RE: (ET) Battery Question

["Hazen, Dwight L" <hazen indiana edu>]

Dennis,

 His batteries may be reaching the end of their life. If he leaves the two
batteries in parallel all the time they will discharge each other. This 
will
cause a decrease in life of the batteries.

I recommend replacing the batteries, paralleling them only when racing and
use a charger on each battery to speed the recharge time.

 I that fails, find the biggest battery that is rated for this service. In
this case I would think Gel cells might be the way to go. But you need to
research that. Vibration and G force might/would mess up a large wet cell
and may be dangerous. I wonder what kind of batteries NASCAR uses?

If a larger battery is found buy two, race one and charge one. Swap between
races if needed.


  Dwight

 

Dwight L. Hazen, Indiana University, UITS 
Bloomington, In. 47408-7378 Phone 812-855-5367 hazen indiana edu
http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~hazen/ Ham Radio wb9tlh arrl net
IP Phone 317.278.4014   Change is inevitable except from a vending machine.


-----Original Message-----
From: Pestka, Dennis J [mailto:Dennis Pestka TycoHealthcare com] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 3:10 PM
To: 'Elec-Trak Email Discussion List'
Subject: (ET) Battery Question

This isn't really a tractor question, but here goes.

A fellow I work with races super stock dragsters on the weekends.
He presently runs a no alternator system with (2) 12 volt Optima Blue top
batteries in parallel.
When he races a lot and gets all the way to the finals, he notices his
batteries getting pretty weak and may not be getting the high voltage 
needed
for optimal spark.
He charges in between races, but has very little time.
He would like to upgrade and is considering several options.

Staying at 12 volt with (2) 12 volt Optima yellow tops in parallel.

Staying at 12 volt with (2) Trojan 6 volts or (1) 12 volt.

Using a higher voltage combinations, say 2 Trojans, (1) 6 volt, (1) 8 volt
in series for 14 volts.
Even higher voltage with (2) Trojan 8 volts in series for 16 volts.

He is now adding 80 pounds of ballast to get to the minimum racing weight,
so the extra weight of the Trojans should not be a problem.


I know they would have a higher amp hour rating and last longer, but would
the Trojans be able to deliver the amperage needed during the race versus
the Optimas ?

Would the G forces be a problem with the Trojan floodeds versus the Optimas
?

Any opinions ?


Thanks;
Dennis