marine battery
Yvon Boivin
a regular lead battery except the price?
Yvon
Risto Sainio
I think you should subscribe alt.solar.photvoltaic as this question has
been discussed there. Anyway here's a quote from www.windsun.com site
"
Click on logo for complete site index
Starting, Marine, and Deep-Cycle Batteries
Starting (sometimes called SLI, for starting, lighting, ignition)
batteries are commonly used to start
and run engines. Engine starters need a very large starting current
for a very short time. Starting
batteries have a large number of thin plates for maximum surface
area. The plates are composed of
a Lead "sponge", similar in appearance to a very fine foam sponge.
This gives a very large surface
area, but if deep cycled, this sponge will quickly be consumed and
fall to the bottom of the cells.
Automotive batteries will generally fail after 30-150 deep cycles
if deep cycled, while they may last for
thousands of cycles in normal starting use (2-5% discharge).
Deep cycle batteries are designed to be discharged down as much as
80% time after time, and
have much thicker plates. The major difference between a true deep
cycle battery and others is that
the plates are SOLID Lead plates - not sponge. Unfortunately, it is
often impossible to tell what you
are really buying in some of the discount stores or places that
specialize in automotive batteries. The
popular golf cart battery is generally a "semi" deep cycle - better
than any starting battery, better than
most marine, but not as good as a true deep cycle solid Lead plate,
such the L-16 or industrial type.
However, because the golf cart (T-105, US-2200, GC-4 etc) batteries
are so common, they are
usually quite economical for small to medium systems.
Many (most?) Marine batteries are usually actually a "hybrid", and
fall between the starting and
deep-cycle batteries, while a few (Rolls-Surrette and Concorde, for
example) are true deep cycle. In
the hybrid, the plates may be composed of Lead sponge, but it is
coarser and heavier than that used
in starting batteries. It is often hard to tell what you are
getting in a "marine" battery, but most are a
hybrid. "Hybrid" types should not be discharged more than 50%.
Starting batteries are usually rated
at "CCA", or cold cranking amps, or "MCA", Marine cranking amps -
the same as "CA". Any battery
with the capacity shown in CA or MCA may not be a true deep-cycle
battery. It is sometimes hard to
tell, as the terms marine and deep cycle are sometimes overused. CA
and MCA ratings are at 32
degrees F, while CCA is at 0 degree F. Unfortunately, the only
positive way to tell with some batteries
is to buy one and cut it open - not much of an option. "
Sorry, for the formatting - is sort of wide.
rgds
Risto
PS Preparing for Y2K ??
Pat Ford
2' chop) and the CCA tends to be lowwer (most boats don't get start at -10 degrees C)
There is also deep cycle batteries that take a long slow discharge better then
a car battery...
Previously, Yvon Boivin wrote in sci.electronics.design:
{ could somebody tells me the real differene between a marine battery and
{ a regular lead battery except the price?
{
{ Yvon
{
--
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Tim Porter
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Professional Audio Creativity
Yvon Boivin <ki...@videotron.ca> wrote in message
news:3842CC...@videotron.ca...
Peter Bennett
<jed...@freenetname.co.uk> wrote:
>I think the marine ones are designed to float!!!
Not the ones I've lifted!!!
--
Peter Bennett VE7CEI
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greg szekeres
>could somebody tells me the real differene between a marine battery and
>a regular lead battery except the price?
A marine battery generally has a handle, so you can carry it around.
Thats about it. Some have more features, and some may include deep
discharge types.
greg
Michael Morrow
>Thats about it. Some have more features, and some may include deep
>discharge types.
>
>greg
>
There 100's of automotive batteries out there with handles.
Mike Morrow
PIC Projects at http://members.aol.com/mmorrow476/home.html
Jim Yanik
mmorr...@aol.comdelete says...
I would think a marine battery is optimized for occasional use,in ordinary
temperature environments,not being charged often,where a auto battery gets
frequent charge/discharge cycles,and must work from very cold to very hot
days,and in a higher vibration/shock environment.That together with a lower
sales volume could account somewhat for a price difference. Certainly you could
use an ordinary auto battery for a boat application,it might not last as
long,without more attention. IMHO.
Jim Yanik,NRA member
Pat Ford
{
{ I would think a marine battery is optimized for occasional use,in ordinary
{ temperature environments,not being charged often,where a auto battery gets
{ frequent charge/discharge cycles,and must work from very cold to very hot
{ days,and in a higher vibration/shock environment.
Ever seen a speed boat doing 30Knots on a 1' chop?
boats can have very harse vibrations, far worse then a car is likely to see.
{That together with a lower
{ sales volume could account somewhat for a price difference. Certainly you could
{ use an ordinary auto battery for a boat application,it might not last as
{ long,without more attention. IMHO.
{
{ Jim Yanik,NRA member
{
Aristotle Jones
it will last much longer if charged properly.
A marine battery is unlike a car battery
because the former is used to store energy for long periods, then
discharge at low [relative] currents for longer periods,
whereas the latter is used as a source of high current to start the
engine of a car, then is recharged as you drive.
<*>aj
Yvon Boivin wrote:
> could somebody tells me the real differene between a marine battery and
> a regular lead battery except the price?
>
> Yvon
Tom Cwikla
>could somebody tells me the real differene between a marine battery and
>a regular lead battery except the price?
Marine batteries are optimised for repeated deep discharge cycles and low
output current. Automotive batteries are optimised for very high output
current for short periods and shallow discharge cycles. An automotive battery
used in a deep cycle application will not last very long since its DOD (depth
of discharge) vs. capacity curve is very poor. Marine and PV batteries have
much better DOD curves but they can't supply the hundreds of amps that a car
battery will. There are also "hybrid" batteries which are a compromise between
the two.
Depending on your application you might be able to get away with using a lower
cost car battery in a cyclic application if you can keep the DOD under 5%
and you have a proper 3-stage charger with temperature compensation.
Ultimately you have to make the trade-off between initial battery cost and
lifetime. If your DOD for a given battery is 60% then you can more than double
the lifetime by buying a battery that is double the capacity which makes the
DOD 30%. This becomes more complicated if the battery is outdoors since
capacity decreases with temperature. Keep in mind that batteries are very
heavy and shipping charges for a 300 AH battery that weighs 160 lbs can be
higher than the price of the battery itself.