Sealed, Gel or Flooded Battery

[Kokonut]

How does someone tell which of the 3 options (Sealed, Flooded or Gel) that this Battery belongs to please?

BOSCH High Cycle Marine M4
HCM24-600
12V 115RC 65AH
600 CCA (BCI/SAE)
750 MCA (BCI/SAE)
0 092 S47 057 +HHO

There is nothing on the battery label that offers me any clues. A phone call to Bosch refered me to their Dealer Representatives who were of no help. In fact, one said Sealed, and the other said Flooded.

The reason I need to determine this is for the Solar Controller, during setup.

[Pete7]

It's a sealed lead acid, nothing special, normal car battery despite the fictitious labelling description.

Pete

[boris]

It's a Flooded Calcium supose to give a longer life but basically a car battery

[john61ct]

It's sealed SLA, not flooded FLA

Basically a Starter batt, 600 CCA, 115 Reserve, 65Ah

Probably fine for cranking but nothing special, the "marine" has no objective meaning.

Certainly not for deep cycling usage.

[tkeithlu]

Am I missing something? I thought sealed batteries were sealed or at least make it difficult to get into the cells, while flooded batteries had little caps on each cell for adding distilled water. Can they hide as each other?

[bcboomer]

Flooded come in "maintenance free" format. Basically a regular flooded battery, maybe with a little more air space, that you can't add water to when it needs it.
A clever way to increase car battery sales.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by john61ct

It's sealed SLA, not flooded FLA

Basically a Starter batt, 600 CCA, 115 Reserve, 65Ah

Probably fine for cranking but nothing special, the "marine" has no objective meaning.

Certainly not for deep cycling usage.

Sure the marine has an objective use. Charge more.

[KP44]

A starter battery or engine battery. Not for your house bank. Charge as a flooded battery even though it is sealed.
If you want a house bank, two golf cart 6v batteries in series will give a decent 12v house bank , if you have room for them. Or get a "group 27" or "group 31" deep cycle marine battery if you only have room for one.

I have 8 of golf cart type. Four sets of 2 batteries giving over 900 amp hours or about 400 usable amp hours.

[Boatguy30]

Under the sticker there will be some type of port on each cell. Some are removable, some you have to carefully drill out, but then can ad water if needed. This might be a pretty decent battery for a weekender for 4-5 years or a 6 month cruise or so as house bank

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

Flooded come in "maintenance free" format. Basically a regular flooded battery, maybe with a little more air space, that you can't add water to when it needs it.

No, Flooded FLA is opposite to Sealed SLA, former you can top up.

Within sealed, AGM and GEL are included in the VRLA category, those are the only SLA that might be worth using for true deep cycling.

[alansmith]

Get a golf cart 6v or 12v fla deep cycle. Reasonable price and meant for true duty cycles. Play well with solar. Cheap and much much better than what you have. Keep that one for your teeth

[Kokonut]

Super information, very much appreciated EVERYONE. If I may recap as a Summary just to be sure I understand all this, also I like to type things again as it helps (ever so slightly) for the information to etch into my brain.

1. The debate whether the batteries are 'flooded' or 'sealed'.

Those in favor for 'sealed' were:
Pete7, john61ct,

Those in favor for 'flooded' were:
boris, bcboomer, KP44




I then checked the Manual and found the difference between how the Controller treats the 2 battery types. The difference was in the 'Equalize' and 'Boost' Charging Voltages. Refer to uploaded image.

So I don't know if these are significant, and perhaps I toss a coin and go for the 'flooded' setting. Not because I love Pete7 and john61ct any less.

Please raise your hand, if I'm navigating into a minefield.


2. KP44 and alansmith threw in a couple of gems that I'll save for when I raid the money jar next, thank you.

Items added to ever growing wishlist: Golf Cart 6v or 12v fla Deep Cycle

3. Boatguy30, I will check under the sticker, but it does sound like a 'bomb squad' job so I'm a little reluctant to drill. Hopefully, there are removeable ports.

[john61ct]

Since only AGM and GEL (VRLA type) are used for true deep cycling within SLA category, then the voltage profile for cheaper/Starter type SLA may very well be closer to FLA's.

Manufacturers of proper quality true deep cycling batteries furnish extensive technical support documentation and have support engineers available to contact with questions.

Find out exactly what the charge requirements are for that model, rather than guesstimating with canned "type" categories.

Personally I advise only buying charge sources that allow you to precisely custom adjust profile setpoints.

[ranger58sb]

I think I might suggest the cateories might be conceptually thought of as flooded, flooded but sealed, VRLA AGMs, VRLA gels...

And that Kokonut batteries are in the "flooded but sealed" category. Yes, sealed, but the electolyte is swimming around in there as in a flooded battery... and unlike AGMs or gels.

In the table, suggested sealed voltages are probably lower than flooded maybe because a venting system might be an issue... and lower voltages might be less likely to boil the electrolyte.

But I agree, best charge voltages are those specified by the battery manufacturer for that exact battery.

-Chris

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by ranger42c

I think I might suggest the cateories might be conceptually thought of as flooded, flooded but sealed, VRLA AGMs, VRLA gels...

And that Kokonut batteries are in the "flooded but sealed" category. Yes, sealed, but the electolyte is swimming around in there as in a flooded battery... and unlike AGMs or gels.

Again, sealed is opposed to flooded. Flooded means electrolyte is accessible for topping up, using a hydrometer etc.

That is the top level, FLA vs SLA.

Then within the sealed category, the only true deep cycling chemistries are AGM and GEL,

and both are within the VRLA category, which is separate from the regular SLA, only really suitable for Starter batts.

Which includes this example, and your "sloshing around" descriptor.

None of all this, has much to do with the charge profile, which is specific to each line/model and should be easily available from a decent manufacturer.

Hope this helps.