Second battery for long-term health

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: johnachak

????????
I bring my boat batteries in for the winter, put them on tenders and in the spring they are ready to rock.
I would love to know where you heard that they would "spoil". Only guys that leave their batteries in the cold seem to be the ones with battery problems in my experience.


Fully charged battery is great. Chilled battery is even better. Grid/electrode corrosion is a chemical process that is temp dependent. Each increase 10C doubles the corrosion rate.
This is why batteries last only 2-3 years in south, even if fully charged.

 

[nitehawk55]

Originally Posted By: johnachak
He's talking about 7 cars IIRC.


Maybe it's time to lean the collection

 

[Shannow]

Not understanding too much battery theory stuff...wouldn't it be cheaper to defer buying the second battery until the first on failed ?

Sounds like it's one of those equations that gets 40% yield for 100% extra cost.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Not understanding too much battery theory stuff...wouldn't it be cheaper to defer buying the second battery until the first on failed ?

Sounds like it's one of those equations that gets 40% yield for 100% extra cost.


Agree. I have almost dead battery in my boat (10 year old!). But, I'm not buying a new one before the boating season next year.

 

[kc8adu]

bury a line out the south facing side out of the shade and install solar panel there?
like a 10w panel and a cheap charge controller to maintain several batteries.
thats how i do my shed.the weedeater,motorcycle,jump box,and rechargeable emergency light are all kept topped up.
i use anderson powerpoles rather than sae though.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Not understanding too much battery theory stuff...wouldn't it be cheaper to defer buying the second battery until the first on failed ?

Sounds like it's one of those equations that gets 40% yield for 100% extra cost.


Depends. If you have a car with a lot of electronics on it, and that has smart algorithms for certain things, you dont necesarily want to push it that far. For a dumb car setup, like my MB where the only load is a clock, right, may not care quite as much. Plus, it is easy to sulfate batteries from sitting long term - Im not checking them regularly, so I want to just defer timing until the battery gets to a critical low, which can be fairly short on cars with a big lectrical draw.

The loose battery would never see the underhood or outside temps, and would be easy to keep fully topped up... So it would easily see 10+ year life. I might even buy a 20yr rated UPS battery. Amortized over a long time, it is cheap, and if it keeps my SLI battery in car happier for longer, then the economics are doubly good.

I highly doubt that the $100+ Id pay for a quality solar panel and charge controller would have as long of a lifecycle. The panel exposed to the elements may not last more than a few years. A $79 kirkland battery from Costco would be cheaper and last. Just my initial 2c.

 

[KrisZ]

Why not buy one of those 12v power supplies that are designed for LED strips? These are low amperage units and can be bought with multiple outputs and run from a regular 110v home circuit.
I guess you would have to come up with a battery overcharge protection on your own, but running the supply on a cheap timer, say an hour or two a day, would probably work as well.

 

[kc8adu]

the panel i am using is 24 years old.its a 15w solarex and the controller is a homebrew similar to the micro m+.
depending on your area theft may be more of a concern than wearout.
just dont buy harbor freight grade stuff and you will be fine.
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Not understanding too much battery theory stuff...wouldn't it be cheaper to defer buying the second battery until the first on failed ?

Sounds like it's one of those equations that gets 40% yield for 100% extra cost.




I highly doubt that the $100+ Id pay for a quality solar panel and charge controller would have as long of a lifecycle. The panel exposed to the elements may not last more than a few years. A $79 kirkland battery from Costco would be cheaper and last. Just my initial 2c.

 

[JHZR2]

good data point, thanks!