Deep Cycle Battery brands, types, systems & installations

[Nightjar]

So where to go, 4 x deep cycle... possible? Xtra solar...also quite feasible, charging and managing... 1 solar system and 1 alternator (what size) split 2 ways or a single manager???? My head's spinning :8

We bought our caravan back in 2008 and now on our second pair of 110AH deep cycles.
200W of panels on roof feeding batteries through a Morningstar regulator which I fitted after the original regulator failed. Also fitted a Morningstar remote readout. On the rare occasions that I check it the charge is in "float"
Batteries also charge with vehicle alternator while travelling.
Every year we park up remote while prospecting and the van sits unattached sometimes up to three weeks. On very rare occasions have had to plug in the gennie to give batteries a boost through the on board battery charger. The only draw on the batteries are the lights, water pump and ] Vast satellite TV set up.
The fridge/freezer runs on gas while parked up.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Not trying to confuse you even more but if you want to run 2 X 100Ah LC Batteries in parallel you are going to need a 60A Charger not a 30A charger And with 78Ah LC batteries you will need 24Amps per battery.

 

[Ridge Runner]

You are correct re 290W @ 12V. the 100/20A is a 20 amp charger. If you put 40A into it, it will still only charge at 20 amps . However, on days where panel output per panel is down, you may only get 5 amps charge, the extra panels will still bring up the output to nearer or to max.

The Q is how much extra can the 100/20 absorb safely.

I also asked the solar guys that question and they said that 600w is about the Limit and I should keep it at around 560w just for a bit of leeway, So that's why I went with 4 X 140w panels. because I also have the Victron Smart Solar 100/20 Charge Controller.

In series it will handle 4 X140's if you go higher then you have to split the string in to 2 or 3 sets of panels.

 

[Nightjar]

You fellas obviously enjoy this, but my brain is in a spin reasoning why?

Are you prospectors or not?
RR why do you need 4 X 140W panels, are you running a house or a caravan?

 

[Ridge Runner]

You fellas obviously enjoy this, but my brain is in a spin reasoning why?

Are you prospectors or not?
RR why do you need 4 X 140W panels, are you running a house or a caravan?

Yeah It's for a Caravan, because I will be running Twin Fridges/Freezer One of each,

EDIT:-

Not only that not having the Peak Sun Hours over here, What you can do with 300 Watts I would need somewhere around 1200-1500w maybe more, Where I could normally run a fridge from 1 X 100w panel, add to that another fridge, A Laptop and charging phones and lighting etc And the limited Peak Sun Hours I need to maximize my chances to be able to keep the batteries full.

 

[Ded Driver]

RR, maybe you need to consider a small wind generator?

 

[Jaros]

I think they cost about $500 at Jaycar.

 

[Ridge Runner]

RR, maybe you need to consider a small wind generator?

Yeah you might be right, I have been looking at a couple, one 300w and a 500w version, Best thing about them is at times they can run 24/7 for weeks on end And that's why I want to run 2 battery banks One for the Wind and one for Solar then I can use what ever system is getting the most power,

 

[condor22]

RR,

You need to get your Ass over here, we got - :sunny: :goldnugget: :beer: (much better beer, lol)

 

[Ridge Runner]

RR,

You need to get your Ass over here, we got - :sunny: :goldnugget: :beer: (much better beer, lol)

A-Men to that, when I am done with the hospitals I might just do that, This place has been good to me, but I can't settle here.

 

[Goldchaser1]

So your batteries are ok?
When you said they didnt respond well to solar i thought ya batteries were toast,so a lack of sun or panels is what your inferring?
I think 3 fridges dihusky with 240 of agm or crystal (not knowing much on the crystals) will be a struggle with even 300? watts of panels,if the weathers not perfect for a cuppla days i think ya a bit on the light side battery wise for 3 fridges,lights and other odds an ends,you can do the maths till the cows come home but the weather is the biggest factor,and storing that power,trial and error,which as above youve allready started,get a bms on the system,no guesswork then,youll know all day everyday exactly where you stand.
When i put ours togethor the goal hopefully was to not have to rely on the genny,it worked out better then expected actually,i thought wed have it going parked for a week odd in one spot,we did 3 weeks and didnt fire it up,the car doesnt charge our van either,so you could say 6 weeks (on the road) fridge an freezer packed and using lights recharging etc etc.No skimping on power usage.

Youll find out soon enough,most days with enough panels youll be ok,its those 12-14+ hours running fridges overnight(some maths help here as ya guaranteed no sun. lol) with solar that does the damage,more panels or batteries will sort it,good luck and keep us informed.....

Also talk to this mob if ya interested,I wouldnt buy panels off them,$$$ ouch but they know there *****.....

https://www.solar4rvs.com.au/

LCs are a total of 200, and my comment about struggling was due to the level of voltage drop, they were below 12V as the solar was under smoke filled sky for several days and I had no way to give them a 30A kick, it's this 30A kick that nobody had told me about until I read this thread!

Have checked out Solar4RVs website and they are the suppliers of the panels we have on the camper, from the website it's obvious they are big into this with a wide variety of stuff from a diverse range of suppliers.

Our build goal is to be able to go remote for upto a month, we can carry over 500l of water and 330l of diesel without any loose containers, so it's all about food management, thus the 3 fridge setup, maybe we've been looking at things from the wrong end

If we have to add extra batteries, will need to assess carefully, I do have a location which will take another pair. If we do go that way I think it will have to be deep cycle as trying to charge 4 x LCs at 30A each boggles the mind. Don't even think I can fit them into the camper as the Redarc management (BMS1230S2) will only go to 30A and from the comments here I'm going to need 60A! These LC batteries may be great but I see this charge requirement as being a major headache!

So where to go, 4 x deep cycle... possible? Xtra solar...also quite feasible, charging and managing... 1 solar system and 1 alternator (what size) split 2 ways or a single manager???? My head's spinning :8

Yeah roger,3 fridges with 200ah of batteries just sounds like youd be on the limits of the batteries to often,it wont do the batteries any good long term,i think a good solar system should be overbuilt,good size reserve power. A third LC battery surely would get ya close to doing it easy parked up for a while???
Not sure what ya mean with the 30amp kick?

 

[Goldchaser1]

So where to go, 4 x deep cycle... possible? Xtra solar...also quite feasible, charging and managing... 1 solar system and 1 alternator (what size) split 2 ways or a single manager???? My head's spinning :8

We bought our caravan back in 2008 and now on our second pair of 110AH deep cycles.
200W of panels on roof feeding batteries through a Morningstar regulator which I fitted after the original regulator failed. Also fitted a Morningstar remote readout. On the rare occasions that I check it the charge is in "float"
Batteries also charge with vehicle alternator while travelling.
Every year we park up remote while prospecting and the van sits unattached sometimes up to three weeks. On very rare occasions have had to plug in the gennie to give batteries a boost through the on board battery charger. The only draw on the batteries are the lights, water pump and ] Vast satellite TV set up.
The fridge/freezer runs on gas while parked up.

Alot swear by them gas fridges NJ if ya in one spot for a while,they have merit hey......

 

[ctxkid]

we have a chestcold three way , if in camp for more than a night , they are excellent erfect:

takes about 10 amps (memory) on 12v :awful: :8

now i have lots of folding solar i must get it out of long term hibernation for a play date

 

[ctxkid]

it takes 5.9 amps running off the inverter , so it will be a smidge over 5 direct connect :Y:

which isn't to shabby in a pinch gas is best over long camps :100: %

 

[CreviceSucker]

Any solar experts got advice for me for a remote area CCTV system ?

If using 500 watt solar panel/s that put out 59 V ocv , 48 V max running volts and 11 amps max at short circuit.

I want it to still operate even allowing for 4 overcast days.

The CCTV components all require 12 VDC regulated and would pull less than 6 amps total with everything turned on , so i shouldnt need a 240 VAC inverter , i can hopefully pull the 12 volt load straight off the charge controller...

The load is 4 x cameras , infrared illuminators , DVR recorder , router modem etc )

What percentage daylight hours do we use in winter , and what charge rate can be assumed in case of overcast weather ?

What size batteries should i use to get 4 days runtime with the above ?

The charge controllers i looked at so far were victron 100 / 15 which have a 15 amp load output and could take either 12 or 24 volt battery connections.

any thoughts ?

 

[Ded Driver]

are you running 1 panel of 500W, or a bank of panels?
Total power consumption needs to be determined. ie, Total Watts of all units, multiplied by the number of hours to run with no input charge to give total Wh (WattHours) of reserve power requried.

 

[CreviceSucker]

are you running 1 panel of 500W, or a bank of panels?
Total power consumption needs to be determined. ie, Total Watts of all units, multiplied by the number of hours to run with no input charge to give total Wh (WattHours) of reserve power requried.

I will be running 1 panel of 500 watts , or two of them in parallel if the extra capacity is needed.

I am going from the manufacturers rating on the CCTV equipment , based on the spec sheet if its 6 amps @ 12 VDC then thats 72 watts x 24 hours = 1728 Wh.

1 x 500 watt panel would give ~ 5 hours if angled northerly ? = 2500 Wh

2 x 500 watt panels with one angled to west and one angled to east ...would they give 4000 Wh total or is that too ambitious ?

What do you allow for input on overcast days ?

 

[Ded Driver]

CS, you need to determine total power consumption, by adding up the Watts of all units.
If you had consecutive days with some cloud cover, & the panels put out 1/3 their full power capacity during about 9hrs effective daylight (less in winter), then a 500W panel might give you about 1485Wh (500W x 9Hrs x 0.33).
Also, you will be unlikely to see a full 500W consistently over 9hrs (~8am to 5pm for rough numbers of usable sunlight) due to the angle of the sun as it traverses the sky.
500W x 9hrs would be 4500Wh in a perfect scenario, but early morn & late arvo will give a lower power output, & its not enough to keep batteries charged for a 250W/24Hr drain.
In winter if it was a dark sky & raining all day you would get bugger all charge.
If say it all draws 250W, running 24hrs/day, that's 250W x24hr = 6000Wh (6KWh) in a full day/night period.
In a 12V battery storage system, if you use a nominal figure of 12.5V, then 6000Wh divided by 12.5V = 480Ah, drawing at 20A (20A x 24hrs = 480Ah).
In that scenario you would need 5x 100Ah batteries (or maybe 4x 150Ah) to run your 250W system for 24hrs, if there was NO solar input at all. But, this would run your 5 batteries flat in 24hrs. You wouldn't want that happening regularly!
As you can see, running a big power hungry system needs a LOT of storage if you want to be able to go just 1 full day with no charge.

If your CCTV system isn't too far away, you might be better running heavy 12V cables out to the camera system using a battery bank on a permanent 240V charger.

 

[CreviceSucker]

So if its 72 Watts load x 24 hr >> = 1728 Wh

1728 divided by 12.0 = 144 Ah

3 x 120 Ah batteries = 2.5 days of runtime

4 x 120 Ah batteries = 3.3 days runtime which is okay

is that interpretation correct ?

with deep cycle AGM what depth of discharge does their amp hour rating include ?

I guess a big part of this will be the honesty (quality) in the battery rating

 

[Ded Driver]

yeah CS, although a nominal battery voltage of 12.5V is a fair figure to work on, ~12.8 down to 12V ... at 11.8V your battery is pretty much dead flat, depending on the battery.
If you use the full Ah capacity of a deep cycle battery, it is pretty much flat.
.
The Ah rating is, quote,
"An amp hour (AH) is a rating usually found on deep cycle batteries. The standard rating is an amp rating taken for 20 hours. What this means for a 100 AH rated battery is this: Draw from the battery for 20 hours, and it will provide a total of 100 amp hours. That translates to about 5 amps an hour. (5 x 20 = 100). However, it's very important to know that the total time of discharge and load applied is not a linear relationship. As your load increases, your realized capacity decreases. This means if you discharged that same 100 AH battery by a 100 amp load, it will not give you one hour of runtime. On the contrary, the perceived capacity of the battery will be that of 64 amp hours."
.
The 2.5 days/3.3 days runtime you calculate, is of course for the 12hr period you use. I presume this is night, & you would then rely on solar power to provide at least the 72W required for 12hrs daytime. A 150W panel running at an average of 1/3 output over those 12hrs would be delivering 50W (average), so you would need to use substantially more (maybe 250W or more) to ensure you are getting the 72W minimum required. Its possible for a rainy day to drop your solar panel output more than that.