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Old 23-08-2005, 15:33   #16
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Hey Gunner,

Just a suggestion from everyone I know who is cruising - Buy the Trojans, they all swear by them and not at them. Much less expensive than the Rolls and just as good.

On another note - Are you on schedule to leave?
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Old 23-08-2005, 19:41   #17
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While on the subject of Batteries, I would like to use the Stupidity of someone that should have known better, as a quick lesson in the dangers around batteries.
I was charging a battery at work two days ago (yes it was I) and I had actually forgotten about it. I was packing the charge in and the battery was at the point of boiling. I was walking past and something strange caught my side vision which stopped me in my tracks. I didn't quite click as to what it was, but it got my curiosity. I thouched the battery to find it was extremely hot and deduced that the strange sight I had glimpsed must have been a wiff of fumes. Now here is the really dumb part. I teach this and so there is no excuse. I DIDN'T turn the charger OFF FIRST. I touched the clamp. Just touched it. I hadn't even tried to remove it. It must have sparked and the battery exploded in a deafening bang. My ears were ringing and I was stunned for a split second as my brain was trying to fathom what the hell just happend. It was only a split second though, as it was quickly after that that I felt the bite of that acid all over my face and neck. I was lucky I had not got the acid in my eyes, as I wear glasses. I was in the workshop alone as the class was down in another teaching room. I rushed to the hose we have set up and soaked myself. Then dripping wet, I pulled the class in for a lesson on what NOT to do and then a drill on what to do if it happens to them or someone else in the workshop.
So becareful, especially in the confines of a boat and the fact we have much larger batteries on boats. These things are potential bombs. The are explosive and can cause major injury from flying plastic shrapnel, to being covered in acid. If you are down in confined space, you could be seriuosely hurt and you may not be able to find your way out.
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Old 23-08-2005, 22:25   #18
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Alan:
Glad you weren’t seriously hurt, and were able to find your way to an emerghency shower.
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Old 24-08-2005, 01:23   #19
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The well must be deep...

I perused the web site and I just don't get it.

What is the patent number?
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Old 24-08-2005, 05:00   #20
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AGMs are the way to go. As for brands, Trojan are top of the line. In the US there are only a few mmanufacturers, but lots of brands. I have had really good luck over the years with Interstate. They are supposedly one of the few manufacturers.
As for Mr Paul Son, I am very interestred in your product, please send $19.95 for shipping and handling to me and I will send you the packaging in which I wish to receive your product at no charge. In fact, everyone send me $19.95, and I will tell you exactly what I receive.
What? No takers?
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Old 24-08-2005, 07:18   #21
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Hmmm, reminds me of something about a wolf and a sheep and some clothing to me.
Speaking of sales like that, on our NZ Trademe site right at the mo, is an auction for a LCDDisplay/DVD combo, with in smaller letters, "information pack". You bid on a n information pack, to be Emailed to you. Stranger, is the fact that all the info about the thing is already on the auction page. So just what extra information you are bidding for, I have no idea. And why the heck you would want to bid for some guy to send you via Email, some advertising guff about HIS product, beats me. He must think there are lots of gullable people out there

Hey Rick, going back over some of the ealier posts in this thread, I saw an earlier post of mine you may have missed. I asked if you had heard of the new Battery technology of Calcium/Calcium. Just wondering. I can't quite fathom how that would work. But so far these new type start batteries I have are just fantastic. They don't seem to self discharge and they hold an excellent storage voltage level. The motor just flys over when cranked.
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Old 25-08-2005, 01:49   #22
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How much did they get for that piece of toast with the virgin Mary on it on EBay?
So wheels, what brand are the batteries?
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Old 25-08-2005, 02:27   #23
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Brand of batteries:

I have had good luck with DEKA's.

They are a major brand here in the US and make batteries for other "brands".

My DEKA housebank (4 siv-volt Golf Cart batteries) are now almost 5 years old and hanging in there.

They may be ready for R&R as we speak 'cause I let one cell run dry last month and that cell is dragging the other ones down.

Not a good thing as ya never want to mix new and old batteries.

(The old ones will drag the new ones down due to the different rate of charging acceptance)

In the past, with good batteries and a 2 strong solar panels, I could sit for anchor 4 to 5 days without starting the engine to charge, and stil run a fridge and freezer plus the anchor light and music, etc and not go below 70% capavity.

These days, with the bank getting old, I am looking @ 2 days or so.
Still pretty good and I can live with it untill the next over-time pay check comes in to justify a new DEKA house bank, $250.00 or so compared to $1,000.00 for the same bank of ROLLS batteries that may last less than twice as long....$ per month for the same amps is the ultimate equation.

(Previous house bank was ROLLS)

Never tried Trojans, but if I remember a past article in Practical Sailor about house batteries, the DEKA,s came out ahead.
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Old 25-08-2005, 04:10   #24
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You are correct about Deka being one of the few manufacturers, and yes they are good quality. I have lots of experience with the Trojans in off the grid homes, but the L16s are the standard, and they are too big for any of my boats. I have looked at the Rolls, and they have a good pitch, but have always been out of my price range. I am getting ready to make a substantial battery purchase myself, and will definitely look into the Dekas. Not sure if they make AGMs though, and that is what I have in mind.
Going back to Irwinsailors original question, I have run 8Ds in all of my boats, and they are great batteries for the space they take. Physical size being the limitation. 8Ds give a great amp hr rating for the size and weight. Redesigning the battery compartment, making new cables (an expensive proposition), and getting proper weight distribution with such a change will not likely pay off.
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Old 25-08-2005, 09:17   #25
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Brand?? awe heck, now I am goin to have to stick my head down in that dark engine room again. I didn't read what the sticker part said. But I'll take a look tomorrow and comment.
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Old 25-08-2005, 23:10   #26
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How about these?

Urine Battery Turns Pee Into Power ~ by John Roach
for “National Geographic” News (August 18, 2005): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/

Before you next flush the toilet, consider this: Scientists in Singapore have developed a battery powered by urine.

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology created the credit card-size battery as a disposable power source for medical test kits.

Scientists have been scrambling to create smaller, more efficient, and less expensive "biochips" to test for diseases such as diabetes. Until now, however, similarly small batteries to power the devices remained elusive.

Diagnostic test kits commonly analyze the chemical composition of a person's urine to detect a malady. Ki Bang Lee and his colleagues realized that the substance being tested—urine—could also power the test.

"In order to address this problem, we have designed a disposable battery on a chip, which is activated by biofluids such as urine," Lee wrote in an e-mail to National Geographic News.

The research team describes the battery in the current issue of the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.

Daniel Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, said the technology is a welcome innovation in a time of rising energy prices.

"All jokes [about] urine aside, what is needed are low-cost batteries. …" he said. "The other neat thing about this is the fact that it's basically a biodegradable battery."

Urine Power

To make the battery, Lee and his colleagues soaked a piece of paper in a solution of copper chloride and sandwiched it between strips of magnesium and copper. This sandwich was then laminated between two sheets of transparent plastic.

When a drop of urine is added to the paper through a slit in the plastic, a chemical reaction takes place that produces electricity, Lee said.

The prototype battery produced about 1.5 volts, the same as a standard AA battery, and runs for about 90 minutes. Researchers said the power, voltage, and lifetime of the battery can be improved by adjusting the geometry and materials used.

Urine contains many ions (electrically charged atoms), which allows the electricity-producing chemical reaction to take place in the urine battery, said UC Berkeley's Kammen. Other bodily fluids, such as tears, blood, and semen, would work easily as well to activate the battery.

"Little bags of urine may generate chuckles," Kammen said. "But really urine is just a nice example [of] a whole variety of compounds that do this stuff." Even children's lunch-box fruit-juice packets are sufficient, he added.

Alternative Energy

While medical devices inspired the urine battery, it can activate any electric device with low power consumption, according to Lee, the battery's co-inventor.

"For example, we can integrate a small cell phone and our battery on a plastic card. This can be activated by body fluids, such as saliva, during an emergency," he said.

According to Kammen the technology could even be applied to laptop computers, mp3 players, televisions, and cars. Body-fluid-powered batteries "can do all kinds of things. The issue is how they scale up" to produce more power, he said.

One approach is to simply build larger batteries. Another method is to link lots of little battery cells side by side, which is how the batteries in laptop computers work, Kammen explained.

Kammen, who advocates government funding for alternative energy research, says the wide number of applications for cheap and efficient biofluid-powered batteries illustrates the value of research. "Investigation leads to innovation," he said.
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Old 06-09-2005, 04:07   #27
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Just something about Asia, and making use of urine. I do not get it, but whatever works.
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