Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | I too agree 100% with Shep on the runtime issue. Over the last ~30 years I have also worked with all of the major battery manufacturer's R+D engineers from little 7.2 AH VRLA to big 2VDC wet-cell jars that you need a forkllift to move. In the 1980's I worked very closely with the Johnson Controls Inc. battery folks in Milwaukee on VRLA battery research, Shep & I probably know many of the same folks... Dr. Scott Gerner comes to mind.. We (Schneider Electric) literally use millions of deep cycle VRLA and wet-cell batteries in both series and parallel configurations for our UPS and solar inverters from 100 watts to 6.4MW.
Selecting the right battery is a balancing act. Cost is probably the biggest driver. Cheap batteries are cheap for a reason, likewise expensive deep cycle batteries are expensive for a reason. Most of which is hidden to the average user..... you will typically get what you pay for! Your charger and how you charge them are critical to getting the expected service design life. Maybe Shep & I should write a MF marine deep cycle battery treatise for muskie anglers. I did an article for MI magazine a few years back.
Have fun!
Al |
