Author Topic: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?  (Read 15688 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

wooferhound

  • SuperHero Member
  • ******
  • Posts: 2288
  • Country: us
  • Huntsville Alabama U.S.A.
    • Woofer Hound Sound & Lighting Rentals
How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« on: June 21, 2010, 05:20:05 PM »
The best way to get the longest life from Batteries is not to use them and just keep them on a Float Charge for their entire life. You can get over 20 years of service this way. However we want to use our power don't we, and therefore we want to use the battery. Here are some quick tips on how to extend your battery life . . .

The less you can drain the battery before you recharge it the better
Don't leave your battery discharged for a long time, recharge as soon as possible
Keep the voltage above 12.0 volts as much as possible to avoid Sulfation
Voltage below 10.5 volts will cause Hard Sulfation which is hard to reverse
Do an Equalization Charge regularly to help remove sulfation and revive the battery
Equalization is a Higher voltage of 15.5 to 16 volts for 2 or 3 hours on a regular schedule

Here is Too Much information about taking care of Batteries, their Construction and Operation.

This Do and Don't battery table summarizes the need to obtain reliable service with long life and advises proper handling of each battery type.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-21.htm

how lead acid batteries work and what they need without burying you with a bunch of needless technical data. Talks about all types of Batteries
http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html

Intended to give everyone a healthy appreciation of how to take care of and work safely around a lead-acid battery bank used for Solar power.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago95.html

From the Trojan Battery Company. This PDF file will focus on how to properly maintain and charge all Trojan lead-acid battery types.
http://www.wholesalesolar.com/pdf.folder/Download%20folder/battery_maint.pdf

Very basic information on battery care.  This information is not for gel-cell, ni-cad or alkaline batteries, which will have different maintenance requirements.
http://www.oasismontana.com/batteries.html

Very technical PDF of a 1964 Battery service manual produced by the Association of American Battery Manufacturers. Details Battery construction and operation.
http://www.rebelwolf.com/downloads/BattMan.pdf

On the Trojan Battery Website. This page and the links on the righthand side of the page talk about all forms of Battery Maintenance.
http://www.trojanbattery.com/Tech-Support/BatteryMaintenance.aspx

From the OtherPower Website referring to all of the battery basics: Wiring, Safety, Care, Chargers and more. The links are at the bottom of the page.
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_battery.html

Car and deep cycle battery answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), tips, manufacturer's information, references and hyperlinks are contained on this consumer oriented Web site about car, motorcycle, power sports, truck, boat, marine, recreational vehicle, solar, and other starting and deep cycle applications.
http://www.batteryfaq.org


Even more Links to Battery studies by Sandia National Laboratories. These studies focus on batteries that are used in Renewable Energy Electric Systems.
http://www.sandia.gov/pv/docs/BattIntro.htm
« Last Edit: July 28, 2010, 10:30:29 PM by wooferhound »

wpowokal

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1271
  • Country: au
  • Far North Queensland (FNQ) Australia
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2010, 12:15:50 AM »
Schedule as many loads as possible while there is incoming power, then as far as possible the inverter will draw from the incoming and not the batteries, doing this will limit the battery depth of discharge and lengthen their life.

Allan
A gentleman is man who can disagree without being disagreeable.

DamonHD

  • Administrator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 4125
  • Country: gb
    • Earth Notes
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2010, 02:02:02 AM »
You'll also generally get much more useful energy out of your system that way, since putting it into a battery and getting it out again loses ~20% (depending on battery type, and balance of system efficiency).

Rgds

Damon
Podcast: https://www.earth.org.uk/SECTION_podcast.html

@DamonHD@mastodon.social

ricie

  • Guest
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #3 on: August 15, 2010, 09:59:05 PM »
for deep cycle batterys a battery pulse desulfator helps keep the battery alive longer

TomW

  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *******
  • Posts: 5130
  • Country: us
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2010, 05:33:18 AM »
for deep cycle batterys a battery pulse desulfator helps keep the battery alive longer

Sorry, but I disagree.
 
Can you cite some unaffiliated studies that prove this?

Or are we just supposed  to believe you "on faith"?

Please do not make statements as fact without some backup data.

I ran one from day one on my 12 volt Trojan 105 bank of a dozen batteries and it showed absolutely no increase in life. Period.

That is my personal real world experience.

What is yours?

Just facts, please.

Tom

BooneyLiving

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2012, 12:58:37 AM »
In my experience, building some type of enclosure that you can use to keep your batteries warm in winter and not too hot in the summer is really important for getting the longest life out of deep cycle batteries.

I agree wholeheartedly  with the comment about scheduling high loads when you have incoming power.  Another tip is to unplug electronic devices when you're not using them so that they don't draw phantom power.


richhagen

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1597
  • Country: us
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2012, 06:12:36 PM »
Two other points for what they are worth.

If your batteries are flooded lead acid, set up a regular schedule to check and add distilled water as needed.  I once had a couple of batteries go below the the tops of the plates, a good ways down actually and they probably were like that for a while, and nothing I tried subsequently restored them to their former capacity. 

Check the battery connections on a regular schedule for loosening or signs of corrosion.  2500 Watts at 12V is 208.3 Amps.  For example, .02 ohms of resistance across a battery connection means that that junction has to dissipate 867 Watts of power if you were actually drawing 208 amps.  I have melted off a few battery terminals on high amp draws over the years, although usually at over 300 Amps in a vehicle application where the additional amperage and vibration aggravates the situation. If the junction is between lead and another metal, in my opinion, it is beneficial to use an anti-oxidizing compound sold for such applications. 
A Joule saved is a Joule made!

SparWeb

  • Global Moderator
  • Super Hero Member Plus
  • *****
  • Posts: 5452
  • Country: ca
    • Wind Turbine Project Field Notes
Re: How can I get the Longest Life from my Batteries?
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2023, 07:03:40 PM »
This thread deserve a bump up to the top, or to be a Sticky.  Thanks again to Wooferhound for writing this.
Despite the growing popularity of Lithium batteries, Lead-acid batteries are still the best bang-for-the-buck.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca