Generator

[Dave Payne]

Used to drive forklifts, the thought has crossed my mind a few times as to the suitability of these batteries on a boat, but the one's I have seen are all very high, can you get ones that would fit in an engine bay then?

 

Also do they charge from a standard alternator?

Edited November 26, 2016 by Dave Payne

[mross]

Full tractions are normally 2 volt cells, my supplier gives a five year warranty with them, plus he throws in the watering system as well. I have bought 4 x trojans today as well for a boat I bought to sell they cost me £90 each including the vat they are semi tractions or so it says on them. I went for these instead of crap leisure batteries because the price difference isnt big enough for me to waste my money on them. Neil who runs ICBS is not a fan of AGMs and today gave me a bit of a hard time over fitting the Trojans but accepted why I did what I did

Does ICBS have a website?

[MtB]

Used to drive forklifts, the thought has crossed my mind a few times as to the suitability of these batteries on a boat, but the one's I have seen are all very high, can you get ones that would fit in an engine bay then?

 

Also do they charge from a standard alternator?

 

Swerving slightly off topic, the engine bay is a dopey place to install batteries. Far better to have them nice and accessible in a cupboard inside the boat somewhere. Or in racks on the wall in your trad engine room of course.

 

Nothing discourages maintaining a battery more than tucking it out of the way in an awkward place like under the engine boards. Especially on a cruiser stern when it's dark and raining in winter.

[Dave Payne]

Would have thought putting batteries in my cabin though would be a daft idea, explosive gasses and all that?

[Geo]

They arnt that expensive if you choose a common size £600 will buy you a 720-750 AH battery bank with leads, bolts, tails and watering system. Why bother with trojans, gels, agms or 110 leisure batteries? Its no good going to PB batteries he charges boat prices Neil charges commercial prices which of course are the right side of reality

 

Heck in that case it makes even less sense not to use them. Even cheap leisures to get 700 Ah would cost about the same. Yes PB lives in dreamland but people must still buy from him as he is/was still going last time I looked.

Would have thought putting batteries in my cabin though would be a daft idea, explosive gasses and all that?

 

You enclose them and vent them outside. I can remember an electric 60 foot narrow boat where the bank was under the bed. No gases inside the boat it all went out of a chimney pushed buy little fans.

Also do they charge from a standard alternator?

 

No reason why not, the bank voltage can be almost whatever you want 2,4,6,8,10,12,24,48 etc

[Dave_P]

Would have thought putting batteries in my cabin though would be a daft idea, explosive gasses and all that?

Agreed. I'm far more comfortable knowing my batteries are in my engine bay. I don't see any issue with it. My engine is in my engine bay and that needs maintenance too. If you're put off by a bit of weather, you probably shouldn't be boating. How long do people actually spend maintaining their batteries? I suspect that for a majority of boaters it's never.

[WotEver]

Also do they charge from a standard alternator?

You might have to use an external alternator controller depending on the alternator and the spec of the batteries if you wanted to charge them at manufacturer's optimal voltage. However, a nominally 12V bank would still charge at a slightly lower voltage, it might just require more regular equalising.

[MtB]

Would have thought putting batteries in my cabin though would be a daft idea, explosive gasses and all that?

 

 

You'd prefer all that explosive hydrogen being produced by your batteries to be in the engine bay with that sparky alternator, eh?!

In reality it's a non-problem. Hydogen is far lighter than air and the tiny quantities percolate out, unless you seal the batteries in an airtight container. When did you last hear of a battery hydrogen explosion?

[mross]

When I was at sea, I put my Land Rover battery on a maintenance charge and it's in the cabin, I dont know how it vented! Never did explode.

[Dave Payne]

I remember opening up a warehouse one morning and the forklift had been on charge all night, warehouse had a strong smell of rotton eggs, engineer came and replaced one the cells, wouldn't really want that happening inside a cabin.

 

But anyway, can you get these batteries with a height the same as a standard leisure, the £600 quoted on another post seems a no brainer if you can give them.more abuse than a standard leisure?

[MtB]

I remember opening up a warehouse one morning and the forklift had been on charge all night, warehouse had a strong smell of rotton eggs, engineer came and replaced one the cells, wouldn't really want that happening inside a cabin.

 

But anyway, can you get these batteries with a height the same as a standard leisure, the £600 quoted on another post seems a no brainer if you can give them.more abuse than a standard leisure?

 

 

Quite. The smell of rotten eggs is obvious far sooner than the lower explosive concentration in air would ever be reached in my opinion. Its a non-problem as your anecdote illustrates. Nothing exploded, did it? Does it ever?

 

And no they are not available in the same height as conventional batteries. This is why they are not generally used in boats.

 

 

Edit to add:

 

the PB website sort of implies there might be something a suitable size in full tractions. See the comments about NB "Peruvian Skies" at the bottom of the page here:

http://www.pbbatteries.com/narrowboat-batteries/

Edited November 26, 2016 by Mike the Boilerman

[Geo]

 

And no they are not available in the same height as conventional batteries. This is why they are not generally used in boats.

 

 

Edit to add:

 

the PB website sort of implies there might be something a suitable size in full tractions. See the comments about NB "Peruvian Skies" at the bottom of the page here:

http://www.pbbatteries.com/narrowboat-batteries/

 

Looking on the net can find them at about 320mm high which I suspect would go nicely in an engine hole

[Dave_P]

 

 

And no they are not available in the same height as conventional batteries. This is why they are not generally used in boats.

 

Are you sure about this? Is it not just because boaters and boat builders like to copy everyone else. It's not as if there's nowhere to put a taller battery on a boat.

[WotEver]

Does ICBS have a website?

Yup.

 

https://www.forklift-batteries.co.uk

[MtB]

Are you sure about this? Is it not just because boaters and boat builders like to copy everyone else. It's not as if there's nowhere to put a taller battery on a boat.

 

 

True but look at the context of my answer. Dave was asking if there were any full tractions the same height as ordinary domestic batteries as he want to put them in the same place as his current batteries.

[Dave Payne]

 

Looking on the net can find them at about 320mm high which I suspect would go nicely in an engine hole

Care to share a link?

 

 

True but look at the context of my answer. Dave was asking if there were any full tractions the same height as ordinary domestic batteries as he want to put them in the same place as his current batteries.

Putting the gas when charging bit aside, I dont think I would want to go through the hassle of moving the battery bank.

[Geo]

Care to share a link?

 

Putting the gas when charging bit aside, I dont think I would want to go through the hassle of moving the battery bank.

 

No https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/6e16ceb1/files/uploaded/Traction%202V%20British%20Standard.pdf

 

I was thinking about new builds, but even so know of a boat that did move their's and it was not a great hassle.

[Dave Payne]

Depends on your boat layout I guess, I cant think of anywhere I could build the batteries in with out having to do some major work, and lose space in the cabin.

 

Thanks for the link!

[mross]

Yup.

 

https://www.forklift-batteries.co.uk

Aha, I Googled ICBS and could not find it. I found it eventually as they are also called IBCS. Thanks.

[MtB]

Numpty edit...

Edited November 26, 2016 by Mike the Boilerman

[mross]

75!

[MtB]

75!

 

 

No actually!

 

Reading the chart more carefully, one would need 6 of the battery on the bottom line, each one roughly the same size and weight as a Trojan T105

[mross]

 

 

No actually!

 

Reading the chart more carefully, one would need 6 of the battery on the bottom line, each one roughly the same size and weight as a Trojan T105

Please put your post back! you were right (Ah would have been slightly less than 400) but at least you would not have three spare batteries impossible to wire in as I had made an error of logic!

Edited November 26, 2016 by mross

[cuthound]

Nothing exploded, did it? Does it ever?

I have seen the aftermath of a cell explosion in a battery room.

 

Caused by someone entering the battery room with a lit cigarette.

 

He lost his hair and eyebrows and several glass cased 2 volt battery cells exploded.

 

Bits of flying glass took lumps out of the concrete ceiling, and the floor was covered in acid.

 

Edited to remove a bit of the quoted post that I had accidentally left in.

Edited November 26, 2016 by cuthound

[WotEver]

If you recall "Wide Beam Boat Blog" from a few years ago he was grinding somewhere near his batteries. The loud 'Bang' destroyed the battery box, several hundred pounds worth of new batteries, two hundred pounds worth of brand new drill that had been sitting on top of the battery box, plus sprayed a substantial amount of acid all over his engine bay. He wasn't a happy camper.