Has anyone tried "traction" batteries?

[smileypete]

Thanks, It's great to have specific advice. If I get T105s can I hope for a longer life from them?

 

Well they're not quite a panacea.

 

They need to be charged properly at the recommended voltage of 14.8V and equalised from time to time at 15.5V, the mfr's website will have all the gory details.

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited February 24, 2015 by smileypete

[bottle]

and remember that the Smartgauge is up to 10% inaccurate when charging but totally accurate when resting or discharging.

 

So to ensure good battery life do not rely on the Smartgauge to tell you when they are fully charged.

 

ie. they may only be at 90% SOC when the Smartgauge reads 100%, not regularly charging to 100% SOC and equalisation charging will reduce the battery life.

[Neil Smith]

I totaly agree. We are all anal about some things. For me batteries are beyond boring so I buy cheap, never check em but in fairness still get at least two years out of them so I am happy. I understand other people ( my bro in law amongst them ) love tinkering with them but its too much like being at work for me.

Now ask me about how I look after my superb v8 jag engine...............now that is worth messing with

 

Tim

The only jag engine I mess with is my old mk2 very basic, my xkr v8 I leave well alone.

[mrsmelly]

The only jag engine I mess with is my old mk2 very basic, my xkr v8 I leave well alone.

 

Ahh Proper cars. I ran an an S type for years along with an e type ( a proper S type not the modern crap ) I had a mk2 for a while but I didnt think it as pretty as the S type and the S type having the irs was a muchoo better beast to drive. My fave though was a 420g Mk10 to the uninitiated, a simply awesomely comfortable monster.

As my commuting car for yonks I ran a superlative Daimler double six. It did 12 to the gallon at whatever speed I drove it at!!

I must say though that this old xj8 i now run is bloody good and you need to run something that can keep in front of all these poxy tractor engined cars tight sods seem to run today which of course it does with ease.

 

Tim

[bizzard]

 

Ahh Proper cars. I ran an an S type for years along with an e type ( a proper S type not the modern crap ) I had a mk2 for a while but I didnt think it as pretty as the S type and the S type having the irs was a muchoo better beast to drive. My fave though was a 420g Mk10 to the uninitiated, a simply awesomely comfortable monster.

As my commuting car for yonks I ran a superlative Daimler double six. It did 12 to the gallon at whatever speed I drove it at!!

I must say though that this old xj8 i now run is bloody good and you need to run something that can keep in front of all these poxy tractor engined cars tight sods seem to run today which of course it does with ease.

 

Tim

I had a lock up garage which I stored the odd car for sale in. The only car I couldn't get in it was the Mk 10, too wide, even R/R Shadows would go in. I don't think I ever saw a Mk 10 without a scrape on those bulging sides.

[OldGoat]

If you're going to invest in some proper batteries - then you MUST be in a position to charge them properly. If not on a landline with one of those Nice Mr. Stirling's chargers then you must have an alternator controller and a better alternator as well.

 

No iffs, no buts - otherwise it's a total waste of money. You've not said anything about how you charge the batteries.

 

In the mean time try making do with hot water bottles and turn the blanket off.

 

To fund all that - consider switching off Sky and get a freesat box instead (unless you're a raving sport fan - in which case, there's no hope for you).

 

The TV and satellite box shouldn't take all that much power - unless the TV is a 50" plasma monster - please say it isn't!!

 

(sorry about the music I only found some midi files - mebe I'll look a bit more deeply)

[Theo]

 

 

Yes, but you probably did a power audit and charging calculations so know how long you need to run for to charge your batteries. It is also likely that you have shoreline or significant solar charging.

 

The OP really gives very little indication of his electrical use and none about his charging regime. The comment about the hair dryer makes me side with Sabcat on the evidence we have.

 

To the OP - if you do not charge batteries enough you will wreck an expensive set almost as fast as a cheap set.

I seemed to wreck mine even though I never took them below 50% and made sure that they were up to 100% at least once a week.

 

N

[David Schweizer]

 

That is indeed impressive. However, I got the impression that Trojans were rated at least as good, for a much reduced price. Tanya Batteries told me their Trojans were cheap because they sold bucketloads and bought them by the Megaton.

 

I remember Trojans being way more expensive than they are now. Possibly they ARE of similar quality, but just more popular?

 

Yes that was the established view for many years, but recent experiences (some reported on the forum) suggest that the quality has slipped a bit over the past couple of years. They also have a very agressive (some woulld say hostile towards competitors) advertising which seems to have increased demand.

Edited February 25, 2015 by David Schweizer

[Theo]

If you're going to invest in some proper batteries - then you MUST be in a position to charge them properly. If not on a landline with one of those Nice Mr. Stirling's chargers then you must have an alternator controller and a better alternator as well.

No iffs, no buts - otherwise it's a total waste of money. You've not said anything about how you charge the batteries.

 

 

 

I remain unconvinced. From my readi

ng of Gibbo's site ISTM that the important thing is not that you have a large enough alternator but that the time for which you run it is commensurate with the amount of charge that you have taken out of the batteries. It is (to repeat what has often been said here) important to understand that once batteries get to 75% - 80% then the current that you can give them falls off until you might be getting less than 1A into each battery at 14.6V. So at this point having a high output alternator is irrelevant. It is for this reason that I like to have an ammeter reading the alternator output so that I can adjust the engine revs to suit.

 

N

[smileypete]

I seemed to wreck mine even though I never took them below 50% and made sure that they were up to 100% at least once a week.

 

N

 

Yeah, but there's a lot more to the things than just waiting for 100% to appear on a Smartgauge.

 

Not saying that Smartgauge isn't a hell of a lot better than nothing mind...

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

Edited February 25, 2015 by smileypete

[The Maestro]

 

Yeah, but there's a lot more to the things than just waiting for 100% to appear on a Smartgauge.

 

Not saying that Smartgauge isn't a hell of a lot better than nothing mind...

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

What should one do, as well as watching Smartguage?

[cuthound]

Ideally measure the current going into the battery. When this tails off and remains the same for 1 or more hours, the battery is charged. For this you will need a clamp meter capable of reading DC amps, such as a Unit-T 203 (about £30 on EBay or £40 from Maplins).

 

Once you know how long this takes over the Smartgauge beginning to read 100%, then you can use that time.

[The Maestro]

If you're going to invest in some proper batteries - then you MUST be in a position to charge them properly. If not on a landline with one of those Nice Mr. Stirling's chargers then you must have an alternator controller and a better alternator as well.

 

No iffs, no buts - otherwise it's a total waste of money. You've not said anything about how you charge the batteries.

 

In the mean time try making do with hot water bottles and turn the blanket off.

 

To fund all that - consider switching off Sky and get a freesat box instead (unless you're a raving sport fan - in which case, there's no hope for you).

 

The TV and satellite box shouldn't take all that much power - unless the TV is a 50" plasma monster - please say it isn't!!

 

(sorry about the music I only found some midi files - mebe I'll look a bit more deeply)

The TV is a 20watt LED, SKY+ uses about 25watts, so 50watts will run both and the LED lights as well. I've got various time switches to ensure Sky isn't running when not needed. Apart from the electric blanket the other biggie is the fridge, Off-grid charging is a 95amp alternator with a Stirling charge controller. Also 300watts of solar panels, very useful but intermittent!

About 18 months ago I met a boater with a 40" TV and he seemed to have no bother! [but he wwas new to boating and might have fared worse later].

 

Ideally measure the current going into the battery. When this tails off and remains the same for 1 or more hours, the battery is charged. For this you will need a clamp meter capable of reading DC amps, such as a Unit-T 203 (about £30 on EBay or £40 from Maplins).

 

Once you know how long this takes over the Smartgauge beginning to read 100%, then you can use that time.

Thank you. I've waited years for clear advice like that.

[series3]

Electric blanket???

Get a grip.

[nicknorman]

Electric blanket???

Get a grip.

Why, are electric blankets slippery? No, they are in fact the best thing since sliced bread. Although it has to be said, we have an electric blanket but never have sliced bread.

[Naughty Cal]

Electric blanket???

Get a grip.

Wouldn't be without ours onboard and they really don't use a lot of power.

 

We like getting into a toasty warm bed at night.

[OldGoat]

The TV is a 20watt LED, SKY+ uses about 25watts, so 50watts will run both and the LED lights as well. I've got various time switches to ensure Sky isn't running when not needed. Apart from the electric blanket the other biggie is the fridge, Off-grid charging is a 95amp alternator with a Stirling charge controller. Also 300watts of solar panels, very useful but intermittent!

About 18 months ago I met a boater with a 40" TV and he seemed to have no bother! [but he wwas new to boating and might have fared worse later].

 

 

 

In your earlier posts you said you were using 250 a/h between charges - that's a lot! (well assuming you charge every day - which I suspect you do not....)

As others have mentioned / implied there can be a lot of wasted engine running time in putting the last % charge into the batteries - that/'s where sampling what the smartgauge says will be of use.

 

However that doesn't solve the problem, which is either to put more charge in quickly, you need a bigger alternator (because with a charge controller it's probably making it work as hard as it can (dunno if I've got that right) or more batteries - the alternator then works harder for longer

Or both more alternator and more batteries

Or charge more often

Or don't use so much power - but I'm not going down that route.

 

I recall one of the regulars said about 800 ah was a reasonable target for use for somebody with less demand than you have.

 

I have 1,000 ah battery capacity and 2 x 150 amp alternators and they never churn out 300 amps but top up the batteries in about 4 hours.

The tv - sat - lights and heating don't take that much, but it's the fridge that's the killer.

[mrsmelly]

Wouldn't be without ours onboard and they really don't use a lot of power.

 

We like getting into a toasty warm bed at night.

 

Aint it funny how we all differ? We detest heated bedrooms and would abhor an electric blanket, I can though see the other side of the coin for some other posters, I think leccy blankets would be a good thread, nearly as good as Proper bogs versus pumpout.

 

Tim

[Tony Brooks]

Wot's wrong with hot water bottles, they run on gas - sort of.

[The Maestro]

Wot's wrong with hot water bottles, they run on gas - sort of.

They only warm the foot area. An electric blanket warms the WHOLE BED! Getting in Is my favourite moment of luxury!

[nicknorman]

Wot's wrong with hot water bottles, they run on gas - sort of.

I've got something else that warms the bed using gas, but when I activate it I always get a row!

[cuthound]

Electric blanket???

Get a grip.

Thread about "traction" batteries and you advise him to "get a grip". Was the pun intentional?

[Nickhlx]

You can use chains if it's icy..

[Loafer]

I've got something else that warms the bed using gas, but when I activate it I always get a row!

 

You need to keep the bung in!

[MtB]

Why, are electric blankets slippery? No, they are in fact the best thing since sliced bread. Although it has to be said, we have an electric blanket but never have sliced bread.

 

 

Swerving off-topic briefly, what was the best thing before sliced bread was invented?

 

 

MtB