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Location: lansing, il | |
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| How much are they and where can you get them?
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il |
Edited by muskihntr 4/4/2006 1:46 PM
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Posts: 5874
| If your batteries are trully connected in parallel, both batteries would have about the same remaining charge in them. All batteries can be left in the boat during the winter, providing they are fully charged. Trojan's can be purchased at Gander Mountain for $100 ea. I averaged 4 or 5 years out of the $50-60 Remy deep cycle batteries i bought when I lived in Milwaukee. I really don't expect to get any more than that out of the Trojan's. What I do expect, and have seen, is a bit more reserve.
That said, I like the Trojan's I bought last year. I'll probably get them for my new boat. |
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Posts: 2037
Location: lansing, il |
Edited by muskihntr 4/4/2006 1:45 PM
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| Trojan AGM's in the 31 size are not $100, the regular deep cycle might be...the AGM 31 size are $170 at cabelas...I have the AGM's because they are no maintenance and seem to perform better than any other battery I have ever used....
Contact Greg Fitch in Madison WI at Wisconsin Power Control to purchase Trojans. |
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Posts: 5874
| Beg to differ, muskihntr. I'm an electrical engineer, so I guess I can claim to be somewhat knowledgeable.
If your batteries are connected in parallel, the trolling motor will see no more than the 12 volts. The same as if you had one battery. 12.7 volts actually, if the batteries are fully charged. Connected as such, you will see your capacity increase greatly, but the batteries will show nearly equal charge at the end of the day.
The only way you get 24 volts is to connect the batteries in series.
I don't know if mine are AGM's or not. Pretty sure they are lead acid. They are 31's, and they were, and still are, $99 at Gander. They do have great reserve. |
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Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | ditto to what Shep said- he's got it nailed from an geeky engineering perspective.
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Location: searchin for 50 | What about charge time and do you have to worry about burning up the gel in the battery? |
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Location: Chicago, Beverly | Shep, sounds like you got SCS225's probably at that price.. I did not like my lead acid trojan battery(scs200)only lasted lond enough to get me out of warranty... but I will be curious to see how these AGM's last for muskihntr..... I like the sound of maintence free for deep cycle batteries |
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| Raider, no worries on charge time or burning them up...
I use a great Pro Mariner charger and it has plenty of juice to get the job done...
AGM's are great for people like me that don't like to check fluid levels and just want no maintenance...my kind of battery |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Some small clarification on "Maintenance Free" Batteries. There are two basic types, 1.) Gel-Cell and 2.) AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat). The gel-cells were the first introduced for deep cycle applications (telco & Uninterruptible Power System markets). Like all things in life there are trade-off's. (should I date her or her sister?)
The Gel-Cell is just that, the electrolyte ( a mixture of hydrochloric acid and H2O found in your conventional wet cell battery) has been mixed with a gelling agent. This makes the battery non-spillable. If you're familiar with florist's gel, it has a similar consistency.
The AGM battery utilizes micro-porus glass mat's between the plates. These hold the liquid electrolyte like a sponge soaks up water. When they make a AGM battery its fully formed except the top cover hasn't been welded on. Then they fill the case with liquid electrolye, then after a short mount of time to allow the micro-porous mat's to absorb their capacity in electrolyte, they invert the battery jar and drain all the excess electrolyte. Then they electronically weld the plastic top cover on. Presto- non-spillable AGM VRLA battery.
The first problem with either Gel-Cell or AGM is that they have much lower tolerance for overcharging, versus a wet-cell where you can replenish the H2O (water). In a overcharge situation both gell & AGM have pressure release vents (typically ~ .5psi) . These allow the gases (hydrogen & oxygen) caused by overcharging to escape. Because hygrogen and oxygen are being lost, the electrolyte volume is decreased proportionately, as is the battery capacity. In the gell cell the gell drys out, in the AGM the mat dries out. The end results are the same, irreversible damage/lost capacity. No! You just can't pry the caps off & add water.
The other problem is related to low rate- long duration discharges. Discharging a battery effectively lower's the electrolye specific gravity. Never discharge a gell or AGM to less than ~ 10.5V or the manufacturer's recommendation. If you do, you may have a throw away battery, i.e., it may not be able to recover/recharge because the electrolyte is converted to almost all water. This is especially true if the voltage goes below 6V. So be warned - check your power switches at the end of the day.
Rader150- No! you don't have to worry about the gel burning up. But the battery can catch fire if you dry the gel out via overcharging. This is why I don't leave my charger on 7x24.
What I'm really saying is that gell-cell's and AGM's have a lower tolerance for abuse versus the conventional wet-cell battery.
That reminds me-> time to do a refresh charge on all three batteries in ESOX Maniac.
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 4/5/2006 2:50 PM
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Posts: 33
Location: Chicago,IL | I have been using Trojan batteries for the past four years and are holding up well. I live in the Chicago and got mine from Battery Service Corporation. The are located in Bensenville,IL. The prices are reasonable a SCS225 was $85.00, call them before 10:00 AM and get your battery later that afternoon delivered to your door and they will even take your old battery. Don't even have to leave your house!!!! They also carry other brands of batteries. They will delever with in a 60 mile radius of Chicago.
http://www.batteryservice.com
Edited by bulldawg 4/5/2006 4:06 PM
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Location: Chicago, Beverly | Bulldawg, gotta love that delivery thing.. BSC is where I got my Trojan, and where I bought the replacements for that battery, two Voltmaster Dc-140's with 242 minutes of reserve.. Delivered to the door.. plus if a warranty isuue they will pick it up within that same 60 mile radoius.. |
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Trojan Batteries