What battery to buy?

[yamsack]

Hi all,<br>I'm almost done purchasing all of my components for the solar system.&nbsp; All I need now are the batteries.&nbsp; I know I want a deep cycle AGM battery with at least 70 amp hours each.&nbsp; I would to prefer to spend no more than $200 for each battery.<br><br>I know 4x4tour has a couple of Sears Platinum P-2 group 65's, but I was told that those aren't deep cycle.&nbsp; 4x4tour, could you tell me how those batteries have been doing as far as performance, as well as handling your appliances/devices?<br><br>If anyone else can chime in regarding their recommendations for what brand, model number, etc. battery I should get, I would very much appreciate it.&nbsp; Thanks everybody.<br><br>

 

[VanTramp]

A few years back I ran a Trojan brand group 24 AGM that was rated at 75 AH and I believe was just over $200.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>The two group 31 AGM's I have now are from "Full River" and work pretty well, no issues in the last couple years I have had them and they are well used every day. Total Ah for the two is 220 and I believe the cost was around $500 for both but they are larger than what you are after. &nbsp;I plan to replace them with 4 6volt Lifeline AGMs sometime in the next year to double my capacity. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>All are deep cycle.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Lots of brands out there that are less expensive and would fit your budget though. I looked quick and "Universal Battery" sells a bunch for quite a bit less that are marketed as direct replacements for Interstate batteries, but I couldn't tell ya how good they are.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Can't miss with Trojan's IMO or Lifeline IMO.&nbsp;</div>

 

[VanTrekker]

<p style="margin: 0px;">Good afternoon...</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">There are a lot of batteries out there that are rated both for cold cranking amps and in amp-hours.&nbsp; They claim to be "dual purpose" but most of the experts recommend only buying a true deep cycle.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">I'm not sure where to get the best deal on your batteries.&nbsp;&nbsp; AGM is definitely a great way to go though... I've had great luck with them.&nbsp; I would advise getting something very good quality such as a Trojan.&nbsp; Make sure and buy them from a reputable, knowledgable dealer because many places will sell batteries to you and then you're out of luck it something craps out.&nbsp; </p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">I bought my batteries from a dealer in another state and might not easily get any kind of warranty support.&nbsp; So far so good though...</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">Sears does sell a Powerstar 4D SLA AGM rated at 230AH.&nbsp; My understanding is that they are&nbsp;a Chinese-made battery.&nbsp; They jury appears to be out on how well they hold up.&nbsp; At least a person would have Sears to back you for warranty stuff.</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin: 0px;">&nbsp;</p>

 

[akrvbob]

I just bought a pair of 6 volt AGM golf cart batteries (225 ah each) for $235 each. They are also "Full River". I bought them from a dealer in Quartzsite, AZ. They come with a 2 year replacement and 7 year pro-rated warranty. I think if someone makes a good battery, they should be willing to stand behind it. I agree with Mike, you can't go wrong with Trojan or Lifeline, but I would also through in Sun-Xtender made by Concorde. Bob<br>http://www.solar-electric.com/6voagmba.html<br><br>

 

[yamsack]

Thanks again everyone for your responses.<br><br><b>@ 4x4tour</b>,<br><br>May I ask what appliances/devices are being juiced by your 2 Sears P2's?&nbsp; The reason I ask is I've got:<br><br>__ "Energy Star" laptop (on 24/7)<br>__ 1 (23W) energy efficient CFL light bulb (about an hour a day)<br>__ "Energy Star" inkjet printer (very brief use)<br>__ 7" inch handheld LCD TV (for evening time)<br>__ 8 watt hair trimmer (about once a week for 20 minutes)<br>__ small clip-on fan (for the hotter days) <br>__ phone charger, cordless handheld vacuum charger<br><br>and was wondering if those particular batteries would be enough for these devices.&nbsp; Thanks.<br><br>

 

[akrvbob]

What do you mean the laptop will be on 24/7. If it draws 48 watts thats 4 amps or 100 amps a day (4 amps an hour for 24 hours). If you mean hibernated then thats probably zero draw. If you mean 'sleep" mode, you will need to get a kill-a-watt device and find out what it draws in sleep mode and multiply that times the time its asleep. I can't even speculate on its draw then. Bob <br>

 

[stude53]

<p>If your reason for 24/7 PC is to support a web site, you'd be better off leasing a cheap server space for that. Just work off-line, then go&nbsp;online to download and upload files.</p>

 

[yamsack]

Hi all,<br>What I mean regarding "24/7" is that I will not be physically shutting down the laptop.&nbsp; Even when I'm not working on it, I usually have&nbsp; either AOL radio playing or one of my many YouTube playlists that I've compiled.&nbsp; If there's no video playing, the screen usually goes black, which should save some electricity.&nbsp; Additionally, the laptop doesn't go into sleep mode because I've got an anti-virus program that does a daily scan every late night and I need the laptop to be on for this to get done.<br><br>If this type of usage is drawing too much electricity, I may need to rethink how much I use the laptop for recreation.&nbsp; I could just use my little handheld LCD TV instead and only use the laptop for work-related stuff.<br><br>I actually didn't realize that just using a laptop alone would draw so much electricity, especially since I won't be using anything else like a microwave or fridge.<br><br>

 

[ped]

<P>

</P><DIV><BR></DIV><DIV>I hope this FINALLY puts this subject (deep cycle or not) to rest:</DIV><DIV><BR></DIV><DIV>&nbsp;<A href="http://www.odysseyfactory.com/batteries.html" target=_blank target=_blank><A href="http://www.odysseyfactory.com/batteries.html" target=_blank vglnk_1328440813538="1" target=_blank><FONT color=#000000>http://www.odysseyfactory.com/batteries.html</FONT></A></A></DIV><P>&nbsp;

<BR><BR>Actually that doesn't. They are calling them starting AND deep cycle. Like the Optima yellow top. Cranking batteries needs surface area, deep cycle needs thickness. Cranking has many thinner cells overall to achieve more total area.&nbsp;Because they need a high output for a short amount of time.&nbsp;Deep cycles have a lower number of thicker cells&nbsp;because they are meant for&nbsp;low, long and deep&nbsp;current draws, the opposite of cranking.&nbsp;When a&nbsp;battery is drawn down and the further it is drawn down, then recharged, the more the plates break down over these cycles. That is why a cranking battery&nbsp;technically works for deep cycle purposes but doesn't last nearly as long (less than half the time of deep cycles).&nbsp;The thinner cells breakdown faster and eventually short. The dual purpose batteries like these are an inbetween in cell construction. </P>What makes them the most suitable for is a cranking battery under the hood where the user intends to regularly power accessories&nbsp;through the&nbsp;cigarette lighter ports. For coach batteries that&nbsp;won't be&nbsp;used for general cranking&nbsp;a true deep cycle bank&nbsp;would be&nbsp;more appropriate and last longer (given equal cell quality in manufactoring).<br><br><BR><A href="http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Lifespan" target=_blank>http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Lifespan</A> <br>

 

[SheketEchad]

<span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Just a note to say thank you for these discussions. &nbsp;Some days I feel like I have wayyy too much to learn in order to accomplish this. &nbsp;Those of you taking the time to describe things like this with clarity - your time is much appreciated.</span><div><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">~SE</span></div>

 

[yamsack]

<b>@ SheketEchad</b>,<br><br>I know EXACTLY how you feel.&nbsp; I signed on to this forum several months ago to ask nonstop, sometimes repetitive questions (sometimes stupid), in order to figure all this stuff out.&nbsp; In the end, though, I feel that I'm finally getting some sort of grasp on this stuff.&nbsp; <br><br>May I also suggest you look at a bunch of YouTube videos of whatever you're trying to figure out.&nbsp; That helped me a lot as well.&nbsp; Good luck to you.<br>

 

[yamsack]

@ 4x4tour,<br><br>Do you agree with akrvbob's assessment of the electricity generated by my laptop?<br><br>"...If it draws 48 watts thats 4 amps or 100 amps a day..."<br><br>Again, if that's true, would the 2 platinum P2's be able to handle this?&nbsp; I'm leaning towards either your P2's or these Interstate batteries sold at Walmart:<br><br>http://www.walmart.com/ip/Interstat...mp-Sealed-Lead-Acid-Battery-Set-of-2/15171421<br><br>

 

[akrvbob]

You are getting good advice! Overall the number of electrical items you want to use seems reasonable except for leaving the laptop on 24/7. We can't really give you advice on what it draws, you are going to have to figure that out for yourself. I can tell you I decided my laptop was a power hog and found other items to use for entertainment instead.&nbsp; For example, I watch a lot of DVDs so I bought a 9 inch portable DVD player which uses much less power than my laptop. I charge it during the day when I have solar so it doesn't draw from my battery bank overnight. For music I have Sirius satellite radio and listen to it through a portable&nbsp; radio with rechargable batteries. Again, it draws virtually nothing from my battery bank.&nbsp; Another reason I don't use my laptop for entertainment is because it is expensive and critical to me. I have to have it to comunicate and run my websites. So I decided why have it on it constantly when I could wear out a DVD player and a cheap radio instead. My Sony DVD player cost $100 but my laptop cost $800 (I got it for $600 from Costco). So I use it a couple hours most nights so my laptop isn't running. After 2-3 years I'll replace the DVD player and not mind so much. Replacing the laptop is a much bigger deal!! Just some food for thought. Bob<br>

 

[yamsack]

Again, thanks to you both, akrvbob and 4x4tour.&nbsp; You both gave very good advice.&nbsp; It's such a shame that I won't be able to use my laptop as much for recreation, since I stream a lot of movies &amp; tv shows from Hulu, YouTube, etc.&nbsp; I don't even watch TV that much anymore because I can get most of the same shows online.&nbsp; On top of that, I'm a big video game guy and just began a really cool game on my laptop.&nbsp; Maybe I can still do all that stuff, but simply put a limit on the time.<br>

 

[yamsack]

That's a very nice TV,&nbsp; 4x4tour.&nbsp; However, I was gonna go with something much, much smaller, like a 7" inch handheld LCD TV/DVD player.&nbsp; It would be sitting on a dinner tray only inches from me.&nbsp; If that 19" inch TV is only 28 watts, I'm sure that a 7" inch midget TV would be much less.<br><br>Regarding the laptop usage, I think I'm just gonna limit my use.&nbsp; Akrvbob does have a good point that the laptop is a very valuable device (I use it for work) and should not be overused.&nbsp; If it breaks, it's a pretty expensive thing to repair/replace, not to mention the hassle of having to replace lost files, data, etc.<br><br>