Hi Barry,
there are a lot of 'smart' battery chargers on the market these days. They
will look after your batteries pretty well.
Might be worth asking your local security, fire panel installer, local ham
radio operator or solar power supplier for recommendations.
You will need to make sure you get one that suites the battery type (gell
cell, lead acid, Nicad, NiMh, NiFe etc) and that is has enough capacity to
be able to charge the battery if you have a power outage as well as maintain
the battery under it's 1-2amps continuous load
I'd suggest that a 6 to 8 amp smart charger will do it nicely given your
estimation of current drain. .. (a bit bigger than a wall wart)
In Oz (south of the equator and round the globe a bit), these are around the
$60 to $100, I wouldn't cycle the battery charger, just plug it in and leave
it to do its thing.
Best life out of batteries is usually obtained if you don't exceed a 20%
discharge of the battery regularly, and with lead acid & gel cells, unless
they are specially made for deep cycle operations or long life, 3 - 5 years
tends to be about it.
Having said that, well looked after, lives upto 10+ years are possible.
In general terms, there is also no need to cycle a good battery to keep it
healthy (the exception being some wet NiCad's which do need this), just
keeping that voltage at the right level with a smart charger is enough.
There is a lot of info about batteries on the solar power web sites, and
also avail from most battery manufacturers, it is quite well researched and
documented, so it is worth doing some reading.
Lead acid type batteries (and probably most others) don't like cold feet, so
don't place the batteries directly on concrete floors, a couple of bits of
wood to keep them off the floor is all that is required..
If using 'wet' lead Acid, NiFe or NiCad batteries, consider getting a
plastic container that the battery can sit in (to contain any leakage and
spillage) and get that off the floor by a couple of cm (inch or so) on some
wood.
Also, most storage type batteries don't like large temperature changes
(don't put them out side if it snows or you live in a desert..)
If your battery is of the design that allows topping up with water ('wet'
types), you MUST use distilled or demineralised water, tap water just isn't
good enough.
Maintenance free car (auto) batteries around the 60 - 80 Ahr are great for
this sort of application (even the cheapies at discount shops provided they
haven't been stored on the floor!!!) .
That should give you around 2+ days of backup (in your estimated loading)
when the power goes off if they are fully charged and the smart chargers
will do that 4 you.
Hope that gives you a few pointers
Blair Lade
South Australia
_____
From: psnlist-request@.............. [mailto:psnlist-request@...............
On Behalf Of Barry Lotz
Sent: Thursday, 1 November 2012 2:05 PM
To: psnlist@..............
Subject: station battery maintaining
Hi All
I have got my station components to work on 12 vts DC thru the use of DC/DC
converters.My thought was that the DC/DC converters are more efficient than
wall warts and a UPS and the battery would last longer on a power outage. I
would like to have the system run on a battery with something to maintain
the battery health while under an approx 1 to 2 amp load. . The problem is
what to use to keep the battery charged but also healthy. I tried a 1.5 vt
charger/maintainer which worked for ~ 2 years. I am not sure whether it's
the battery or the maintainer which is malfunctioning. I can go into what I
have done recently . My question is would a possible scheme be to run a 6
amp charger on a wall timer work to cycle the battery and prevent sulfation?
Maybe shutting off the charger for say 8 hrs each day then put back on a 6
amp charge would work. Alternatively is there a product I could use to have
battery maintain charge and capacity for a reasonably long period of time.
Regards
Barry
www.seismicvault.com
Hi =
Barry,
there are a lot of =
‘smart’
battery chargers on the market these days. They will look after your =
batteries
pretty well.
Might be worth asking your local =
security,
fire panel installer, local ham radio operator or solar power supplier =
for recommendations.
You will need to make sure you get =
one
that suites the battery type (gell cell, lead acid, Nicad, NiMh, NiFe =
etc) and
that is has enough capacity to be able to charge the battery if you have =
a
power outage as well as maintain the battery under it’s 1-2amps =
continuous
load
I’d suggest that a 6 to 8 amp =
smart
charger will do it nicely given your estimation of current drain. .. (a =
bit
bigger than a wall wart)
In Oz (south of the equator and =
round the
globe a bit), these are around the $60 to $100, I wouldn’t cycle =
the
battery charger, just plug it in and leave it to do its =
thing.
Best life out of batteries is =
usually
obtained if you don’t exceed a 20% discharge of the battery =
regularly,
and with lead acid & gel cells, unless they are specially made for =
deep cycle
operations or long life, 3 - 5 years tends to be about =
it.
Having said that, well looked =
after, lives
upto 10+ years are possible.
In general terms, there is also no =
need to
cycle a good battery to keep it healthy (the exception being some wet =
NiCad’s
which do need this), just keeping that voltage at the right level with a =
smart
charger is enough.
There is a lot of info about =
batteries on
the solar power web sites, and also avail from most battery =
manufacturers, it
is quite well researched and documented, so it is worth doing some =
reading.
Lead acid type batteries (and =
probably
most others) don’t like cold feet, so don’t place the =
batteries
directly on concrete floors, a couple of bits of wood to keep them off =
the
floor is all that is required..
If using ‘wet’ lead =
Acid, NiFe
or NiCad batteries, consider getting a plastic container that the =
battery can
sit in (to contain any leakage and spillage) and get that off the floor =
by a
couple of cm (inch or so) on some wood.
Also, most storage type batteries =
don’t
like large temperature changes (don’t put them out side if it =
snows or you
live in a desert..)
If your battery is of the design =
that
allows topping up with water (‘wet’ types), you MUST use =
distilled
or demineralised water, tap water just isn’t good enough. =
Maintenance free car (auto) =
batteries around
the 60 – 80 Ahr are great for this sort of application (even the =
cheapies
at discount shops provided they haven’t been stored on the =
floor!!!) .
That should give you around 2+ days =
of
backup (in your estimated loading) when the power goes off if they are =
fully
charged and the smart chargers will do that 4 =
you.
Hope that gives you a few =
pointers
Blair =
Lade
South Australia
From:
psnlist-request@.............. [mailto:psnlist-request@............... =
On Behalf Of Barry Lotz
Sent: Thursday, 1 =
November 2012
2:05 PM
To: psnlist@..............
Subject: station battery
maintaining
Hi All
I have got my station components to work on 12 vts DC thru the use of =
DC/DC
converters.My thought was that the DC/DC converters are more efficient =
than
wall warts and a UPS and the battery would last longer on a power =
outage.
I would like to have the system run on a battery with something to
maintain the battery health while under an approx 1 to 2 amp load. =
.. The
problem is what to use to keep the battery charged but also healthy. I =
tried a
1.5 vt charger/maintainer which worked for ~ 2 years. I am not sure =
whether
it's the battery or the maintainer which is malfunctioning. I can go =
into what
I have done recently . My question is would a possible scheme be to run =
a 6 amp
charger on a wall timer work to cycle the battery and prevent =
sulfation?
Maybe shutting off the charger for say 8 hrs each day then put back on a =
6 amp
charge would work. Alternatively is there a product I could use to =
have
battery maintain charge and capacity for a reasonably long period of =
time.
Regards
Barry
www.seismicvault.com