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Marine battery Vs .standard auto battery

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Thoszhf

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Jul 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/24/00
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Which of the two would be the best choice for launcher use?.I know that marine
batteries are generally put under alot more abusive treatment than a typical
automotive battery and that the marine batteries are designed to be frequently
re-charged.What is different about the marine battery that allows this?Id like
to mount a 12 volt battery on a small Dolly style cart with a permanantly
mounted trickle charger that would allow me to just plug it in after the days
use and not have to worry about it being overcharged or boiled dry.Has anyone
put anything like this together?

Scott Aleckson

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Jul 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/24/00
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Some marine batteries have little difference, except for the 3/8" (pos) and 5/16"
(neg) stud terminals instead of automotive type top or side post terminals. Other
marine batteries are of the Deep Cycling variety. They will stand up much better
to being drained to death and recharged, where an automotive battery doesn't like
to be drained all the way down. The marine batteries typically have a higher
current capacity over automotive. You can still overcharge a marine battery, so
you'd be better off to spend $30 on an automatic battery maintainer rather than
$15 on a manual trickle charger.

I use a motorcycle battery for portability. What you're putting together might be
ok for a club, but I can't see it being needed for a private launch. Too heavy
and cumbersome to lug around, and you've got the battery capacity for many
hundreds of flights- which is probably way more than any individual needs. I can
fly all day long on a little motorcycle battery, and I have yet to run out of
juice before I run out of rockets- even lighting copperheads and clusters.

Thoszhf

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Jul 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/24/00
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Thanks for the battery advice!The launch system Im building is set up to
basically be expandable,with multi-launch pad capabilities.It appears that a
marine battery for now at least is a bit over kill! I just got back from
wal-mart whereI purchased a lawn tractor battery and something called an
"accucharge" that charges as well as monitors the power status and also acts as
a trickle unit for long term storage of small motorcycle/tractor
batteries.Total cost:47.00. Im mounting the whole thing in a medium sized plano
plastic tool box with a leak resistant one way valve used on dirtbike batteries
to keep them from losing acid when tipped over.Each end of the box still has
ample room to store my whole wiring harness inside-safe ,organized and dry!A
damn sight easier than lugging around a boat battery!...Thanx again,
Tho...@aol.com

Andy Dyckman

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Jul 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/24/00
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12v Gel Cells of the 7.0 AH range seem to work out just great.

www.batteriesplus.com has every kind you can think of :)

Andy Dyckman
Chicago, IL
bl...@telocity.com (add "dsl." between @ and telocity)
NAR# 61770

"Thoszhf" <tho...@aol.com> wrote in message
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Chris

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Jul 24, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/24/00
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You get much in the way of acid leaking from that? The Marine battery we
use(d) on our scanoe posed a minor hazard in this respect.... forgive my
ignorance though.... to be honest I don't know much about any batteries....

Chris
REmove .nospam to reply.

Scott Aleckson

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Jul 25, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/25/00
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I've yet to lose any acid from this battery, which I've been using for the last
2 years. I just make a point of keeping it in the upright position. Since it
was intended for an ATV, it has a port for a vent hose which is apparently
baffled, because you can tip the battery over and nothing comes out. I don't
keep the battery in my rangebox though, it stays in the cardboard box that it
was originally packaged in and I put it safely on a shelf between uses. I give
it a trickle charge the night before a planned launch and for those
spur-of-the-moment launches, I usually put it on the automotive charger for 15
minutes or so while I'm gathering up the rest of my launch equipment.

Eric Gunnerson

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Jul 25, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/25/00
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"Thoszhf" <tho...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20000724132855...@ng-cd1.aol.com...

> Which of the two would be the best choice for launcher use?.I know that
marine
> batteries are generally put under alot more abusive treatment than a
typical
> automotive battery and that the marine batteries are designed to be
frequently
> re-charged.What is different about the marine battery that allows this?

Auto batteries are designed to give lots of amps, but not to be deeply
discharged. If you're going to launch a *lot*, a battery designed to
discharge deeply would probably be a better choice, but in the real world,
it probably won't make much of a difference; launches just don't take that
much power.

> Id like
> to mount a 12 volt battery on a small Dolly style cart with a permanantly
> mounted trickle charger that would allow me to just plug it in after the
days
> use and not have to worry about it being overcharged or boiled dry.Has
anyone
> put anything like this together?

Deltran makes good stuff. The Battery Tender would work fine, as would the
battery tender junior. You can find either of them on the net. They're very
nice to batteries, and you can leave them plugged in forever.

http://www.batterytender.com/index2.html

Mordecai Schmeeglefarb

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Jul 26, 2000, 3:00:00 AM7/26/00
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Thoszhf wrote:
>
> Which of the two would be the best choice for launcher use?

One consideration is if you will have a prolonged period of disuse. The
marine batteries handle this much better.

I use an auto battery myself.

mordecai

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