CF Members Survey - Batteries Used Currently - 2019

[Pete7]

This is the CF 2019 members survey to see who is using what battery technology.

The options are:

Sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries
Ordinary flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries (probably 12v)
Deep cycle flooded lead acid batteries (likely 6v or 2v batteries)
Absorbent Glass Matt (AGM) batteries
Gel batteries
Carbon Foam or carbon lead (Firefly type or similar technology)
Lithium type (incl LifePO4)

If you have a mix of batteries then please choose the dominant type. For example an AGM engine start battery and FLA house bank then choose FLA. If you have multiple mix house bank battery types, just choose one.

Note: lots of retailers like to put labels on ordinary batteries which say Deep cycle, extreme, heavy duty etc. You will need to be honest and decide if they truly are deep cycle that we would recognise on the forum, or is the label is just an advertising ploy. I decided to list my Trojan TMX as 'ordinary FLA' because they are not a patch on the T105 types by Trojan.

Pete

[steve77]

I have 900 Ah of Lifeline AGMs.

Steve

[Maine Sail]

LiFePO4 - House Bank - Date Code 2009
Firefly Carbon Foam - Reserve Bank - Date Code 2013

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

LiFePO4 - House Bank - Date Code 2009
Firefly Carbon Foam - Reserve Bank - Date Code 2013

And yet there are currently no votes for either of those technologies.

[Mike OReilly]

I’m the single vote (so far) for SLA batteries. Long, sad story. Didn’t want these batteries. Best option at the time. Previous set ups were always 6v. When these die I’ll be going back to that.

That said, I’ve been impressed with how well these SLA batteries are performing. Fifth season now with no obvious signs of deterioration. Still… don’t like not seeing what’s under the hood.

[Pete7]

Mike, can't help but think if you get 5 years plus out of a set of sealed lead acid batteries (SLA) then I doubt you could really improve on that for the price and life expectantly. At least if one failed you can pick another up on a Sunday morning almost anywhere from garage forecourt to chandlers or camping shop.

We managed 7 years from a set of ordinary Varta truck flooded lead acid last time around. The only reason to switch away from them is the price has gone up dramatically so bought Trojan TMX instead for a similar price. Did I gain a better quality battery that will last longer? doubtful anything you could really measure with any certainty over the whole life. Perhaps a reduction in the possibility of early failure.

Pete

[Sailmonkey]

450 ah of 6 volt flooded batteries.
Just replacing this weekend, dated 2010.

To be fair I should have replaced them last year, but they could still carry the refrigerator through a weekend. Now they can’t carry it overnight.

Originals were US battery 2200XC, new replacements will be interstate.....something (because the price is agreeable).

[Zai]

I have 600 amp hour Lifeline.
4 x GPL 30 HT

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by StuM

And yet there are currently no votes for either of those technologies.

On my phone I could no see the pole, it was not there..... On the laptop I can now see it...

[Pegu Club]

We have two firefly oasis group 31 batteries, total of 232 amp hours, we like that up to 80% of those amp hours are usable, thus far they have been as advertised, about to start our second year of full time cruising with them.

Fair winds,

[Kenomac]

Eight year old 450ah 24v house bank of deep cycle Trojan 6v flooded lead acid batteries still going strong despite several years of abuse prior to solar. Replaced one bad battery a month ago, the rest are still fine.

New Mastervolt monitoring system has been very beneficial.

[newhaul]

1 year old lifepo4 100ah in a 4p4s custom built bank
Adding one small riding lawnmower sla as start battery / alternator protection .

[Tayana42]

Four 6 volt Deka ProMaster batteries now 3 years old. Total 464 amp hours. Two group 24 SLA start batteries now 5 years old.

[skipgundlach]

4x Trojan L16H-AC = 870AH when new.

Whole set in early 2017, one of which was one-bad-cell freshly made and charged. I can't imagine why it wasn't caught. It was replaced by the dealer without my having to file a claim.

Late 2018 and early (earlier time than original installation) 2019, respectively, found one-dead-cell batteries.

Fortunately, whether to signal confidence, or to recognize some issue, T changed the warranty shortly before my first bad one, to 2 from 1 year. Still waiting for a refund 6 months later, but the bank is doing fine.

Like another poster, I like seeing what's happening, and so I check the levels pretty regularly, and add water as needed. But while I was gone for a long while, the solar kept trying to charge the bank with the one-dead-cell still in it. That resulted in overcharging, getting the plates dangerously close to exposed; one cell in a good battery actually had ripples on the surface.

However, now 8 months after the first, and 6 months after the second replacement (relatively new bank so kept the original 2 which were still good) all appears normal. In fact, with the now-monstrous freezer/reefer load (12A virtually nonstop), despite all our solar we now occasionally run the Honda, as it's mostly cloudy a lot of the time in the summer, as squalls occur daily...

[Ken Pole]

Is this survey of what we have installed or would like to install?