Al brings up a couple of very excellent points. One is that it is often
better to have many small batteries than to have a single large one. That
has all sorts of advantages, which Al handled very nicely. Aside from
being able to replace a single bad battery instead of having to replace all
or nothing, small batteries are just easier to handle.
Another option that is available is to buy your cells one at a time. Six
of them together will make a 12 VDC battery, but you can wire as many as
you like together. This is a very common practice in the industrial and
heavy equipment world, when a large storage capacity is required. The
cells come in different sizes, and you need only replace the ones that are
bad, when they go bad. It is not uncommon to pack them all together in a
steel box, with the total weighing several tons; but you could get by with
only six cells for most boats. Anyone wanting to buy such a thing should
look in their local phone book and call up the local forklift shops. Ask
them where they have their batteries serviced. If they say that they
service their own batteries, then you need look no further. That shop can
sell you all you need.
A friend of mine designs these batteries for a battery manufacturer. He
tells me that you could put together a battery from these cells that should
last ten or twelve years in a boat, which seems to be reasonable judging by
our experience with them in heavy equipment. They are designed to last
very well, but they do not have the favorable power to weight ratio that
you will find in a golf cart battery. His advise is that if cost and
weight are the ruling factors, then buy a set of golf cart batteries. You
should be happy with them, and he cannot compete with them when judged by
these objectives. If on the other hand, you desire something that will
last a very long time with thousands of discharge/recharge cycles, then the
forklift batteries are the way to go.
Paul Kruse
From: Al Pilvinis
Sent: Monday, October 26, 1998 10:37 PM
To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Subject: RE: PowerPulse battery magic - or snake oil?
Hi Myles:
Something to consider when you are replacing batteries. On my last boat,
some 20 odd years ago, I removed a large, heavy, hard to handle 8D's and
replaced them with 3 Die Hards, 550cca. [snip]
Al brings up a couple of very excellent points. One is that it is often
better to have many small batteries than to have a single large one. That
has all sorts of advantages, which Al handled very nicely. Aside from
being able to replace a single bad battery instead of having to replace all
or nothing, small batteries are just easier to handle.
Another option that is available is to buy your cells one at a time. Six
of them together will make a 12 VDC battery, but you can wire as many as
you like together. This is a very common practice in the industrial and
heavy equipment world, when a large storage capacity is required. The
cells come in different sizes, and you need only replace the ones that are
bad, when they go bad. It is not uncommon to pack them all together in a
steel box, with the total weighing several tons; but you could get by with
only six cells for most boats. Anyone wanting to buy such a thing should
look in their local phone book and call up the local forklift shops. Ask
them where they have their batteries serviced. If they say that they
service their own batteries, then you need look no further. That shop can
sell you all you need.
A friend of mine designs these batteries for a battery manufacturer. He
tells me that you could put together a battery from these cells that should
last ten or twelve years in a boat, which seems to be reasonable judging by
our experience with them in heavy equipment. They are designed to last
very well, but they do not have the favorable power to weight ratio that
you will find in a golf cart battery. His advise is that if cost and
weight are the ruling factors, then buy a set of golf cart batteries. You
should be happy with them, and he cannot compete with them when judged by
these objectives. If on the other hand, you desire something that will
last a very long time with thousands of discharge/recharge cycles, then the
forklift batteries are the way to go.
Paul Kruse
----------
From: Al Pilvinis
Sent: Monday, October 26, 1998 10:37 PM
To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com
Subject: RE: PowerPulse battery magic - or snake oil?
Hi Myles:
Something to consider when you are replacing batteries. On my last boat,
some 20 odd years ago, I removed a large, heavy, hard to handle 8D's and
replaced them with 3 Die Hards, 550cca. [snip]
