First, are you buying 6v batteries, or 12v? I don't personally like
floating batteries 24*7, you need to keep them watered and such.
How about investing in a set of Trojans with a good solid warranty? That
should get you 10 or so years out of them. I'd say BB600's, but they are
really a super long term investment.
C
On 6/3/2019 12:02 AM, David Tiefenbrunn wrote:
> I've been running a large frame Elec Trak for years now.
>
> I used to be able to get used golf cart batteries for about 1/3 the cost
> of new ones, and they would work well enough for a few years, so pretty
> good deal. I used a simple analog float charger to keep them at full
> charge, and used the stock built in charger for the main charging. A
> few years back, I got a fancy 36V modern charger, but found that it was
> horribly power hungry in idle / float mode, and the float set point was
> too high, boiling water away too fast, and NO adjustment!
>
> The last set of batteries I bought new Duracells from Sam's or BJ's.
> They are showing low capacity already, only been a year or so. I've
> been using 3 smart energy efficient 12V chargers to keep them at proper
> float voltage. Even if I got the expected 5 years under ideal
> conditions for flooded cell lead acid batteries, that's about 6x90= $540
> every 5 years. Yikes! And right now, that's not even close to what I
> got.. [I have to go gather data to determine if I have one dead battery
> / cell / or the whole set is low output]
>
> Contemplating looking at other battery types, or an inverter generator
> with a big power supply [which I have the parts to build laying around]
> to power the Elec Trak.
>
> Dave
>
>
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