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Old 09-18-2013, 10:06 AM   #81
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From my local and very accommodative Batteries Plus store...

Few years ago I outfitted our Tolly with 4 - 31 EXTREME deep cells, one 27 EXTREME combo starter/deep cell, and a 2 amp charger that keeps our on-board independently stored 27 spare topped-off for emergencies. Total cost was not far over $500. All are wet cell batts.

We get all our batts from BP. Longevity and power available from each type batt we’ve gotten has been outstanding. Their really good customer service is appreciated.

Also, BP cell ph and watch batts out perform/out-last any others we've used.

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Old 09-19-2013, 01:05 PM   #82
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4 new 6 volt batteries . With inverter on only getting 97 volts at my 110 receptacles . Where should I start looking?
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Old 09-19-2013, 01:51 PM   #83
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4 new 6 volt batteries . With inverter on only getting 97 volts at my 110 receptacles . Where should I start looking?
Your may fine. Plug in an AC load like a light bulb and test the voltage at another inverted outlet. Some inverters have what I call a sleep/idle mode. They're on but at rest and need a load to operate as rated.
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Old 09-19-2013, 04:16 PM   #84
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Larry's idea is a good one. If i doesn't work then open up AC wire out panel on the inverter and test the AC voltage at the wire connections.

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Old 09-19-2013, 04:24 PM   #85
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You may be fine. Do you have a modified sine or true sine inverter? If you have a modified sine inverter and you don't have a true rms meter, you will probably read about 100 volts AC. Check to see what you have, and possibly borrow a true rms meter. With it you might have 115-120 volts. I did this same thing several years ago and asked the maintenance EE at work. He explained the problem and lent me his Fluke 87 meter. I had a Fluke 23 which is not true RMS. Different meter, problem solved.
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Old 09-19-2013, 06:52 PM   #86
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Try a Kill-A-Watt meter. They're only about $20. My POS Xantrex consistently reads 118-120V on that. It reads when an appliance is connected through it.
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Old 09-19-2013, 11:42 PM   #87
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..... Where should I start looking?
Not trying to be an *******....but you might try starting another thread!!!!
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Old 09-20-2013, 06:13 AM   #88
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Sorry I'm a carpenter not an electrician. I thought this could have related to the new batteries I just bought that had been on the shelf for a year.
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Old 09-20-2013, 06:17 AM   #89
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Sorry I'm a carpenter not an electrician. I thought this could have related to the new batteries I just bought that had been on the shelf for a year.
Hahaha....no worries. Maybe I was being a bit of an *******... But your issue does seem worthy of it's own thread.
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Old 09-20-2013, 06:47 AM   #90
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No that's not being an a-hole . I work the real ones in a lumber mill everyday.I'll start a new thread when I get to the boat.
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Old 09-21-2013, 05:26 AM   #91
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>I thought this could have related to the new batteries I just bought that had been on the shelf for a year.>

Put them in the trunk of your car and go to a place that repairs golf carts.

They will have a capacitance style battery checker (expen$ive) that will tell you the state of your year old batts.

Should take 5 min for 1/2 dozen batts and will give a realistic report of their condition.

Batts will loose 1% to 3% internally per month , so a year of sitting could be there sulphated to scrap already , only having 10%-or 20% of their rated capacity after a full charge.
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Old 09-25-2013, 11:27 AM   #92
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Well, the DieHard Group 31 Platinum Marine AGMs are bought and installed. I will let y'all know how it goes....
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Old 09-25-2013, 12:04 PM   #93
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Hey John, what's the warranty on those? Am looking to upgrade next year and like what I've seen of these.
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Old 09-30-2013, 10:49 AM   #94
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Hey John, what's the warranty on those? Am looking to upgrade next year and like what I've seen of these.
Damn dude...sorry. I just saw this. The warranty is 3 years full replacement. That is not the only thing that sold me. It is also the fact that you can take the battery out and go to your nearest Sears and look somebody in the eye while having them replace it on warranty.

Another thing is...I guess I put a lot of weight in Internet ratings. They rated VERY highly(4.8 stars). I had a friend that said he could get me some Energizers from Sam's for $180. I looked at the internet reviews on that thing and it was 1 star with multiple reviews....most of them one word replies for every word that is synonymous with "junk". Anyway.....

Lastly, and completely of no consequence....they are this cool ass ice blue with a grey top. With all 5 tucked away in their respective spots...they look pretty badass....kinda livens up the engine space!!!
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Old 09-30-2013, 12:50 PM   #95
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Sells me. Most important thing you pointed out aside from 3 year full replacement is being able to go straight to Sears and make eye contact with the person honoring the warranty IMO.
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Old 09-30-2013, 06:41 PM   #96
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Deka is East Penn and they are the second largest battery manufacturer. most of what they make is private labeled. My company is an East Penn dealer and we're in the truck parts business. earlier in this thread i suggested calling your local truck parts dealer or call East Penn directly and ask them. Don't mention marine as they will refer you to a boat dealer and we all know what that anchor decal does to prices. Tell the truck parts guy you want an AGM in the 8D size. It will take him a day to get it but the price will be a lot less. You might be able to buy one cheaper on the internet, but then you will have to pay the freight for a 150 lb battery. if anyone in the Philadelphia, South Jersey area needs a battery, send me a pm (for that matter, we have locations from Maine to South Carolina)

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Old 03-02-2017, 02:52 AM   #97
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Faster charging for AGMs. In practice what does this mean.

AGMs are touted as permitting faster charging then lead acid. In the real world, Bay Pelican, does this have any practical effect?

Bay Pelican has 12 Trojan 105 six volt batteries. Two chargers, one Magnum, one Victron, are used with the bank split in half, thus each charger charges six batteries for a total of 675AH. In the bulk charge stage each charger will output about 100 amps then quickly drop down. The 100 amp is within the limits for charging of a 675 AH lead acid bank.

If I switch to AGMs and use the AGM setting on both chargers will the bulk charging state run longer than with the lead acids. If not I have no faster charging.

Can anyone explain how this would work?
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Old 03-02-2017, 06:39 AM   #98
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Faster charging for AGMs. In practice what does this mean.

AGMs are touted as permitting faster charging then lead acid. In the real world, Bay Pelican, does this have any practical effect?

Bay Pelican has 12 Trojan 105 six volt batteries. Two chargers, one Magnum, one Victron, are used with the bank split in half, thus each charger charges six batteries for a total of 675AH. In the bulk charge stage each charger will output about 100 amps then quickly drop down. The 100 amp is within the limits for charging of a 675 AH lead acid bank.

If I switch to AGMs and use the AGM setting on both chargers will the bulk charging state run longer than with the lead acids. If not I have no faster charging.

Can anyone explain how this would work?
My first guess would be that you're maybe not using enough DC ("100 amps quickly drop down") to warrant a huge need for faster charging.

If you were using more of your capacity on a daily basis, the 100-amp charge could last for several hours. For example, our charger could hold its max absorption rate for up to 4 hours, if batteries required that, and before that they'd only begin drop off as batteries begin to accept less current. I'd suspect yours would probably hold that rate longer if you needed it. If you had AGMs, the "several hours" could be shorter than with FLAs... maybe.

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Old 03-02-2017, 06:56 AM   #99
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If you know which battery manufacturer you want to use for the AGMs, go to their website and see if they have a document on changing parameters for there batteries. For the money you will spend on the batteries, it's crazy not to atleast know the manufacturer's guidelines before buying them.

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Old 03-02-2017, 10:24 AM   #100
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Faster charging for AGMs. In practice what does this mean.

AGMs are touted as permitting faster charging then lead acid. In the real world, Bay Pelican, does this have any practical effect?

Bay Pelican has 12 Trojan 105 six volt batteries. Two chargers, one Magnum, one Victron, are used with the bank split in half, thus each charger charges six batteries for a total of 675AH. In the bulk charge stage each charger will output about 100 amps then quickly drop down. The 100 amp is within the limits for charging of a 675 AH lead acid bank.

If I switch to AGMs and use the AGM setting on both chargers will the bulk charging state run longer than with the lead acids. If not I have no faster charging.

Can anyone explain how this would work?
You're charging at approx 0.15C or just 15% of Ah capacity. This is light for your bank size. Also, if you are not maximizing your Trojan charging, by setting absorption to 14.8V (temp compensated), then you could be getting more into the batteries in a shorter time frame and treating them in a considerably more healthy fashion. Most boats I set foot on are grossly under charging flooded Trojans and also grossly under absorbing them time wise.



Sure the Coulombic efficiency of an AGM is better than flooded (AGM, GEL and Flooded are all lead acid chemistry) so it converts more incoming energy at high states of charge, to stored energy but, unless you can maximize the charge rate to 25% to 40% + of Ah capacity, you're not really doing AGM's any favors nor maximizing the potential benefits.

Lifeline for example wants to see a minimum charge rate of 20% and Odyssey, the inventors of TPPL AGM's, want to see a minimum charge rate of 40% of Ah capacity for optimal cycle life. This is a 40A charge rate for a 100Ah battery or 270A charge rate on a 675 Ah bank.

There is also a rather wide quality spread among AGM's and how they handle PSOC use (partial state of charge). For info and comparisons between brands see the May 2015 and August 2015 issues of Practical Sailor. In this PSOC testing the Deka/East Penn AGM, Lifeline AGM, Northstar TPPL AGM, Odyssey TPPL AGM and Firefly Carbon Foam AGM were compared in a head to head 30 day PSOC test.

Not to be a spoiler but one AGM lost nearly 30% of its Ah capacity, in 30 PSOC cycles, and one battery lost no Ah capacity at all.. Not all AGM batteries are created equal.
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