Battery Size??

[vairman]

What would be a good size battery for a tear?? I was thinking a 75 amp hour batt.... let me know
This was what I had in mind... http://www.ebatteriestogo.com/SpecSheets/UB12750.pdf

Greg

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi Vairman

Questions need answering first

What will you be running? Lights, furnace, fans, TV's (do find the wattages)
How long will you run them each day?
Will you be boondocking mainly or staying with shore power locations?
How long do you intend staying on one spot, without driving?

If you are sticking with shore power a 75 amphpour will be fine, if not 110 would be a good guess for a weekend away from power.

[SteveH]

Greg,

IMHO the type of battery is more important than size for use in a teardrop. I think you will find a deep cycle battery will give loger life. The battery you have linked to looks like a gel cel type battery and from what I remember they are more suited to standby use and don't live long in deep cycle use.

[vairman]

Here is a site that explanes the AGM type Battery
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/AgmTech.htm

I just thought it would be a good choice for the gally area, and as far a my electrical load goes I hopefully will have shore power most of the time... But a 110 Ah batteru would be good too....


Thanks Greg

[madjack]

just me, 'cause it's the way I am but I would get the biggest(amp) type AGM battery I could find/afford ina type 27 or so size
madjack

[schmidty]

Madjack - What type of battery did you mention, type 27?? Everytime I think I know enough, to get started, somebody here brings me back to reality. I don't really know what I'm doing.

[SteveH]

Here is a site that explanes the AGM type Battery
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/AgmTech.htm

I just thought it would be a good choice for the gally area, and as far a my electrical load goes I hopefully will have shore power most of the time... But a 110 Ah batteru would be good too....


Thanks Greg

Greg,

Thanks for posting that...guess I didn't know what an AGM battery was. Sounds pretty good from the specs.

[Cutterpup]

First you need to figure out just how much power you are going to need and how long it will be before recharging. With that bit of info you then can find the capacity of a battery that you will need. Using the advise of the bigger the better battery and then you use it only for a couple of lights from time to time means you just wasted a lot of money for nothing. Some hotrodders use a mini size battery to save weight and space. It still has enough power to start the car and then the alternator takes over. If you find that you will take a long trip away from the power cord then bring along extra batteries for that trip.

I know this is a lot more than you want to think about but without at least considering this you might 1. have too much battery (wasting valuable beer storage space) or 2. not enough and be sitting in the dark drinking warm beer.

Dan

[madjack]

:thinking:
Madjack - What type of battery did you mention, type 27?? Everytime I think I know enough, to get started, somebody here brings me back to reality. I don't really know what I'm doing.

Heck schmidty, if I actually knew what I was doin', I'd be rich instead of just being so darn good lookin' ...batteries have a n amp/hr rating and a size rating...a type 27 battery is about the largest physically of the automotive style batteries...you still haveta check the a/hr ratings, but more plates can go in a 27 than a 24 or 21 and so on and so on
here is another battery site 4 u
madjack

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi

Sorry so busy answering about size, I missed the Type saga.

AGM can take abuse, ie not being charged properly (ie being charged via vehicle alternator) being over discharged, being left discharged. The down side to AGM batteries is the cost and the fact that they have to be charged more slowly (14.4v max)

If you are going to treat your battery well, ie use a decent three or four stage mains charger, use a smart regulator on your alternator (turns alternator into a 4 stage charger) and recharge battery regularly, Then a good standard lead acid battery will serve you well and not cost you the earth.

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi again

One other thing is they say they are totally sealed and no Hydrogen escapes, this is not strictly true in reality they are valve regulated which means if you keep the charging rate slow they will not let gas escape.

Same with Gel they used to say it could be used anyway up (though quite why anyone would need this facility is beyond me, reminds me of a 1 trick pony and not even a really usefull trick!) now they are more cagey on the subject.

[GeorgeTelford]

Read page 7 of this link

it describes what can happen when people believe the hype about "sealed" and Valve regulated batteries, this one is specifically about Gel but valve regulated is same for both types.

http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/pdfs/BSC78.pdf#advisory