mtb's Trojanoids

[smileypete]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Easy words to write, far harder to actually do.

1) When I was passing through Evesham and needed those batteries in a hurry, I was lucky there were ANY battery specialists there, reputable or not. Nor were there any local hire fleets to ask.

2) Could you list all the reputable local battery specialists in, say, Newbury please (where I an near now)?

Here is my list:

 

Did your existing batts go from working fine to suddenly failing overnight?

For Evesham I get:

https://www.yell.com/biz/the-battery-centre-evesham-901203398/

https://www.yell.com/biz/multicell-international-ltd-evesham-3753036/

Plus theres about three more not far away who might deliver on a van.

[smileypete]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

I at present buy from Sawley marine these were 89 squidlys each, I have 4 and my last 4 of the same make and supplier lasted me 2.5 years in CONSTANT EVERY DAY use the main problem I see that any of us have with how long a battery lasts is that nine out of ten who comment on here are hobby boaters and just a few of us use ours daily and its like comparing apples and pears especialy when such as I am off grid and many hobbiests are plugged in on their timber pontoons when not boating so its impossible to work out what is realy best. I found some 12 volt Trojans yesterday on line I think they wer 31xs or somett like that but they were more than TWICE the price of my Sawley ones and needed to be messed about topping up and just how long would they realy last me?????? if I went down that route.

Thing is, you always fail to mention you have a Travelpower in your posturing polemics. Anyone know how much a brand new travelpower costs?

Edited October 28, 2017 by smileypete

[pearley]

My last set of 4 Numax 135 amp/hr FLA batteries lasted 4 years of permanent CCing with occasional shoreline and so equalisation. We are gas free so cook electric via a built in generator plus 320 watts of solar so they rarely go below 75% SOC according to the SmartGauge. It is an assumption on my part that cruising for 3 hours or so every 3 or 4 days, after the generator has been running for a couple of hours so the SG will probably read 100%, will mean the batteries get fully charged every few days. When these started to fail last winter I bought 4 of the same brand and size, except they were about £20 each cheaper this time at £93 each. Hopefully these will also last 4 years. 

19 hours ago, WotEver said:

I think it’s this. We’ve been saying “Use the SmartGauge to know when to start charging, or at the very least stop discharging” followed by “Charge until tail current at Absorption voltage is around 1% of capacity and has remained static for about 45 minutes” for a very, very long time. 

‘Dave’s Mantra’ is a shorter way of saying the same thing. 

To wire a battery monitor shunt into my negative leads would not be easy due to the way the boat has been wired (a shunt on the positive side would be much easier) so is there an ammeter that is easy to fit? Something like a permanently installed clamp meter. 

[dmr]

28 minutes ago, pearley said:

My last set of 4 Numax 135 amp/hr FLA batteries lasted 4 years of permanent CCing with occasional shoreline and so equalisation. We are gas free so cook electric via a built in generator plus 320 watts of solar so they rarely go below 75% SOC according to the SmartGauge. It is an assumption on my part that cruising for 3 hours or so every 3 or 4 days, after the generator has been running for a couple of hours so the SG will probably read 100%, will mean the batteries get fully charged every few days. When these started to fail last winter I bought 4 of the same brand and size, except they were about £20 each cheaper this time at £93 each. Hopefully these will also last 4 years. 

To wire a battery monitor shunt into my negative leads would not be easy due to the way the boat has been wired (a shunt on the positive side would be much easier) so is there an ammeter that is easy to fit? Something like a permanently installed clamp meter. 

Most electronic ammeters/battery monitors like the shunt in the negative lead, it makes the electronics a whole lot easier to design. The Adverc DCM uses a positive shunt but is looking a bit dated these days. The new device from SIMarine will also take a positive shunt but its a bit costly and it looks like the firmware is not quite properly finished yet. It has potential so might be good in the near future. It also claims to do a Smartguage type "% full" display.

Dave

[cuthound]

5 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

And mine with expensive Trojanoids!

I might yet shell out of a set of Trojans, and see how they behave in comparison.

However because you have changed your charging regime, by installing a Whispergen, you will not be making a like for like comparison.

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, pearley said:

a shunt on the positive side would be much easier

Blue Sea make a ‘shunt shifter’ (be careful saying that after a couple of pints!) which suits their ammeter. Maybe it would work for any ammeter that likes to be wired in the neg?

https://www.bluesea.com/products/8242/DC_Shunt_Shifter

[mrsmelly]

4 hours ago, smileypete said:

Thing is, you always fail to mention you have a Travelpower in your posturing polemics. Anyone know how much a brand new travelpower costs?

Yes I agree in my opinion the Travel power is the best bit of kit in the known universe but I would genuinely like to know wether forking out for Posh batteries would work better for me and its realy an impossible one to answer

[nicknorman]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Yes I agree in my opinion the Travel power is the best bit of kit in the known universe but I would genuinely like to know wether forking out for Posh batteries would work better for me and its realy an impossible one to answer

If you were happy with your batteries for 2.5 years of live aboard use, I can’t see any point in changing. For me, cheap leisure batteries only lasted 6 months of intermittent leisure use. Perhaps it is down to our different usages and expectations?