Firefly Battery Question?

[BAD ORCA]

Are Firefly batteries similar to other FLA batteries? Do you have to buy them all at the same time or can you add a battery to a bank at a later date?

Im considering replacing two Trojans i just murdered but $1200 for two Firefly's is more than i want to spend at the moment if i dont have to. Can i buy one now and add another one six months from now or should i bite the bullet and buy both now at the same time?

[Argyle38]

They are similar to FLA batteries in chemistry, but you still do not want to mix and match battery types in the same bank, and definitely in this case.



You'll also want to make sure your alternator and charging system can handle (or limit) the acceptance of the Fireflys. It's easy to cook an alternator if you're not careful.

[sailorboy1]

I have FireFly batteries. If you had to i don't see why you couldn't add to you FLA bank. Just be sure to change all you charging voltages etc to match the FF as they are less than FLA.

Sure in a perfect world you wouldn't do this. But whose boat lves in a battery lab in controlled conditions.

[Jim Cate]

I think the OP is asking if he can increment a bank of Fireflies some time after purchasing the first one... not about mixed tech banks.

In your place OP, I'd contact Firefly directly, or via your local dealer. They likely know better than us faceless CFers.

Jim

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I think the OP is asking if he can increment a bank of Fireflies some time after purchasing the first one... not about mixed tech banks.

In your place OP, I'd contact Firefly directly, or via your local dealer. They likely know better than us faceless CFers.

Jim

Thanks Jim, thats exactly what i meant. I just sent an email to tech support at Ocean Planet.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice S.B. and Argyle. I have a good charger i can set bulk and absorb voltages independently. I would use a seperate charger between house and start banks to customize voltage for each.

[Paul L]

Since the Firefly's will be a large investment that you want to keep for many years, I would not put these into service at different times and have them age differently. Why not install some cheapo batteries to get you through the period till you can install the full Firefly set?

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Since the Firefly's will be a large investment that you want to keep for many years, I would not put these into service at different times and have them age differently. Why not install some cheapo batteries to get you through the period till you can install the full Firefly set?

Well i need 100 usable amp hours so i really need a 200 Ah bank which equals at least two group 31 12V batteries. I havnt really done a deep dive but everything i've looked at that looks half way decent is in the neighborhood of $150 per battery, if i can find some local. Add to that the fact i just wasted $400 on my Trojans and its starting to get a little painful cost wise.

I just figured now that I know my usage pattern and what the batteries have to endure...i would get the best battery that would survive it. If i bought two new FLA's i would certainly kill them again, probably fairly quickly. So it may be a case of throwing good money after bad. Is that how that saying goes?

The Firefly's seemed to be designed to endure people like me who treat their lead acid batteries the way i do or else, i just got extremely unlucky and got a couple of bad batteries from Trojan.

I'll wait to see what the guys from Ocean Planet say. If they agree adding another later wouldn't be a good idea, ill just bite the bullet and buy two. Eating is over-rated anyways....i can probably do a couple of weeks of fasting to earn back the $$$ i spent on batteries.

[sailorboy1]

You can always add new batteries to a bank. It falls again into the real world verse lab condition perfect world difference.

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

You can always add new batteries to a bank. It falls again into the real world verse lab condition perfect world difference.

Yes true and i agree. some of us probably over nerd and obsess about these things too much BUT, since i can control it now and its such a big investment, i'll try and do what i can. If i was in the south pacific and needed to add another battery to a bank i wouldn't hesitate to drop in whatever was available so long as it was safe to do.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by BAD ORCA

Yes true and i agree. some of us probably over nerd and obsess about these things too much BUT, since i can control it now and its such a big investment, i'll try and do what i can. If i was in the south pacific and needed to add another battery to a bank i wouldn't hesitate to drop in whatever was available so long as it was safe to do.

Then don't do it till you saved up enough $$$

If i had space and felt the need i wouldn't have any issue with adding more FF batteries to my 1 year old house bank of 4.

[MerMike]

I'm interested in hearing what OPE says about this. I'm planning to add one more to my 2 battery bank that I installed last year.

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by MerMike

I'm interested in hearing what OPE says about this. I'm planning to add one more to my 2 battery bank that I installed last year.

Tech at Ocean Planet said it shouldn't be an issue adding another one a few months from now.but did recommend adding a small solar panel and controller. I think the suggestion was more to help with my erratic charging regimen rather than protect the battery but would certainly accomplish both. I'm going to buy a single Firefly for now. Will have to make due for a few months and add a second one then.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by BAD ORCA

..............
two Trojans i just murdered ...............
.................................................. ....

Originally Posted by BAD ORCA

.......................
Add to that the fact i just wasted $400 on my Trojans and its starting to get a little painful cost wise.

................
.......................
If i bought two new FLA's i would certainly kill them again, probably fairly quickly. So it may be a case of throwing good money after bad.............
.........................................

The Firefly's seemed to be designed to endure people like me who treat their lead acid batteries the way i do or else, i just got extremely unlucky and got a couple of bad batteries from Trojan.

....

From two of your own posts ^^^


Have you determined what you did to "kill" your existing bank? Or were they just bad? If so, were they still under warranty? What makes you think more expensive FFs will last any longer "under your management?"

[BAD ORCA]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

From two of your own posts ^^^


Have you determined what you did to "kill" your existing bank? Or were they just bad? If so, were they still under warranty? What makes you think more expensive FFs will last any longer "under your management?"

The comment about murdering my batteries may have been a little premature. To be honest i'm not sure i actually did. I assumed i did at the moment because of the way i was using/charging them. Iv'e since ordered a hydrometer and a load tester, which should be arriving today, so i'll be able to confirm both batteries health.

They should still be under warranty. If one is bad i will try to get it replaced.

Because if i did indeed kill the Trojans i think i understand how. Iv'e since taken steps to solve the problem.

The Trojans were located under the main settee in the boat and would seriously off-gas during charging. It would burn my eyes if i was in the boat and charging the batteries. Because of this i would not properly charge them the way they should have been and would leave them in a partial state of charge for long periods of time.

There was no other location i could put them at the time. The past couple of weeks i have been making a place for them in the aft part of the boat under the cockpit where a water heater used to be. It has good ventilation and fans i can use to vent the space so charging batteries 'properly' will no longer be an issue if they offgas a bit.

If the Trojans turn out to be good i'll put them in this location and put them back into service. The Firefly, since its sealed will go under the settee where the Trojans were and will be my backup battery.

From what iv'e read about the Firefly's, they were designed to be able to go longer periods of time sitting in a partial state of charge with less negative impact.

[BAD ORCA]

It appears both T-105's are bad. wish i knew enough to test them when they were new. not sure if i killed them or they were bad when i got them?

specific gravity was 124 or less on every cell except one which was 125. it should be 128 range according to what iv'e read. load test showed both as 'weak'. one dropped to 5 volts while testing, the other to 5.5.

they were charged full yesterday afternoon and have rested for about 24 hours.