6 volt vs 12 volt Trojan batteries.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

One of the problems with assessing battery performance is that one is not generally sufficiently knowledgeable on the subject until they actually fall over. I found that with a sufficient number of T105s and a sufficiency of solar panels this could be at least six or seven years.

It will be interesting to compare. The T105 bank cost almost exactly double what I paid for the D70Z bank. So if the T105’s last more than four years I’ll be ahead, but I sincerely hope they last longer than that.

They darn well should, this boat should be battery heaven.

[skipgundlach]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If you have the space you may want to consider the tall Solar batteries, some of them have extremely long cycle lives.

https://www.trojanbattery.com/market...ble-energy-re/

I’m still contemplating the L15+ Fireflies myself

Our bank is 4xL16H-AC Trojans due to limited floor space (same footprint as T-105, but 435AH); Pix here if you like:

Pictures: Flying Pig 2015-2018 Shake-and-Break-Down/Electrical Upgrade/Batteries

[mako]

Originally Posted by BruceS

I'm about to replace my 12 X 2V 600Ah Sonnenschein Solar 602's.
I can't seem to find anything that is better to spend the $$$$ on so will probably go the same again.
These have been on a hire boat & I can almost bet they have been brutally abused. (what hirey wants to listen to a genny?)
Even so they lasted 15 years.

Good for you! 2V batteries are generally industrial grade and most have excellent life even down to 80% DOD.

So what’s the advantage of going for the gel batteries versus the less expensive FLA?

[rslifkin]

As long as they don't get baked to death by engine heat or charged at too high a voltage, good gel batteries seem to last a very long time, even under fairly abusive discharge conditions. They don't have the super high charge / discharge amp capability of an AGM, however.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by jdazey

I went from 8Ds to T105s. My back is very grateful.

Truth! The last time I removed 8Ds from a boat, I promised myself it would be the last time.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by GILow

With 760 watts of solar, 630 AH@12V of battery capacity and an average daily energy budget of under 100 AH@12 V, these batteries should have lasted for ten years.

They’ve crapped out in a little over two years.

...

I really don’t know, and I’ll likely never know, what went wrong.

You were putting between 2 and 4 kW*h of energy in and taking out about 1 kW*h daily. The charge controller may have fried the batteries if it was not calibrated well enough. It certainly had sufficient resources to do it.
A second possibility is that at least one battery had different internal resistance causing the inter-batteries current.

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by Ozzlawrence

If 1 of the 12v batteries fails, I still have two thirds of my capacity...

Until the other two fail and you have zero capacity.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

You were putting between 2 and 4 kW*h of energy in and taking out about 1 kW*h daily. The charge controller may have fried the batteries if it was not calibrated well enough. It certainly had sufficient resources to do it.

A second possibility is that at least one battery had different internal resistance causing the inter-batteries current.

Yeah, something was not right, that’s for sure.

I had two identical controllers and I couldn’t spot a pattern of which one maintained float for the bank, so there was no discernible difference in their measurement of voltage.

The wiring is simple and passed all tests I could dream up.

So, like you said, this leaves either the possibility of crap batteries or maybe the controllers had a badly designed charge algorithm.

Either way, I’ve decided to start from scratch, this time with known and respected brands all around. I’ll keep the controllers for emergency spares as they are small and easily stored. The batteries are toast though.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Lost Horizons

You were putting between 2 and 4 kW*h of energy in and taking out about 1 kW*h daily. The charge controller may have fried the batteries if it was not calibrated well enough. It certainly had sufficient resources to do it.
A second possibility is that at least one battery had different internal resistance causing the inter-batteries current.

I eventually installed a 20 amp plazmatronics charge controller for each bank of the four banks of T105s. Expensive but with what we pay for good quality batteries in Australia well worth it from both risk and battery life viewpoints. One of the reasons we need to go to higher voltage systems on our boats.

Also,since I am very sensitive to wallet pangs it allowed me to space out the replacements to one bank at a time.

Get the largest analog volt meter and install it at a place where you can see it often. Use a 10v zener to expand in series to make it into a 10 - 16 volt meter. After a while you can get a very good idea of what's going on with your batteries by the way they charge and discharge. Analog works better than digital as you see where the needle is at a glance - the reference is positional and we evolved as pattern recognizers not digital creatures.

[Kimo_Kai]

Originally Posted by Adelie

They mostly contain the acid splatter but do nothing for hydrogen. By mostly I mean there is some that is aerosolised that will escape a battery box.

Regardless of my knowledge of the risks involved my batteries are in the middle of the cabin with no box around either. There just isn’t room.

You will want to equalize your trojans which is a process which intentionally causes them to gas off. It's critical battery maintenance if you want to get the most out of them. I won't go in depth here and Trojan does not offer specific guidelines. You will want to research that. I bought 4 x 6v (105) in 2017 and had them parallel and in a series to bring them up to 12v. Works very well.

Kimo
Marooned on Maui

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Wotname

What degree of confidence do you have that the batteries were tickety boo when first purchased and fitted?



Perhaps more important, what degree of confidence will you have that the new T-105s will be factory fresh?

Manufactured April 2020, based on the “D 0” stamped on the battery posts.

Of course... that might be April 2010, in which case I’ve been right royally screwed.

Weird manufacturing date system.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by GILow

Does high temperature mean they are tolerant of high temperatures or does it mean they run hot?

Matt, in an effort to learn sompin' about these things I googled and then looked at the products of the search. Several vendors, no specs, no prices, no real info. So I sent a request for quote to the most promising one... big mistake! No info forthcoming, but several phone calls trying to sell me domestic solar systems. One fellow knew nothing about "HTL" but told me that LiFePO batteries were too dangerous to use on a boat, but wanted to sell me some LI ion jobs.

I guess my curiosity will remain unresolved.

Jim

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Ozzlawrence

Hi Jim Cate,
HTL batteries are High Temperature Lead batteries. The three I have fit nicely into the same battery box as four T105 Trojans. They each have a mass of 41.5Kg.

As posted above, I've not had much luck doing some minor research on these batteries. Could you point us at the vendor you used and post any info on performance, lifetimes or costs, please?

Jim

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by GILow

.......
Weird manufacturing date system.

'Cause they know they won't last a decade...

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Wotname

'Cause they know they won't last a decade...

Here, hold my beer...