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Old 24-06-2014, 07:58   #16
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Old 24-06-2014, 08:14   #17
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

Cannibul, is your wind generator fed through a controller? If not that could also fry your batteries. Also check with your golf course and see if they could get you batteries at a better price. They probably buy a whack of them.
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Old 24-06-2014, 08:32   #18
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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Maintenance Free Calcium battery
Group 31 with 130 amp hours # DC 31 $120 usd
13L x 6-3/4W x 9-1/2H inch about 70 lbs

Have been using these for 6 years, no worries and no re-filling
To be clear, those are not "calcium" batteries. They are maintenance-free flooded lead acid batteries. A small amount of calcium is doped into their lead plates in place of the normal antimony in unsealed FLA's in order to help with gas recombination. This is important because they are sealed batteries.

Whether sealed flooded batteries are a good thing for a cruising boat is a personal decision.

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Old 24-06-2014, 08:37   #19
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
People on this forum told me that I should expect some battery issues after lightning fried just about all the 12 volt systems on board. Two years later, they're failing. 105 AH lead acids.

So, I need to replace them. What with? Anyone know of any clear winners in the battery replacement game? We can probably buy more deep cycle lead acid batteries locally at a huge cost, or could import what we want knowing it will take a week or two to get here.

Is there any way a new Outback MPPT could fry batteries through a stupid setting on my part? I'd hate to buy four new batteries and then find out the solar sytems are cooking them away.

replace then with " reasonable " quality semi-deep cycle flooded lead acid, $1 - $1.25 per AH stuff, will give you about 5 years service, sometime longer. Nothing else really makes economic sense

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Old 24-06-2014, 09:53   #20
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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Cannibul, is your wind generator fed through a controller? If not that could also fry your batteries.
no, it's an older Air X wired directly to the battery bank. I thought they were self regulated?
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Old 24-06-2014, 10:02   #21
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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no, it's an older Air X wired directly to the battery bank. I thought they were self regulated?
Not unless they have a charge controller built into them and I don't believe they do. You can overcharge (fry) your batteries if they are fully charged and the wind picks up. Read Maine Sail's article on whether or not you need a solar charge controller.
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Old 24-06-2014, 10:14   #22
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

the wind picks up every day and night here. We are smack dab in the Trade Winds.

I hadn't thought about the Air X, but it's been on the boat without controller for a long time. In fact the boat had all this solar, and the air x and also a Wind Bugger when we got it. The Wind Bugger broke off on the trip home and is now at the bottom of the Atlantic someplace east of Long Island Bahamas. It was Kinda rough. Broke the mounting welds.
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Old 24-06-2014, 10:34   #23
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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Take a read through Maine Sail's articles, if you haven't already done so. They will help you set up your new bank. Lots of discussion on the forum about FLA vs AGM. Personally I would install FLA golf cart batteries with the water miser caps. Or LiFePo4. Certainly some great articles on his web site to help you with your solar questions as well.
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Thank you for that link. Main Sail has quite a bit of good information and his website is a treasure trove.

Thanks,
Dan
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Old 24-06-2014, 10:59   #24
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

Could you please explain why many of you would skip from 6V FLA to LiFePo, without considering AGM? My husband is wary of LiFePo and fires, even though we currently drive a hybrid.
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Old 24-06-2014, 11:07   #25
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

Everybody who state that the most economical choice is 6V FLA golf cart batteries is correct. I just replaced my housebank with four US Battery US2200 XC2. They were $109. each. They are 232 minutes at the 20 hour rate.
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Old 24-06-2014, 12:21   #26
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

I have another thread going in which I question exactly how much more charging efficient AGMs are vs. regular flooded. If you can't do the math to figure out how long it takes to return 100 (whatever) amps to an AGM battery vs. a flooded battery, using XXX watts, then I call phooey on the efficiency claim.
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Old 24-06-2014, 12:42   #27
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

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Could you please explain why many of you would skip from 6V FLA to LiFePo, without considering AGM? My husband is wary of LiFePo and fires, even though we currently drive a hybrid.
LiFePO are completely different chemistry than the Li-polymer and similar that are known for catching fire.

LiFePO is very safe and there is no worry about fire using them.

They are not simple drop-in's, however. If you do not fully understand them, have charging systems customized for them, and how to maintain them, then most likely it will be an expensive lesson.

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Old 24-06-2014, 12:48   #28
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

I just bought 8 group 24 AGM batteries for $135 each. I shopped around locally and gotr that price. I called several of the "battery warehouses" type of place and got the best price. Most of the places sell the same battery made by East Penn same battery sold in West Marine for 50% more. I see you are in the T n C's maybe you can find a source in Miami and get them on a tropical shipment. We got 7 years out of the last set and they went thru the winters here in Maryland.
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Old 24-06-2014, 13:10   #29
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

I'm thinking the golf cart batteries are looking to be the best option. I've got more than enough fiddly stuff going on already, and would like this to be simple.

And with golf cart batteries, I can be pretty sure I can find one or two while traveling if needed. Just find a golf course and buy a couple used ones to get home with kind of thing. Golf courses are much, much easier to find than battery merchants.

and I think I want some that let me check the fluid level and add distilled water when needed. Old school. Simple. No math. Don't have to learn any new languages. No acronyms.
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Old 24-06-2014, 13:26   #30
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Re: Lead acids dying. What to replace with?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Canibul View Post
I'm thinking the golf cart batteries are looking to be the best option. I've got more than enough fiddly stuff going on already, and would like this to be simple.

And with golf cart batteries, I can be pretty sure I can find one or two while traveling if needed. Just find a golf course and buy a couple used ones to get home with kind of thing. Golf courses are much, much easier to find than battery merchants.

and I think I want some that let me check the fluid level and add distilled water when needed. Old school. Simple. No math. Don't have to learn any new languages. No acronyms.
After looking at all the battery types this is where I ended up. I really, really like the idea and benefits of the LiFePO but, like you, I have too many other things to deal with at the moment to learn how to pamper a new kind of battery. Also, if you screw up it will be a very expensive mistake, a couple thousand or more.

From all I can learn, a standard FLA, 6V golf cart battery will put up with more abuse than most other battery types and if you do manage to kill one they're the cheapest to replace.
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