Any thoughts on this new battery?

[Labatt]

Any thoughts on this new battery from Odyssey? It's an AGM using pure lead... I don't know if it's one of the new "thin plate" technology batteries, but they do mention having thinner plates in the specs. The people at the boat show">Miami Boat Show said that they will take a massive charge and you can deep discharge them, so they sound like thin plate tech. Two of these batteries are exactly the size of an 8D, but have 418AH of capacity! They are around $600-$650 each, so not cheap at all, but I could double my house bank capacity in the space I have now without having to take up other storage areas (which is VERY important to me).

PC1800 Odyssey Battery - Odyssey Drycell Batteries

[btrayfors]

The Odyssey line has been around for a couple of years. They are certainly interesting technology, and have been extensively tested in commercial and military applications.

My concerns are two:

1. very high price; and
2. questionable service life.

On the second point, while Odyssey provides a great deal of technical info (see the tech papers available on their website), nowhere in the literature have I been able to find the expected number of cycles by depth of discharge (DOD).

They do state up front that with an 80% DOD the battery can deliver "up to 400 cycles" if properly recharged. Well, that's great, but in heavy cruising duty that might be only a year or two. I'd like to see the figures for, e.g., a 50% DOD, and compare them to flooded technologies.

Despite these concerns, the battery looks like it would be very good in marine service if you're willing to shell out the big bucks to acquire them :-)

Bill

[Labatt]

Thanks Bill. I have similar questions, and I wonder how much Odyssey wants to get more people out there using the technology. The guys at the show were very interested in me purchasing them and offered some real good pricing. I'm not concerned as much about the price - they will pay for themselves in reduced diesel costs for generator usage and less generator wear and tear. I'm more concerned about their cycles and also their charge acceptance rate (and the compatibility with my generator powered Xantrex charger).

[Minggat]

I spoke directly with Odyssey a few weeks ago and was quote less than $400 each, with a 4 year garrantee and 12 year service life.