How much of an issue is battery off gassing?

[MK7]

well I can spot several things with his set up that points to amateur hour.  just because someone post a video on you tube doesn't mean they know what they are doing.  I can go on and list what I see wrong but the simple line right at the beginning should have given you a clue.  "I don't live off the grid now nor am I totally self sufficient".  with only a fan and a CB radio plugged into that how much charging does he actually do.  go ahead use a fan to vent off hydrogen I don't care,  all I said was make sure it's explosion proof and I stand behind that.  I only posted the wile coyote thing when people where trying to make excuses for using the fan instead of just using an explosion proof fan.  btw explosion proof fans are common,  an engine bay fan for boats must be explosion proof a lot of fans for industry must be explosion proof.  so what's the big deal just use an explosion proof fan when trying to vent hydrogen gas.  you are venting a highly explosive gas,  this is not rocket science. geez.  highdesertranger

Haha, take it easy....I thought you were joking about the "explosion proof fan"....I didn't even know it was a real thing. 

Another question, when charging a flooded, Marine battery from Walmart with 100w solar panel, do you leave the top cap off to let the gas vent? 

What about with a 10 amp charger?

 

[ccbreder]

The slow charge available from solar should not be a problem with a decent charge controller. The 10 amp charger, also, should not be a problem, unless something went wrong with that cheap a44 charger. I avoid boiling my batteries.

 

[MK7]

The slow charge available from solar should not be a problem with a decent charge controller. The 10 amp charger, also, should not be a problem, unless something went wrong with that cheap a44 charger. I avoid boiling my batteries.

So with both the 100w panel or 10amp charger, I should keep the battery caps on/closed?

 

[amwbox]

The batteries are designed to vent whenever they need to. The caps are themselves the vents.

 

[BigT]

So how serious is this off-gassing issue really?? 

Turns out it was a non-issue.  I mounted a single Northstar 12V AGM under the hood in place of the OEM lead acid unit, and attached my solar to it.  

Problem solved! 

I'm really liking this system because it means the house-power is plumbed straight into the van's accessory plugs.  It also means I can run things like the radio, dome lights, heater fan, headlights, etc. longer without having to worry as much about killing the battery.  Not that I do that much, but it's good to know I can. 

 

[MK7]

Turns out it was a non-issue.  I mounted a single Northstar 12V AGM under the hood in place of the OEM lead acid unit, and attached my solar to it.  

Problem solved! 

I'm really liking this system because it means the house-power is plumbed straight into the van's accessory plugs.  It also means I can run things like the radio, dome lights, heater fan, headlights, etc. longer without having to worry as much about killing the battery.  Not that I do that much, but it's good to know I can. 

Wait, isn't this just a regular car battery? Now you're going to kill this sucker really fast by using it as a house battery also, unless you use it very little. And venting the gas wouldn't even be an issue since that's where all FLA batteries sits originally with plenty of vents.

Check out this discussion on certain Northstar batteries: http://www.solarpaneltalk.com/showthread.php?10946-Northstar-NSB170FT-good-battery


They say AGM have a less lifespan than FLA. I personally had only one AGM battery (Optima RedTop car battery) and it has outlasted 2 brand new FLA batteries and still going strong since ~1998.  This includes accidentally draining it completely at least 10x by leaving on accessories for days. And it's currently in a car that only sees short, around town, trips (15 miles/day 4x/week) and has a 1000w stereo and underdrive pulley that lessens the alternator's charging capabilities.

 

[Trekking]

Anyone use any of the VMAX AGM Deep Cycle batteries?

 

[BigT]

Wait, isn't this just a regular car battery? Now you're going to kill this sucker really fast by using it as a house battery also, unless you use it very little.

No, a Northstar AGM is a deep cycle battery capable of being used as both a starter battery and a house battery.  
On paper, I'm supposed to get 400 cycles at 80% discharge.  I don't come anywhere near that on my cycles.

 

[MK7]

No, a Northstar AGM is a deep cycle battery capable of being used as both a starter battery and a house battery.  
On paper, I'm supposed to get 400 cycles at 80% discharge.  I don't come anywhere near that on my cycles.

How much did the battery cost? Sounds too good to be true.

 

[BigT]

How much did the battery cost? Sounds too good to be true.

I paid about $270 for it at a local place called Battery Systems.  I got a bit of a discount on it because the West Cost Regional Manager is a friend of mine. 

Our very own SternWake recommended the model and uses a larger Northstar under the hood of his personal vehicle.