Northstar AGMs

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by sailinglegend

And with reference to Mainesail's quotes he may have fitted thousands of Northstar batteries as starter banks or AGMs as bow thruster banks but where does he recommend that Northstar AGMs compare with Lifeline AGMs as deep cycle house batteries?

I have fitted many boats with both Odyssey TPPL and Northstar TPPL AGM batteries. Northstar technology is a take-off of the original Hawker / TPPL technology (EnerSys bought Hawker) and the Founders of Northstar came from the Hawker division before founding Northstar. Both the COO and the CTO, and TPPL patent writer Dr. Fleming, came from the original Hawker and founded Northstar.

Like Charlie (another marine electrician working on cruising boats) I find Northstar TPPL's, as well as the Odyssey TPPL's, to be good cycling AGM batteries with good charge efficiency, strong voltage holding ability and good charge acceptance.

I do install them in for cycling applications not just thrusters etc.. Don't let the "thin-plate" moniker fool you they do cycle, and can often do so better than some other competitive AGM products. I was pretty skeptical about this but they have proven to be quite tough in cycling applications. I find them on par and often outlasting Lifeline's in cycling applications, provided they are charged correctly.

As to concerns about vibration all Northstar batteries pass SAE vibration testing including their telcom formats. They have run as many as 36 18 hour tests to see if they could kill them and failed to do any damage.

I have personally had no issues with Northstar. The tech rep David, for our area, is excellent and have found them and David responsive to questions and queries.

If by chance one purchased Energy 1 or Meridian SPS batteries there is really not much Northstar can do as those are private label contracts and any warranties need to go back through the private labeler for warranty. The private label guys know this and accept it as part of the agreement and they should be more than willing to stand behind a bad set of batteries. Heck just last month I had a bad L-16 battery fresh from the factory. It can happen..

My biggest issue with Northstar is local distribution. I have much better access to Odyssey, Lifeline and others so install more of those than I do Northstar. So far it is too early for me to tell if the Blue+ series is holding up better, in the real world, than the standard non-carbon enhanced Odyssey's and they were neck & neck in the Practical Sailor PSOC cycle testing.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Too generous with their unhappy customers 8-)

Its hard as a small business to have knowledge staff and give good service in an Amazon world.

[Colin A]

Interesting conversation. I had noticed the local battery distributor near me started carrying these and wondered about them. Some boats could definitely benefit from some formats they offer. I have seen several boats with PC1800 odyssey batteries nice to know there are other similar sized options.

[john61ct]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ee-207704.html

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

I have fitted many boats with both Odyssey TPPL and Northstar TPPL AGM batteries. Northstar technology is a take-off of the original Hawker / TPPL technology (EnerSys bought Hawker) and the Founders of Northstar came from the Hawker division before founding Northstar. Both the COO and the CTO, and TPPL patent writer Dr. Fleming, came from the original Hawker and founded Northstar.

Like Charlie (another marine electrician working on cruising boats) I find Northstar TPPL's, as well as the Odyssey TPPL's, to be good cycling AGM batteries with good charge efficiency, strong voltage holding ability and good charge acceptance.

I do install them in for cycling applications not just thrusters etc.. Don't let the "thin-plate" moniker fool you they do cycle, and can often do so better than some other competitive AGM products. I was pretty skeptical about this but they have proven to be quite tough in cycling applications. I find them on par and often outlasting Lifeline's in cycling applications, provided they are charged correctly.

As to concerns about vibration all Northstar batteries pass SAE vibration testing including their telcom formats. They have run as many as 36 18 hour tests to see if they could kill them and failed to do any damage.

I have personally had no issues with Northstar. The tech rep David, for our area, is excellent and have found them and David responsive to questions and queries.

If by chance one purchased Energy 1 or Meridian SPS batteries there is really not much Northstar can do as those are private label contracts and any warranties need to go back through the private labeler for warranty. The private label guys know this and accept it as part of the agreement and they should be more than willing to stand behind a bad set of batteries. Heck just last month I had a bad L-16 battery fresh from the factory. It can happen..

My biggest issue with Northstar is local distribution. I have much better access to Odyssey, Lifeline and others so install more of those than I do Northstar. So far it is too early for me to tell if the Blue+ series is holding up better, in the real world, than the standard non-carbon enhanced Odyssey's and they were neck & neck in the Practical Sailor PSOC cycle testing.

As I noted earlier, I had 12 Northstar batteries on Delfin that lasted 10 years without issue. I've passed then onto my son, who is installing them in his boat.

[john61ct]

Nigel Calder video promoting his latest project, a "retirement gift" to the cruising community.

https://youtu.be/wfX96IWA6m8

Check out from around the 12min point, note the lead batts, as opposed to the LFP ones.

Thread discussing the Integrel system http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f14/triskel-power-generation-system-on-distant-shores-iii-207549.html#post2722201

[john61ct]

Oops dupe

[hellosailor]

OK, I may be missing the point but it sounds like Nigel has gotten distracted by technical issues.

What he seems to have, is a 10-hp permanent magnet motor, very similar to the ones used in the lunar rover in 1969, but this one is being used in reverse as an AC generator. (Generator, alternator, potato, potatoe.) PM motors have taken over the cordless drill, etc. market in the last five decades, as the prices of powerful magnets have come down, and the prices of copper (for conventional coil windings) has skyrocketed. I'd suspect there have also been heat issues with using them in the automotive market, since heat ruins the magnets.

And that 10hp motor is being used to produce up to 555A and 14.4 volts, a damned powerful alternator.

It sounds like the box with the "planar transformer" (think flat plate versus cylindrical battery plates, planar transformers are simply better at high frequency and power, they're nothing new) is oretty similar to an MPPT controller for the generator. That's the only way to take the varying voltage from a varying speed generator and turn it into a steady DC output.

All the rest about tying into an engine's computer monitoring system, well and good for new boats but possibly a total stopper for "plain" boat engines. You'll notice that's not addressed.

As to how the magic box accounts for engine load...All that it CAN do, is to monitor the engine's electronic sensors (if there are any, remember) and then to basically "turn off" the MPPT functions, stop putting a load on the generator, when the engine is overloaded.

If the system is priced right and built well, it sounds like an intelligent way to produce power. Way smarter than our pre-WW2 automotive technology.

But that video has way more sizzle than steak. I'm very much surprised at that.

[john61ct]

Did not mean to derail from Northstar discussion here.

The thread discussing the InTEGrel 48V alternator + control system, including that video, is posted above.