Newbie battery questions
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:43 pm
Hi,
I need to replace the 6 lead acid batteries in the Matiz conversion I bought and am feeling my way in here. A few questions are rattling round in my head and I'd be glad of some steers if possible.
1. Sealed v Low Maint Lead Acids. Is there much to choose in terms of performance/reliability etc? Access is not an issue, but not sure if there are any specifics that relate to using Gel batteries for the comparatively high currents for traction uses. Or is a liquid electrolyte better? (and while we are at it, what does AGM stand for?)
2. The car has 1 Trojan 130Ah & 5 others that I cannot find any name on. I suspect they are US Battery units from the handle and terminal configuration. Somewhere in the back of my head I have it that changing one battery from a set is a bad idea. I was thinking that the rule is change one, change them all........... but I may have made that up. Can anybody comment on this please?
3. I am looking at the US31TMX Sealed Deep Cycle Battery which shows as a 130Ah unit on some sites, but I presently find the tecnical spec is confusing. It says Amp Hours (20Hr rate 130mins) then says 25A for 227 min and 75A for 58 mins. What does all this mean? It looks to me as though this is saying: 75A for about 1hr ~ 75Ah.... or 25A for 227 mins (nearly 4 hrs) ~100Ah...... if you can point me at something definitive I will get my head around it.
4. Similarly there are references on the site to rates of 0.5C and 1C..........
I have read a lot of the battery posts on the site and know more than I did, but would be glad of a pointer to a glossary on some of this if it is there.
Thanks
I need to replace the 6 lead acid batteries in the Matiz conversion I bought and am feeling my way in here. A few questions are rattling round in my head and I'd be glad of some steers if possible.
1. Sealed v Low Maint Lead Acids. Is there much to choose in terms of performance/reliability etc? Access is not an issue, but not sure if there are any specifics that relate to using Gel batteries for the comparatively high currents for traction uses. Or is a liquid electrolyte better? (and while we are at it, what does AGM stand for?)
2. The car has 1 Trojan 130Ah & 5 others that I cannot find any name on. I suspect they are US Battery units from the handle and terminal configuration. Somewhere in the back of my head I have it that changing one battery from a set is a bad idea. I was thinking that the rule is change one, change them all........... but I may have made that up. Can anybody comment on this please?
3. I am looking at the US31TMX Sealed Deep Cycle Battery which shows as a 130Ah unit on some sites, but I presently find the tecnical spec is confusing. It says Amp Hours (20Hr rate 130mins) then says 25A for 227 min and 75A for 58 mins. What does all this mean? It looks to me as though this is saying: 75A for about 1hr ~ 75Ah.... or 25A for 227 mins (nearly 4 hrs) ~100Ah...... if you can point me at something definitive I will get my head around it.
4. Similarly there are references on the site to rates of 0.5C and 1C..........
I have read a lot of the battery posts on the site and know more than I did, but would be glad of a pointer to a glossary on some of this if it is there.
Thanks