What Battery Bank to Replace One Destroyed By Rodents?

[Chotu]

So mice chewed through my solar wire while I was away.

This left my batteries dead for months. They only hold 11.5V now. Dead. Destroyed.

They were a set of 4 Trojan T105s. I’ve been using this type of battery for decades.

I was thinking of upgrading to 6 of these because I’m doing a real apartment size refrigerator.

I will have 1440 watts of solar and currently have 700 watts of that installed using an Outback charge controller.

I have a Link/Xantrex battery monitor and small inverter too. Will be upgrading to a 2000 watt pure sine inverter for running some appliances.

What sort of batteries should I get?

I’m not looking for a project, to spend $20,000 on batteries or to learn lots of new stuff about building batteries.

I’m looking for batteries I can set and mostly forget after entering in the right charge parameters on my Outback solar controller.

What type of batteries would you get?

[sailorboy1]

There ate really only 2 improvements: lithium and Firefly carbon foam. When i went through the decision 2 months ago i decided on the Firefly. Here is a thread so wouldn't retupe.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There ate really only 2 improvements: lithium and Firefly carbon foam. When i went through the decision 2 months ago i decided on the Firefly. Here is a thread so wouldn't retupe.

Ok. Checking out the firefly batteries.

Meanwhile, any changes in the landscape when it comes to FLAs?

I don’t feel like Trojans are as robust as they were decades ago.

[tanglewood]

Mice? Don't you have a cat?




Sorry, I couldn't help myself

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

There ate really only 2 improvements: lithium and Firefly carbon foam. When i went through the decision 2 months ago i decided on the Firefly. Here is a thread so wouldn't retupe.

I can see the benefits of the Firefly batteries.

Only a few extra dollars per C/20 AH rating, but you get the faster charging and less worry over all.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Mice? Don't you have a cat?




Sorry, I couldn't help myself

That was a good one!! Lazy cat.

[rslifkin]

If you're going flooded, Rolls is pretty much as good as it gets. Stuff in that ballpark will be better then the Trojans. You could also go gel. I wouldn't bother with AGM unless you need the faster charge/discharge capability, as you can handle the needs of flooded batteries. Beyond that, firefly or lithium are the other upgrades.

[mvmojo]

If you've got 1440 watts of solar, you can easily have 10 6v batteries for over 1,100 a/h capacity. As live-aboards, we ran this configuration with 1,000 watts of solar panels and an Outback 80a controller. We ran a 4 cu ft a/c refrigerator, a 5 cu ft chest freezer, a 1,000 watt microwave as well as lights, fans, etc. and never worried about batteries. And because solar is "gentle" charging, our batteries lasted between 8 and 10 years with monthly watering. We buy EGC2 golf cart batteries at Sam's Club. Price has gone up over the years from $75 ea to now $125 ea, but still less expensive than any other option!

[Scrimshaw4]

Since they are wet cell they might be restorable. Have you taken them to a battery supplier and had them "shaken"?

[guyrj33]

I’m pleased with the watering system we added to our GC2 batteries, much easier to top off.

[tkeithlu]

Past threads have concluded that among flooded and AGM batteries the Duracells from Sam's Club are the best price/quality.

https://www.samsclub.com/b/marine-batteries/3990113

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by tkeithlu

Past threads have concluded that among flooded and AGM batteries the Duracells from Sam's Club are the best price/quality.

https://www.samsclub.com/b/marine-batteries/3990113

Damn. Wish I saw this earlier.

I got a new set of Trojans. Mostly due to availability and needing them today.

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by tanglewood

Mice? Don't you have a cat?




Sorry, I couldn't help myself

True. Life mice in the bowel of a cat is not good...

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by mvmojo

If you've got 1440 watts of solar, you can easily have 10 6v batteries for over 1,100 a/h capacity. As live-aboards, we ran this configuration with 1,000 watts of solar panels and an Outback 80a controller. We ran a 4 cu ft a/c refrigerator, a 5 cu ft chest freezer, a 1,000 watt microwave as well as lights, fans, etc. and never worried about batteries. And because solar is "gentle" charging, our batteries lasted between 8 and 10 years with monthly watering. We buy EGC2 golf cart batteries at Sam's Club. Price has gone up over the years from $75 ea to now $125 ea, but still less expensive than any other option!

Good tip on those batteries. I grabbed the Trojans after all because they were locally available and I know them. Didn’t see these latest answers in time.


I definitely don’t want 800 lbs of batteries on board my boat. My electrical system is designed to be functional and light weight at the same time. The storage is kind of minimal and the solar is huge. The way that works is I run the big loads during the day. When they can be run directly from solar. Overnight, we go into a low power mode.Which makes sense, because we are sleeping anyway. Just the refrigerator will be on. Maybe some phones charging. Incidental loads that have nothing to do with the actual battery bank size.

All HVAC is generator power and the lights are all LED.

[Tayana42]

Chotu, if the problem was mice chewing the wires what are you going to do to prevent that. I’ve been told that the wire insulation is made of something vegetable that rodents like. Are there wires that aren’t attractive to mice or are protected from gnawing?