Re: (ET) batteries

["RJ Kanary" <rjkanary nauticom net>]

Here's my two cents worth......... I just retired a set of Trojan® T- 125
batteries, since their endurance was no longer up to my rather insane 
usage,
and expectations.... after eleven summers and winters of use.They had just
started to display an annoying lack of staying power this spring, so they
are now employed as back up DC power, in event of a prolonged storm induced
outage. They had been fed nothing but steam distilled water for their 
entire
lives. The current replacements are a locally assembled , custom type that 
I
was asked to try.  I was told to expect longer minute ratings than what the
Trojans delivered , when they were seasoned. The only other fact that I am
at liberty to comment on, is that the owner of this company is one of the
patent holders, for the' spiral cell ' technology, although that is not
employed in these units. I should know by the end of this month, if the
claims are true, about the performance.. But if there were no other guinea
pig options available, it would be Trojan® again.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Barry" <Don Barry kmtc com>
To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 16:43
Subject: Re: (ET) batteries


> Happy batteries make for a happy ET12.... I personally vote for the
Trojan's. They're consistent and generally at a good price. I use the 
T105's
and they work great. Trojan's WWW site is http://www.trojanbattery.com, and
they have a listing of their dealers.
>
> Don
>
> Don Barry
> Infrastructure Manager, IT
> Kirby Corporation
> E-Mail: don barry kmtc com
> Phone: 713-435-1032
> Fax: 713-435-1070
>
> >>> <daveb seanet com> 06/12/01 01:01PM >>>
> Just now getting my ET12 out of winter storage.  Discovered two batteries
only
> putting out 2 volts under load (before charging).  I doubt they'll come
back to
> a usable state.  I've only had my ET for  a year and not really used it
much.
> I've no idea what these batteries in it are. There are 4 of the same
brand/type
> and two oddballs that don't match each other. So I have quite a variety.
My
> first thought was to just replace the two batteries with perhaps 2 used
golf
> cart batteries.  Can I expect to get some from a local golf course?  How
much
> should I expect to pay?  Maybe I should just shell out the $300(?) and
replace
> all six?
>
> comments suggestions appreciated.
> > On 1 Jun 2001, at 12:29, Neil Dennis wrote:
> >
> > > The only thing I'm not sure i like is the "sealed" feature, no way to
> > > check the fluid
> >
> > If it's a gel or AGM type, you shouldn't ever have to if the charger is
> > set up correctly.  They use catalytic recombination to change the H2 
> > and
> > 02 back into water.  But you need a proper charger -- if you use the ET
> > charger, you literally dry them out.
> >
> > If the Voyager is a sealed, flooded battery, it is probably not a true
> > deep-cycle battery but rather a "combination" (starting/cycling) marine
> > battery.  True deep cycle batteries have antimony-doped grids for
cycling
> > durability.  Combo and starting batteries have calcium-doped grids to
> > reduce gassing and water usage.
> >
> > They don't last very long if cycled deeply and/or used at high 
> > currents,
> > so I recommend keeping discharges shallow.  I would not exceed 50% DOD.
> > At 12.1v after mowing, you are taking them to about 65% discharged
> > (assuming that your meter is accurate), so 4 years of life so far is
> > pretty good.
> >
> > If you want good life and no mess, I recommend East Penn (Deka
Dominator)
> > gel batteries or Concorde AGMs in a group 27 or 31 size.  They are not
> > cheap, around $150-$175 each.  You will have to make a battery box for
> > them to mount in place of the weight box.
> >
> > Optima yellow tops are also quite good but are rather small for this
> > application.  Someday Optima are supposed to start selling their group
> > 31s that they prototyped a couple of years ago.  These would be good.
> >
> > Better yet for range extension would be 6 volt golf car batteries in a
> > trailer.  Any time you run parallel packs, you're better off matching
the
> > aux batteries with the main.
> >
> >
> > David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
> > 1991 Solectria Force 144vac
> > 1991 Ford Escort Green/EV 128vdc
> > 1979 General Engines ElectroPed 24vdc
> > 1974 Honda Civic EV 96vdc
> > 1970 GE Elec-trak E15 36vdc
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> > Thou shalt not send me any thing which says unto thee, "send this to 
> > all
> > thou knowest."  Neither shalt thou send me any spam, lest I smite thee.
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> >
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