even then, I would need 2 of them to meet my needs. Better to use 6V batteries at 220 amp hours and 66 pounds each. I would need 4 such batteries, two parallel sets of two in series. That would give me 440 amp hours and a total weight of 264 pounds.

All of this brings me around to money. Each of those batteries is $280, so my 4 battery design is $1,120 for batteries alone. I could cut that almost in half by using good quality flooded cells, but my longevity would be reduced from 1,000 cycles to 750 cycles, or something like that because I don’t trust those figures to be more than approximate. 1,000 cycles is less than 3 years at a cycle per day. I would hope to do a bit better if they are mostly shallow cycles staying well above 50%, but even so, in 5 years or so I will be spending another $1,120 plus inflation, disposal fees, etc.

Before I leave the subject of batteries I should mention that putting batteries in parallel isn’t an ideal situation, though it is often done. If one of the parallel strings is weaker then it tends to drag the stronger string down to its level. This is one place where a battery combiner or electronic feedback relay can come in handy, not to keep the house batteries separate from the starter battery, but for keeping the parallel strings of house batteries separate. It will drain the house battery strings one after the other depending on how you have it programmed. It can also sense the battery voltage and prevent you from accidentally discharging the batteries more than some pre-set level, like 50%. Since I will be starting with brand new and well matched batteries a battery combiner won’t be an immediate necessity, though I may want to spend the money on one eventually.

If actual life experience dictates that I need a 3rd or even 4th string of batteries to increase my capacity, I can still do so, The physical size of these batteries is about 10.28” x 7.06” x 9.63”. I can put 4 batteries on my mounting tray with no difficulty, and 6 batteries with just a little effort. With 8 batteries I have to stack them 4 batteries each, two high. I really don’t want to do that though. The idea of batteries crashing down on top of other batteries, shorting them out, catching fire, exploding and spraying sulfuric acid all over the place doesn’t appeal to me.

Here is a listing of some of some possible batteries:

Lifeline AGM 6V Golf cart Battery, GPL-4CT http://www.powerstridebattery....y=214&idproduct=2016

Lifeline AGM 12V Deep Cycle Marine Battery, GPL-4DL
http://www.powerstridebattery....gory=0&idproduct=837

UPG UBGC2 Golf Cart Battery, UBG-C32
http://www.apexbattery.com/upg...cart-batteries-.html

US2200 XC 6-Volt Golf Cart Battery, US2200 XC 6V
http://www.powerstridebattery....y=214&idproduct=6878

Battery___________________________________________ Ah___________________Longevity
Part_______________Length___Width__Height__Weight_ (20Hr__Tech-___________Cycles
Number______Volts__(in)_____(in)_____(in)_____(lb) ___Rate)__nology_____Price__At 50%
GPL-4DL______12____20.76____8.7____8.63____135____210_ ___AGM______$609___1000
GPL-4CT_______6____10.28____7.06___9.63_____66____220_ ___AGM______$280___1000
UBG-GC2_______6____10.25____7.07___10.19____64____200_ ___AGM______$211____???
US2200 XC 6V__6____10.25____7.125__11.25____65____232____Flo oded____$154____750

To be continued...

08-23-2009, 08:42 PM	#44
Ran D. St. Clair Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 212	Assault and Batteries… This web site is an excellent source of information about deep cycle batteries. http://www.windsun.com/Batteri...ery_FAQ.htm#Amp-Hour Capacity Now I can begin to choose the actual batteries. There are many technologies to choose from including the cheaper flooded cells, or the higher quality AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat), or even gel cells, and those are just the lead acid batteries of one sort or another. Nowhere on this list are car batteries. They are just not suitable. There are also many configurations, like 6V batteries, 12V batteries, 2V batteries (or individual cells), and various capacities in series and parallel combinations. I may be cheap, but I am willing to spend money for quality when it’s something I really need to rely on. That means AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat). I would also like to be able to pick up one of these batteries without killing myself. A 12V battery at 210 amp hours is 135 pounds. I could probably pick that up if I had to, but wrestling it into a battery compartment sounds ugly. Even then, I would need 2 of them to meet my needs. Better to use 6V batteries at 220 amp hours and 66 pounds each. I would need 4 such batteries, two parallel sets of two in series. That would give me 440 amp hours and a total weight of 264 pounds. All of this brings me around to money. Each of those batteries is $280, so my 4 battery design is $1,120 for batteries alone. I could cut that almost in half by using good quality flooded cells, but my longevity would be reduced from 1,000 cycles to 750 cycles, or something like that because I don’t trust those figures to be more than approximate. 1,000 cycles is less than 3 years at a cycle per day. I would hope to do a bit better if they are mostly shallow cycles staying well above 50%, but even so, in 5 years or so I will be spending another $1,120 plus inflation, disposal fees, etc. Before I leave the subject of batteries I should mention that putting batteries in parallel isn’t an ideal situation, though it is often done. If one of the parallel strings is weaker then it tends to drag the stronger string down to its level. This is one place where a battery combiner or electronic feedback relay can come in handy, not to keep the house batteries separate from the starter battery, but for keeping the parallel strings of house batteries separate. It will drain the house battery strings one after the other depending on how you have it programmed. It can also sense the battery voltage and prevent you from accidentally discharging the batteries more than some pre-set level, like 50%. Since I will be starting with brand new and well matched batteries a battery combiner won’t be an immediate necessity, though I may want to spend the money on one eventually. If actual life experience dictates that I need a 3rd or even 4th string of batteries to increase my capacity, I can still do so, The physical size of these batteries is about 10.28” x 7.06” x 9.63”. I can put 4 batteries on my mounting tray with no difficulty, and 6 batteries with just a little effort. With 8 batteries I have to stack them 4 batteries each, two high. I really don’t want to do that though. The idea of batteries crashing down on top of other batteries, shorting them out, catching fire, exploding and spraying sulfuric acid all over the place doesn’t appeal to me. Here is a listing of some of some possible batteries: Lifeline AGM 6V Golf cart Battery, GPL-4CT http://www.powerstridebattery....y=214&idproduct=2016 Lifeline AGM 12V Deep Cycle Marine Battery, GPL-4DL http://www.powerstridebattery....gory=0&idproduct=837 UPG UBGC2 Golf Cart Battery, UBG-C32 http://www.apexbattery.com/upg...cart-batteries-.html US2200 XC 6-Volt Golf Cart Battery, US2200 XC 6V http://www.powerstridebattery....y=214&idproduct=6878 Battery___________________________________________ Ah___________________Longevity Part_______________Length___Width__Height__Weight_ (20Hr__Tech-___________Cycles Number______Volts__(in)_____(in)_____(in)_____(lb) ___Rate)__nology_____Price__At 50% GPL-4DL______12____20.76____8.7____8.63____135____210_ ___AGM______$609___1000 GPL-4CT_______6____10.28____7.06___9.63_____66____220_ ___AGM______$280___1000 UBG-GC2_______6____10.25____7.07___10.19____64____200_ ___AGM______$211____??? US2200 XC 6V__6____10.25____7.125__11.25____65____232____Flo oded____$154____750 To be continued...