Good Housekeeping will help you maintain Good Battery Life

How to help maintain Good Battery Life

One of the up and coming trends these days is that people are starting to build battery banks for the storage of power from their solar panels and wind turbines. But in my opinion it does not just start there, a good system of maintenance is essential to keep your batteries in good condition.

We have noticed that one of the recent trends is for people to buy Cheap Leisure Batteries for this purpose and one of the reasons is because the internet has driven down the prices of these batteries and they being used more and more for battery storage and also for the battery banks that are used on canal boats and other river craft.

A few years ago the main batteries used these boats were in reality Truck Batteries. The change came when companies like Johnson Controls started to make similar size batteries that came with thicker plates, for increased storage capacity. These batteries were really Starter Batteries, but will now double up as storage batteries. The most popular one is  110 amp Leisure Battery, that is marketed by Numax and a couple of other battery companies.

These batteries sort of double up as a starter and storage battery, but must not be mistaken for a genuine storage battery, which is an AGM (Absorbed Glass Matting) that is a deep cycle battery. These batteries now cost about twice the price as a Leisure Battery, but are solely made for the storage of electricity. These are in fact the correct batteries for the job of the energy storing of solar power, but they are more expensive and do not need as much looking after as the 12 volt lead acid batteries that are now more commonly used. One important thing to remember is that you must not dis-charge your leisure below 80%, because this will damage your batteries. AGM batteries can be totally discharged and will make a full recovery, this is one of the reasons that they cost more money, they have much more plate capacity and storage than a lead-acid battery.

A couple of battery facts

The leisure battery is a flooded lead-acid battery and does require some looking after to keep them in tip-top condition. The main ones now come in a sealed casing with a blow off valve that will go off if the battery gets overheated for some reason, letting the built up pressure escape. Some leisure batteries especially the smaller 75 amp Leisure Batteries do have screw tops similar to some car batteries; these must be looked after as follows.

Adding Water to the battery

If you have a screw top battery or batteries, it is important to check the fluid levels (electrolyte) on a regular basis. This is because the battery gives off some gasses while in operation (oxygen and hydrogen), this depletes the amount of liquid in the battery and will need topping up with distilled water. You can buy this at your local auto store, or use the water that is produced from a certain type of electric dryer. The electrolyte Car batteries, but most car batteries are now sealed similar to the sealed leisure batteries.

Typical 110 amp leisure battery now in common use

needs to cover the tops of the plates, there is usually a marker to guide you to the correct level. Older people amongst us will remember having to do this with their

In hot weather the batteries with screw caps also loose the liquid due to evaporation, but here in the UK the effects of weather are minimal. It is also a good idea to be methodical and make a note of when you had to top the battery up, this is because it is the first sign of a battery cell problem if the cell keeps on needing fresh water.

Keep you battery bank clean and dirt free

This applies to the Battery terminals; we have all seen the corrosion that can take place wherever battery acid is present, and this is no different on a battery bank. It is important to watch out for this and a good battery terminals.

battery bank for solar storage

preventative measure is to smear the terminals with petroleum jelly. A good trade name for this in the UK is (Vaseline), this will protest the battery terminals from corroding and develop the nasty white powder that forms around

Also inspect your connecting wires, a corroded or terminal could form a high resistance on a system that is connected in series and will prevent the batteries from charging and dis-charging correctly and creating an imbalance in the battery bank, with a possibility of reducing the battery banks performance and lowering the life of the batteries in the entire bank.

To conclude the article you are better of using AGM Batteries for any type of storage in a bank or indeed in two’s or three’s .and use a reputable make ,such as Trojan batteries that are on sale on www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk  and they will last you up to four times longer than a leisure battery. I also know though that people do use free flow lead acid batteries that are on sale as leisure batteries, but do not let them drain completely and look after your batteries no matter what type they are and they will last longer.

Using DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES for your BOAT

 DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES for your BOAT

The type of boat that this article is referring to is perhaps the bigger boat that may occasionally take to the sea and do longer journeys, perhaps up and estuaries or fishing using nets.

Some canal boats also come into this category, especially if they are lived in for most of the time and use electricity for such things as freezers and TV sets. This also includes vessels that use bilge pumps and other electrical equipment for most of the day, I am also thinking about inverters. The correct batteries for this application are deep cycle batteries.

How can you tell if you have deep cycle batteries or not?

Deep cycle batteries usually have a reserve capacity or RC for short. This is the reserve capacity that a battery requires to maintain a useful voltage and is measured by the number of minutes it takes to hold onto a reasonable voltage when under a 25 ampere discharge. The RC reference will only be on the label of a deep cycle battery, if the label reads a Amp-Hour or CCA (cold cranking amp) reference then it likely that the battery is starter battery and will NOT be suitable for the purpose of deep cycling.

In my opinion, this where many this is where many people go wrong. They look on the internet or Ebay and see the cheaper leisure batteries advertised, thing that they are the thing that they want. Most of these leisure batteries are OK for a motor home or caravan, but they are not deep cycle batteries and will not last two minutes when used on a boating situation.

The genuine deep cycle batteries are made using much thicker plates and lead grids, which are the things that hold the plates together. The rest of the materials used such as the oxides and separator materials are made of much heavier duty materials, in order to give this type of battery a much deeper capacity. The cranking batteries that are used as car starter batteries are made of much lighter materials that make them much cheaper than the deep cycle batteries and they are only used to produce enough power to start a car’s engine and not to store large amounts of power. 

More reading... http://www.sailnet.com/forums/electrical-systems/63682-battery-confusion-amp-hours-vs-reserve-capacity.html

The starter battery cannot be used as a storage battery but the deep cycle battery can be used for both starting and storage.

The thing to look out for as I have said earlier is the RC rating and the higher the rating the better. You should get the biggest battery that you can fit into your battery compartment, without DE-stabilising your boat? Remember these batteries are very heavy due the heavy duty materials that they are made of.

You should buy the biggest deep cycle battery that will fit your boat, it will last much longer and give your battery a longer life by not having to use as many discharge and recharge cycles. For example this same battery might last 650 cycles if it is only discharged 50 percent on each fishing day, 1,500 cycles if discharged only 25 percent and 3,500 cycles if discharged only 10 percent.

The bottom line is that you pay for what you get, like anything in life. The bigger battery that you can afford that is deep cycle with a high RC rating the longer it will last you in the long run and the better service you will get out of your battery.

Some systems on the larger boats also run on 36 volt and 24 volt systems, so that is well worth watching out for. AGM are the most popular type of battery that is used. The AGM stands for (absorbed glass matting). The glass matting absorbs the electrolyte and so there is no liquid in the cells. The batteries can therefore be sealed and will not leak even if the battery casing is punctured. This type of battery can charge and re-charge faster than a flooded battery, but the downside is that they are heavier and more expensive to buy in the first place.

Gel batteries are also maintenance free similar to the AGM batteries, but are filled with a gel additive which sets in the battery making them maintenance free batteries. Both GEL and AGM batteries work under a slight amount of internal pressure and are equipped with a release valve should the pressure exceed the limits, due to excessive heat either in charging or operating conditions.

The difference is that you should not use the same charger for a GEL and an AGM battery. The GEL battery works at a much lower charge rate and if an AGM charger was used then the battery will overheat and cook in a short period of time. In my opinion the GEL battery is falling out of favour because they are the heaviest and the most expensive of the three different types of battery suitable for boats, and require a special charger.

So remember choosing the right battery for your needs and taking good care of it will save you money and keep your boat running longer.

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery company www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Easter coming up Time- To Check Out Your Caravan Battery

Its Time To Check Out Your Caravan Battery

As people know who are regular caravaner’s will know most up to date modern caravans are equipped with three sources of power, these are gas, the 12volt battery and the mains electricity that can be found on either at home or on the touring caravan sites.

If the caravan owner runs out of gas or the mains electricity are not available, then they have will have their 12volt battery to fall back on. This will power the caravan lights, and water pump along with your other 12volt appliances, obviously providing that your leisure battery is in tip top condition  and has been looked

This caravan will be fitted with the larger 110 amp leisure battery

after and charged over the winter dormant period.

Caravan owners will realise that they have actually got at least two 12volt batteries, they have a car battery and the one that they use on the caravan (some have more than one). The car battery is different to the leisure battery that you will have fitted in the caravan, as it is primarily used to start the car using CCA (cold cranking amps) and because of this the car battery has different plates inside the battery. These plates are perforated to give a larger surface area, which gives the battery more power when starting your car.

The caravan battery is supplied with thicker plates for more power storage;

 this storage can be used at a later time, say in the evening to power the 12volt electrical items, such as the TV or radio. Although it is generally recommended not to use the leisure battery for starting your car, we know of late that people with 4x4 vehicles have started to us the 110 amp leisure battery as a starter battery and a winch operator and they say that they work fine. You learn every day as they say.

In the past five or six years a new breed of leisure battery has come onto the market and has been heavily publicised at the large caravan and touring vehicle shows, up and down the UK. These batteries come in the trade names of Numax and Lucas are developed by the giant battery company Johnson Controls of America. These batteries have now stood the length of time that to me proves there worth and in my opinion I think that they are an excellent product and should be considered if you require a new leisure battery for you caravan. These batteries come in different sizes to suite your caravan’s capacity requirements, and have replaced the more expensive AGM batteries.

The AGM batteries though are coming back in fashion because of the increasing use of caravan owners using solar panels to re-charge their batteries and this enables them to go to more places that may not require the electric mains to charge up their batteries. The AGM battery has a far larger capacity to charge and dis-charge and is indeed known as a Deep Cycle battery and is more suitable for the use with solar power panels. These batteries are old technology and are made by many different battery companies, a popular one is the 70amp battery, and anything above this is a very heavy battery to move around. The weight of the battery should be taken into consideration, when buying your new battery as some are as much as 30 kg in weight.

The size and weight of the caravan battery are very important

This is due to the fact that most modern caravans have integral lockers and this may restrict the size of the battery that you can fit. The size of the locker would also depend of the size and make of your caravan, but it is still worth checking your size restrictions before you buy your new battery. The older caravans would put

Smaller rigs like this vintage VW will usean 85 amp caravan battery

the battery in any old place, even beside the gas bottle, but the new safety conscious caravans have a separate locker where the battery fits and this could also restrict the size of the battery so it is well worth the effort of measuring the old battery, or buying one with the same measurements as the old battery, do not be tempted to buy a bigger battery just for the sake of it.

You will usually find that most caravans come with an 85 amp leisure battery. In my opinion this battery is adequate for the regular caravaner that goes away for long weekends and a couple of weeks holiday a year and the weight of this battery is easy manageable, if you have an awkward place for the battery to fit. If you have one of the larger caravans and have more electrical gadgets then you should go for the 100 amp leisure battery or the 110 amp leisure battery, bearing in mind that these batteries are heavy to lift.

Here are some examples of the power that some of the common equipment will use.

An average fluorescent light tube    0.75 amps current for 5 hours  uses 3.75 amps per hour                                         

An  average colour TV                         3.00 amps  current for 2 hours uses 3.00 amps per hour

Two reading lamps (his and hers)     2.00 amps current for 2 hours uses 3.00 amps per hour

Water pump                                          7.00 amps current  for 0.25 hours uses 1.75 amps per hour

These figures are just a guide and may slightly differ from one caravan to another. For more information …http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/helpandadvice/technicalhelp/power/your-leisure-battery/

Eric Roberts

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery companywww.batteriesontheweb.co.uk. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

Types of Batteries for Solar Power Storage

Different types of Batteries for your Solar Power Storage

As we probably all know the storage of solar energy will become more and more of a factor in the coming years ahead as more and more consumers realize the savings that are to be made by investing in solar panels, and it thought that the photovoltaic storage systems are going to reach very high levels of demand.

Europe’s largest country, Germany is expecting that the capacity from solar energy will increase from eight megawatts to a massive 4900 megawatts from now (2014) to 2017. This will also include a storage system with an estimated lifespan of about 20 years.

This 20 years lifespan also includes the ability to be able to store any excess solar power in a battery storage system. This is for when the sun is not shining and the solar panels are not putting

in any power to the system, then the backup batteries that have stored the energy will be able to supply the stored power to the household.

The traditional batteries that are used at present are the old favorites, lead acid batteries, AGM batteries (absorbed glass matting), and GEL sealed batteries, golf cart batteries which are the same as the AGM and GEL and can also be classed as deep cycle batteries. These batteries are all priced differently and in my opinion you pay for what you get. An excellent web site to explain each type of battery is…http://www.freesunpower.com/batteries.php

The new kid on the block is the Lithium-Ion batteries that are now been used by many solar panels manufacturers. In fact I have noticed that they are now making a complete unit which includes an inverter and a lithium battery as an integral part of the package. The Lithium batteries are usually more expensive but are promised to have a longer life span than the lead acid battery types, although at the moment I do not think that this has been proven.

The most popular types used in the USA are the deep cycle batteries used at the moment as leisure batteries and marine batteries on canal boats many other types of water craft. These types of batteries are able to take a large discharge and then recover when being charged back up, either by solar panels or another type of charging system. Special types of these batteries have now been developed by the large battery manufacturers. Trojan batteries now make a battery that is specific to storing solar energy and wind power. This type of battery is also used in backup systems for large installations such as hospitals where a backup system is needed in case of a mains power outage.

These types of batteries are the more expensive ones amongst the lead acid type batteries, but they are cheaper than the Lithium batteries. But I guess you get what you pay for, because a lead acid type battery will start to lose its capacity after about 3000 cycles of being charged and discharged, where as a lithium-Ion battery is capable of completing 7000 full cycles.

How does the Lithium-Ion battery work for solar power storage?

The development of the Li-Ion battery, has not yet been finalised, and at the moment the battery industry are working on development of a more robust material, for a higher performance electrode. Today’s Li-Ion batteries are using a graphite material for the anode and lithium metal for the anode, this serves as a chemical reactant for the graphite. It is expected though to use a newer material for the anodes, made from lithium-titanium. This change will bring down the price of these batteries to the level of the lead acid batteries, but this is in the future and at the moment the deep cycle AGM batteries are the favorite choice for the majority of solar power storage units, whether large or small.

Eric Roberts 

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I have worked in the Garage and tyre and I am MD for online battery company www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk. I have worked for a couple for national tyre companies in my younger days, before starting my first business. I now own a garage and MOT testing centre, here in the UK called Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre, and I am a keen blogger about anything to do with cars and their related products that will help my business. We are members of Point-S and Motor-Codes and are also a Unipart Car Care Centre and of course Tyre-safe.

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