Battery decision quandary

[RavenTai]

wound up with a pair of Concorde lifeline GPL-27T's (drawing) 100AH 575 CCA, total with shipping $358, $1.79/AH

a little weak in the CCA's but it was in the low teens this morning and the currently installed badly abused group 24 battery who started life as a 460 CCA started but sluggishly, I think this will do for the temperatures seen here and maybe colder I will have to see, if I travel up north and see well below 0 temps I may have to parallel them to start (making one 1150 CCA battery) the nice thing about these is they have very thick plates (.115”) and should last a long time even if deeply dis charged, only time will tell for sure

they are group 27 size so will drop right in and fill the tray without mod's, they have a threaded terminal the cable lugs will bolt on directly without a terminal

other batteries I considered before settling on these

Optima group 31 yellow top , a little more expensive and with less AH but available locally, deal killer was it needed a different hold down and trimming of the battery trays possibly exposing them to more heat

wal-mart group 27 marine starting, 115AH 600 CCA $55 each, definitely the best bang for buck @ $.52/AH also the highest AH, just does not have the feature of the AGM's

 

[97 FZJ80]

The Optima Group 31 terminals will touch the hood of the 80 in the stock battery tray. It's been a while, but I think Pimp and Phil (LCPhil? of FedEx) has the Optima Group 31 and can verify the clearance.

AGM battery has very low discharge rate and usually outlast a regular flooded cell by 2X. It is also a true maintainance-free battery that never needs to be "topped off".

John

 

[RavenTai]

The Optima Group 31 terminals will touch the hood of the 80 in the stock battery tray. It's been a while, but I think Pimp and Phil (LCPhil? of FedEx) has the Optima Group 31 and can verify the clearance.

ouch, I did not even consider height as they are both under 10" tall? main diffrence is the width, maybe they were two wide to sit all the way down in the tray? I have played with diffret templates made from spec sheets trying to figure if it would work, fianally gave up and limited it to the size the tray was made for, on odd shaped and oversized really need the battery in hand to see if it will fit.

AGM battery has very low discharge rate and usually outlast a regular flooded cell by 2X. It is also a true maintainance-free battery that never needs to be "topped off".

John

those reasons, ruggedness, and being almost sealed are what made me pony up for the agm's,

 

[flintknapper]

Dan, I think(and I KNOW if I am wrong I will be corrected) that is only really important if they are used in paralle or in series(such as making one large 12volt bat or a 24volt system). If they are isolated from each other as in a normal dual battery set up matching is not(as) important. At least this is my understanding and I have not had issues with my 4 dual bat set ups(2 of which are matched/aged however)

You are correct. If the batteries are isolated there is no need to worry about them equalizng. Even if you match the batteries.....without an isolator, if one batt. ever has a cell go dead it will drain the other good battery. I have a pair of optima red tops (isolated) in my '70 model bronco 1/2 cab and they have been there for 9 years (NO JOKE). I highly recommend them.

 

[Gold Finger]

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/index.htm

This a vey good site to lok at if you are interested in batteries.

 

[Landpimp]

Ihave one, never treid it in the 80, John Held said it was tight and that the terminals hit, but he cured that somehow. I have mine in my 45LPB.....just bashed down back lip on the treay and stuffed it in......its one heavy SOB, not fun to lift it over the rad support rod. This has been a good battery.

Still I like the Excide Orbitals best for the price.

The Optima Group 31 terminals will touch the hood of the 80 in the stock battery tray. It's been a while, but I think Pimp and Phil (LCPhil? of FedEx) has the Optima Group 31 and can verify the clearance.

AGM battery has very low discharge rate and usually outlast a regular flooded cell by 2X. It is also a true maintainance-free battery that never needs to be "topped off".

John

 

[Big_Moose]

Personally, Optima's are an excellent battery

Currently, both the '55 and the '40 have dual optimas for the past 6 (8 total - two years with singles) years with only one "redtop" battery going bad for whatever reason. Both systems have a redtop for ignition, and yellow top for winch, etc. These batteries have been ABUSED with no major problems (excluding the one anomaly) - extended winching, lights, and 250 amp alternator (on '40), and the '55 is rarely driven lately - so very periodic starts, etc. Both systems use a standard isolator and 250 amp & 120 amp alternators.

Additionally, I purchased the two yellow tops USED from an electric cart company about 6 years ago, and were cut from a block of nine.

I have the standard redtop in the 80 on the stock tray with no contact of terminals / hood - plenty of room

Joe

 

[Rich]

Dan, I think(and I KNOW if I am wrong I will be corrected) that is only really important if they are used in paralle or in series(such as making one large 12volt bat or a 24volt system). If they are isolated from each other as in a normal dual battery set up matching is not(as) important. At least this is my understanding and I have not had issues with my 4 dual bat set ups(2 of which are matched/aged however)

Well, the vast majority, but not all, dual battery management schemes result in the voltage regulator sensing the average voltage of both batteries, and not the individual voltage of each battery. So, in the case of different types of batteries, and isolated, say by diodes, then both batteries are going to get the same charging voltage, that is likely to be wrong for both. One battery will be getting an overcharge, the other battery an undercharge, until both batteries end up at the same voltage. This is one of the reasons why, for best battery life, both should be the same type and age.

I have seen some schemes where the battery management system has built in logic to charge only one battery at a time, according to each battery's specific need.

 

[RavenTai]

Rich the battery takes care of controlling charging current not the source, the source only controlles voltage. when alternator (or other source) voltage is about 2 volts higher than battery voltage the battery charges. all you have to do is port ~14.4V to the terminals of the battery and it takes care of the rest. as battery internal voltage increases during the charge the current tapers off, all the alternator does is regualte its output voltage, if the alt is doing its job battery voltage is not visible or senseable to anything wile it is turning.

it is similar ot compressing a spring when the pressure of the spring matches the force aplied to it movement stops.

each battery will take what it needs the potential piroblems of mismatched batteries is when one battery starts charging the other in the absense of the alternator or at times when the alt cannot keep up with the total load and its voltage drops.


Re optimas: the thing that bugs me about both Optima's and orbitals is the ones that fit easily in the 80 have small capacity. odysseys have a similar problem, the group 27 is kind of an odd ball not much out there in that size, almost a big battery but not quite

 

[Rich]

After some contemplation, I'll buy that.