Battery Abbreviations can be Confusing?

This post was also published on the http://www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk/blog/

I must confess that although I have been in the new car battery business for at least 35 years

 There are still many things that I do not know or understand about the different batteries that are on the market, in today’s ever changing world.

I would also like to admit that at the same time I also know a lot about batteries, (confused). It only hit home to me when I promoted one of my female staff to be my depot manager. Debby is a very bright and competent member of my staff and has worked for me for many years in a part time capacity. Her children have now grown up now, so she asked if she could come back to work on a full time basis.

After weighing up one or two options, I offered Debby the job of depot manageress. All my previous

Typical AGM battery used for Start-Stop cars

managers have been male, so I thought it a good time to see what a woman could do. Debby now runs the garage and tyre part of my business, which is run separately from the battery business, which is run by myself and my wife Michelle. On a weekly basis the two sides of the business clash mainly because we offer cheap car batteries online, an these offers are taken up from the good people of Yorkshire, in other words we have customers calling in to buy our battery products, throughout the week.

This brings me to the point of the amount of knowledge that is needed when selling batteries and handling customer inquiries and problems. Both in house or on the telephone. We have also started to employ a couple of apprentices and they have the same problem. Like anything else it all takes time and if you are interested enough then the knowledge will slowly sink in.

New battery meanings, such as AGM and Gel come to mind.

I can actually remember when we diversified from just selling cheap car batteries online and started to diversify to other products such as the Lucas LX31MF battery and other cheap leisure batteries, we had a whole new phrase book to learn. What I am getting at is the fact that if we are finding out about different products and things are getting little more complicated?so how about the public, when they have to choose  a battery?

Terms that spring to mind are, AGM or VRLA? What does this stand for? Many different batteries, for many types of installation will have these letters showing somewhere on the battery and it will be important that you buy the correct one. Another common type of battery is one known as GEL, but these are becoming less common in favour of the AGM battery.

AGM battery will probably be seen as one of the commonest types of battery and comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes and power ratings. These batteries are made to supply electrical power to many different applications such as golf trolleys, solar energy storage, bait feeders for anglers, batteries that power stair lifts for the disabled, back-up power systems (also known as UPS batteries, just to confuse things even further), the list goes on and on.

The AGM battery can also be known as the VRLA battery, this stands for “valve regulated lead acid battery” and the two types are virtually the same battery. The AGM battery is sealed unit and will not spill out any acid, even if the battery is fitted on its side, the acid will not leak. This is because the acid is not free flowing, but is filled with a type of glass matting, hence the term AGM “absorbed glass matting”. By adding this glass fibre, then the batteries increased surface area gives them more power when compared with a standard 12 volt battery that we use on many of our cars.

These batteries are sealed and maintenance free and does not require any topping up, and will not give off any gasses. The battery also, has deeper cycles that the standard car battery and holds the charge for longer, making it suitable for multiple applications. These batteries are also fitted with an internal safety valve, which will operate in extremely hot temperature; this is the valve regulated part of the battery VRLA.

AGM batteries are generally more expensive than regular car batteries, but because they last longer, are more cost effective. Many car manufacturers are now using AGM batteries to power the new Start-Stop battery technology that is used to reduce emissions in today’s modern cars. They are also used in ships and boats, because they are sealed, they will not spill and mix with sea water. The mixture  of battery acid and sea water gives off a very poisonous gas, which is very dangerous to humans.

AGM sealed ODYSSEY battery

Solar energy storage is the next big thing for the AGM battery. As we build up a system of solar panels and wind turbines, then there is more need to store the energy from the sun and then release the electricity at night when the sun goes down. A bank of AGM batteries is perfectly suited for this job. This includes large banks of batteries in our towns and cities, to help reduce surges in power especially on sunny days.

GEL batteries are very similar to the AGM ones that I have explained about. The GEL battery has had gel added to the electrolyte instead of glass matting and so has different charging cycle. This is the main complication for people; we very often have golfers calling into us asking for a Gel battery when it is an AGM that they really want. The GEL was thought to be much stronger than the AGM batteries, but over time the AGM was proved to be a more resilient battery.

The two types of batteries also require different chargers, if you have a GEL battery fitted to your appliance, then you will have a different charging system and you must stick to the GEL battery, they will not intermix.

To finalise I feel that the AGM battery has still got a future, but the Lithium-Ion battery may be the one to finally replace it, only time will tell, the AGM battery has been around a long time now, and has been proved and tested and can be almost completely recycled. The Lithium-Ion battery has still yet to prove itself and the recycling position is still not known, so only time will tell.

 Disclaimer

Please note these are the words and opinion of the author (Eric Roberts) only. Neither the author nor the website can be held responsible for any errors or omissions. You should seek professional assistance if in doubt about your choice of battery. The article may contain a link to Batteriesontheweb where you can buy battery products online.

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.

Batteries for Ariel Lifts and Industrial Pick and Carry Cranes (Cherry Pickers)

Batteries for Ariel Lifts and  (Cherry Pickers)

I decided to do an article about this type of industrial equipment, because (A) I know nothing about them apart from you see them working on building sites, lifting men and equipment up and down. (B) I am a Trojan battery dealer for Yorkshire UK and therefore should know about these machines.

Another reason that I am interested in, is the growing change over to Lithium-Ion battery technology and the

Cherry Picker in action

affect that it will have on the years old lead acid battery industry, including the field of lifting equipment. I discovered that this was going to be a good time to do this because some manufacturers of this equipment were in fact starting to use Lithium-ion battery systems onto their new equipment. At the same time as Trojan and US Batteries were also improving their own deep cycle battery products.

Ariel lifts and pick and carry cranes also operate on semi-traction and full-traction batteries, which are of course the same lead acid batteries that we have been using for almost 100 years. This I one of the reasons that I wanted to delve into the technology aspect of this industry, because there has been huge advances in battery development in other industries, mainly as I have stated the Lithium-Ion (li-On) battery technology that has come on in leaps and bounds over the past five years.

The introduction on the Li-On battery will have a major impact on the 150,000 scissor lifts across Europe, never mind the companies such as Trojan batteries, who will probably have to make radical changes, although I cannot believe that manufacturing the new technologies will not be on their minds. The market is also seen a rise in the use of improved GEL battery products as well as LI-On batteries.

The change in battery types is not expected to change radically over the next fifteen years, mainly because things have improved with the introduction of new motor controls and electric circuitry that help to prolong the batteries life span. A big leap forward the machine development over the past two years has been the introduction of the direct electric AC drive motors. These are now used by most of the manufacturing companies such as Snorkel, Skyjack and Upright, using this technology that helps extend the life of the batteries.

Lithium-Ion batteries not yet cost effective

As I have previously stated the machine manufacturers are reluctant to try out new batteries such as Li-On batteries because of the extra cost that would be involved in an upgrade. However a machine manufacturer has started to use Li-on batteries, these are Hinowa – Goldlift tracked machine.

Hinowa were started in 1987 and started to build machines for the building industry. The company set out making tracked vehicles for different industries including construction and agriculture. Hinowa sell primarily to the European market, with 80% of their sales being in this market. The company has its base in the province of Verona in Italy and it was from here that they designed and made a tracked lift that was battery operated.

Trojan battery

The problem that was associated with tracked vehicles was that the tracks created a drag and the machines were only a narrow size and so it was difficult to build a suitable battery pack that would work. However enter the Li-On battery? These type of batteries suit this type of machine very, without me going into technical jargon you should read the follow description from the Hinowa web site… http://www.hinowa.com/scheda.asp?idprod=527&idpadrerif=18&selflang=en

I think that it will be closer than some experts think before Li-On batteries are used in more applications, including these “Cherry picker” machines.

One company that is still relying on the older technology Trojan batteries have indeed brought out a new GEL battery. This new GEL battery is heavy duty deep cell battery giving 210 amps per hour. The new battery contains a new GEL electrolyte sulphuric acid, silica and uses pure de-mineralised water, de-ionised water and phosphoric acid which Trojan say gives the battery a more consistent performance and also gives the battery a longer life.

For more information about this battery please see…http://www.trojanbattery.com/products/deep-cycle-gel/ 

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.

  

 

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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