fireplug said:Ryoken,
LOL I want to respond with your very same words! LMAO
I think we are debating semantics now. And in general I agree with everything you said. And it sounds like we are both currently on track and in agreement. Whether we're correct or not is another thing! lol
There IS a difference between reserve capacity and deep cycling ability though. And it didn't sound like you were acknowledging that to me. In fact I quoted the one time that you said what I thought was the opposite hence my frustration.
Back in the day, before I knew about deep cycle batteries I'd pay through the teeth for LARGE reserve, or what in an earlier post I called "typical" or starting batteries. But these were NOT deep cycle, nor did they possess the deep cycles ability to bounce back for a deep discharge nearly as well. So yes I could run my stereo at the camp site for a long time, but doing so every weekend would kill the battery far sooner than it's normal life cycle. Had I known then what I do now I could've saved a bundle of moola. Oh well that's life.
For rigs that are often draining their batteries with whatever accessories, from a longevity or financial or trail worthiness aspect the solution is deep cycle batteries NOT high reserve batteries. Unless you can get a really high reserve deep cycle.
What I'd REALLY like to know, is what batteries out there are the REAL deal as far as deep cycling ability goes. Construction is the answer, but short of cutting a battery open, how do you know. I find the company propaganda is rather elusive no matter who it is.
I'd bet the Armed Forces use some pretty tech stuff, anyone have any incite?
How about the diesels? Has anyone determined whether their batteries are isolated from the factory and if so, how?
Well, couple of things...
I'll start with the somewhat point of contention we seem to be having... And say again, high reserve capacity is inherent in deep cycles and they're style of cells.. never in cranking batteries... Thats a fact... The more reserve a battery has, the closer the cell construction is to a solid style deep cycle...
So, in other words, if you where buying "high reserve batteries", in actuality, you where buying something much closer to a deep cycle than you may think, tho they may have been cheating in some other areas of cell construction, leading to poor deep cycling..
And like I said, standard starting batteries these days absolutely suck on reserve capacity.. Ya know why? marketing and advertising... The battery companies have consumers sooooooo brainwashed with CCA it's rediculous.. Noone pays attention to reserve capacity... Joe Schmoe just sees, "OOOOO, 1100 CCA, WOW!!!!!" but pays no attention to that pitiful 50 minute reserve...
So not only do you get 4 to 5 times the length of time of usable juice, but they can be discharged past that point and still come back...
As for highend batteries in lead-acid, Surrette... Alot of the highend boats run em.. Rolls-Surrette in U.S apps.. They are THE premium battery builder, by far no contest..
As for dual factory setups, anything from the 80's is strictly in parellel, nothing fancy.... I have my views on this subject too...
Here's some interesting tidbits I had saved from various faq's,
Rolls, Surrette and Lifeline use thicker lead grids (the plate's skeletal structure) to support additional positive plate oxides which are compressed into a denser form in order to add battery reactive material for greater Reserve Capacity and Cycling Performance. In addition, these plates are separated by indestructible separators. These mats hold the active oxides tightly in place during the cubical plate expansion which occurs during deep discharging, instead of allowing the oxides to shed off and precipitate to the bottom of the battery. Construction materials such as those raise the Reserve Capacity of a battery and increase the battery's Cycle Life.
and
Unfortunately, the term Deep Cycle has been overused by the battery industry as a sales tool to imply a heavy duty product. This has led to confusion and difficulty in battery selection. One must understand that any battery may be termed deep cycle as all batteries may be fully discharged and charged. However, a true deep cycle battery, such as Rolls or Lifeline, is capable of thousands of these hard cycles during its life without losing its capacity. Comparatively, many advertised deep cycle batteries composed of thin plates, excessively porous separators, and low density plate oxides will suffer permanent capacity loss after a few dozen cycles and will shortly sulfate or shed plate material and fail. Batteries without substantial materials designed for true deep-cycling will lose more than half of their capacity after only a few cycles. A 200 Amp-hour battery will shortly become a 100 Amp-hour battery for the remainder of its shortened service life. What initially may seem to be an inexpensive battery to purchase, now costs twice as much per Amp-hour. True Deep cycle batteries will perform well as cranking batteries, however, cranking batteries will not survive deep cycle use.
Deep cycle batteries can be used in any application and exhibit a long service life, while cranking batteries are limited to starting applications only. Cranking batteries exhibit poor service life in cycling applications.
