Deep Cycle Battery brands, types, systems & installations

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Hi Ramjet

A few years ago I built a setup like that. I went to a speialist battery shop and got a relatively small (but heavy!) deep cycle marine 12 volt battery. These are sealed and it does not matter if it falls over. Don't bother with the compact types as they will not last the day out in the bush and don't have then amps to power a decent bilge pump.

Araluen
 
I ended up going with a Supercharge Allrounder dual purpose deep cycle/cranking battery from Auto One. They had 20% off so it was only $175. Its 105ah plus 760CCA so will turn my diesel over if necessary & if it does have issues I can take it back to a local shop.
One thing to be mindful of is that the sealed calcium type deep cycle batteries perform best when periodically charged at 15.1v so a smart charger that can handle calcium batteries is required. Have read a few posts on 4wd/caravan forums where people have had troubles with them prematurely failing & they all seemed to have only been using the solar regulator/charger, dual battery system or an ordinary 12v charger which didn't have the required charge voltage. These keep them topped up but don't fully charge them. Calcium batteries require this higher charge voltage & running a calcium charge program every few weeks should be the only maintenance they need.
Likewise for Gel (13.8v) & AGM (14.4v) deep cycle batteries. Make sure your charging system is suited to the battery type &/or periodically fully charge at the recommended voltage to maintain battery life.
At least thats what I have found in researching them. A sealed "maintenance free" deep cycle battery still needs some maintenance although it is only a full charge/maintenance cycle occasionally.
 
Having a talk today about our local optus tower that was being worked on for the last week, apparently they are taking out the deep cycle batteries that power them and replacing with something else (all towers not just this one) might be a chance for ppl to snap up some cheap batteries for campers
 
I think you will find that they are very big,and each one will have a voltage of 1.5 volts, have seen the type that telstra use.

Regards The digger
 
Myself & a couple of people I know doing vehicle electrics upgrades &/or add-ons, I thought it relevant for people to share ideas, experience, hints, photos & anything else to do with dual battery systems.
I am looking into Lead Crystal Deep Cycle batteries & finding some interesting pros & cons about them.
The main 'pros' points that I like are high cycle life, deep discharge beyond 50% (they say up to 100% wont kill it) & a discharge voltage curve near to that of a lithium at half the price of lithium.
The 'cons' side, whilst they are good to 60degrees they are not good in the engine bay, & they come at a premium price above std AGM .. Betta brand 100Ah $595 on this site https://leadcrystalbatteries.com.au/product/battery-6-cnfj-100/?v=6cc98ba2045f
or Pure Energy (currently on sale) https://www.pureenergybatteries.com.au/pure-energy-pb-crystal-12v-130ah-deep-cycle-lead-a
and tho you can use a normal smart charger (set to AGM), it needs to have a current output of 1/3 the rated Ah of the battery, ie the 100Ah battery needs to be hit with at least a 30A charger!
The data sheet for the Betta battery can be downloaded from their website, there is a download link on the link I posted above.
Here is an extract of that datasheet
1538651202_betta_lcb_6-cnfj-100ah_datasheet_extract.jpg
 
An email response I just received from Jason Marshall at Betta Batteries (for charging a lead crystal battery, enquiry on a 100Ahr with a 40A charger)

Hi Shane
You don't have to charge it at 30% every time but you will need to occasionally.
I would use a 6-CNFJ-90 with a 25Amp DC to DC. This is "just" in the size window...but I would increase it to a 40 if you can. Keep in mind the 30% is the minimum.
I like the 40 because when the battery is flat you have enough current to run the fridge etc AND charge the battery. But don't be afraid to save A LOT and just use a 90 with a 25Amp DC to DC. We have hundreds and hundreds out there all over Australia and get very few failures. It's a good solid combo.
I say the 90 because that part number is the equivalent of a 100 AH AGM. Heaps of power in the 90s. Traditional AGM is flat at 12v, we (Betta LC) are at 50%?

Jason Marshall
Sales Manager - Australasia
Betta Batteries

+61 (0) 466 406 200
[email protected]
 
all theory says that you will screw any battery at 12 volts , i don't understand how a battery can be 50% at 12v ??
 
yeah when any business quotes others they always use a worst case scenario.
Its like the 18yrs life quoted fro the L/Crystal battery. That's only at BEST possible scenario... temp, cycling, charging etc.
But,... from research ive done, LC batteries do hold out longer than traditional AGM
so where an AGM shouldn't be discharged below 50% (for best life span), an LC can happily go 80%
 
I'm a bit sceptical of the claim that you can pull them down to 0 with out damage, you don't even do that with lifpo's.

Me, I'm a born sceptic, so I stick with tried and tested stuff, have a look at "Fullriver" batteries, not the cheapest, but a standard charger works, can charge in your car, and they take a LOT of knocking around. Ive had them in an off road camper ( OLT, Bloomfield, Savanah Way ) and now have 1 as my auxiluary battery in the wagon for the fridge/freezer and never missed a beat
cheers Keith
 
Be careful with dc to dc 45 amp as most agm batts have a max of 30 amp charge input bigger is not always better unless your running multiple batterys
 
Lead Crystal batteries can be fully discharged unlike an AGM, however there is a cost;

The advertised cycle life is;

6000 cycles @ 20% depth = 16+ years
3800 cycles @ 50% = 10+ years
1400 cycles @ 80% = <4 years if cycled at these rates every day.

So as you can see, the more you use of capacity the lower the number of cycles, however I've not found how long they last if dead flat.

Conversely an AGM

3000 @ 20% = 8.2 yrs (I got 10years out of my last replacement)
1300 @ 50% = 3.6 yrs
800 @ 80% = 2.2 yrs

So the mean difference is that you will get a similar life from a lead crystal @ 50% discharge as an AGM @ 20%. This means a smaller battery bank for a similar output and life approx. half. Or twice the capacity for the same size and life. Lead Crystal is cheaper per AH over life expectancy than either AGM or Lithium and you can use the same charger as an AGM although if you use a deeper cycle it will take longer to charge.

AGM = $$$, LC = +20-25% $$$ and Li = "A bank loan" :)
 

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