On 22 Sep 2021 at 19:59, joeaverage@frontiernet.net wrote:

> Wow, 20 years.... Did not know that was possible. 

That's pretty common for flooded nickel cadmium batteries.  They can take a
surprising amount of abuse.

Nickel iron batteries are by reputation even more rugged. I've read that
some of Thomas Edison's original NiFe cells are still in use today.

Lead batteries are usually thought of as short-lived, but as with many
things, it's a matter of design tradeoffs.  My observation is that as a
very rough generalization, the larger and heavier a lead battery is for a
given capacity, the longer it will last. 

Golf car batteries are optimized toward capacity, while forklift batteries
are optimized toward long life. 

Most marine batteries die quickly, but I have some East Penn gel marine
batteries that have lasted between 12 and 24  years.  They are (surprise)
of lower design capacity than most marine batteries of similar size and
weight.


David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA

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