Whick type of battery is best for inverter use?

[MarioG]

58' Hatteras Yachtfisherman. The boat has a 32 volt system. Currently I have 4 8d batteries per side which are going bad. One side is hooked up to the 3000w Newmar inverter/charger. The inverter/charger is capable of charging AGM, wet cell and gell cell. In my quest to find the best battery for extended inverter use, I would like to know which type of battery mentioned puts out the most Amp hours and is the quickest to recharge. I might make a third battery bank for "house" use if needed/practical. I really would like to go with a battery that is maintance free.

AC power requirments are for general lighting (recessed halogen lighting), 1 refrigerator, 1 freezer, sterio, tv, microwave. I would like to have about 12 hrs of inverter use. The generator will be started twice a day for cooking and charging. Summer time generator use is high due to air conditioning use.

 

[Pascal]

Best? i dont know... AGMs maybe...
BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK? no doubt... golf cart batteries!

considering how you use the boat (lots of time on the hook, lots of friends and family) I would add a separate inverter bank, keeping the exiting 2nd bank for house and start duties.

Our inverter bank lasts 24 hours, with 880AH at 12v. so at 32v, you should be fine with about 440. Check the specs but i think 8V golf cart batteries should be around 220AH... put 4 together for 32v and 220AH. 2 sets of 4 should get you close to 500AH and last a day. Should cost you around $700 or so, unless the price went thru the rook in the past 2 years..

I get mines for BG Golf Cars...they deliver to the dock! i'll have to look up the number or check on the Exide Florida Website.

 

[Skip]

It sounds like you have a 32 volt inverter system on your boat. I went with a 12 volt inverter system to leave the 32 volt system for just main engine starting and support of the 32 volt systems (mostly lighting/water pump). I changed over to 12 vacuflush heads vice 32v galleymaid heads. I also changed the upper level lighting overhead lighting to a 12 volt system.

We anchor a lot and the 32 volt systeem will last for many days at anchor. The 12 volt system struggles to make 12 hours because of the inefficient (old) refrigerator.I have about 750 Amp-hours available on the 12 volt system.

The new invertors have really good charging systems that won't boil the water out of the batteries (like the old 32 volt charger). The 12 volt batteries didn't need any water last boating season (I check monthly), but the 32 volt system takes 1 to 1.5 gallons of distilled water every month. I expect to have to replace them every 3-4 years with that water useage, but maybe I will be lucky on longer battery life.

I have noticed that some folks have essentially changed their boat over to 12volts (except for the engine start), and I guess I'm half way there. There are good arguments on both sides of the issue on which way to go. Being able to replace the expensive 32 volts water pump with a 110v water pump from home depot is attractive...

Good luck on whichever way you go.

 

[bobk]

I have six 6 volt Workaholics on our system which is now 20 months old. Our AC loads sound similar to yours and these easily carry the boat 12 hours. We do have a combiner to allow the alternator to carry the load underway. Don't know if that can be arranged for a 32 volt boat, but Yandina, tech@yandina.com, might be able to help.

Bob

 

[REBrueckner]

Which type of battery is best for inverter use?

The right way to size your battery bank is to determine the amp hours of use between charges, then get enough batteries to supply three or better yet four times that capacity.

See my 12/2005 post "DC System Design". Charging rates for different batteries are given in that post:AGM's charge four times faster than wet cell lead acid.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Mario,
You wrote that you have 4 8D's per side. Are you sure they are not 8v195's? 8D's are large 12v batteries. The 8v195's are long 8v batteries that fit in the the OEM boxes, 2 per box to make up 4 per side in series or 32v.

I will assume you mean 8v batts. In that case, you will have a hard time finding AGM's or gell cells. I think your best bet will be a good deep cycle battery, meaning one with the heaviest lead plates you can find. Most likely this will lead you to Rolls/Surrettes. Send a PM to JCRLAW. He just installed the Rolls on his 58YF over at Marco Island. I looked at his install a couple of months ago and the batteries fit in the boxes perfectly. He runs his 32v Outback Inverter off of them.

 

[MarioG]

Sky, you may be right. My batteries are as you describe. I guess they are 8v. Pascal has a nice setup on his boat and he has offered to help figure mine out. I may end up with a system similar to Pascals. If only I can find AGMs that would fit the bill. another question that is raised is do I have enough alternator output for this size and type of batteries? If I do make a seperate bank for inverter, is generator or shore power the only way to charge the third bank?

Yes, I'm all thumbs when it comes to anything electrical!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Mario,
Why complicate the system with more batteries? Just use the house bank to run the inverter. I have a 3300watt Outback inverter hooked to my house bank and it works great. You don't need extra batteries. You don't need different voltages and you don't need anything other than the original lead acid 8v batts.

MikeP is set up that way. Mine is set up that way. Jcrlaw's 58YF is set up that way. We all run our inverters overnight without a problem. If you want more info, call or PM myself or Mike or John (Jcrlaw). It's the most simple solution and it's the cheapest.

 

[thoward]

I have 4 Trojan GC 8v batteries I would be willing willing to sell right. They were used for about 2 weeks and have been parked in storage for about a year. $200....

 

[MarioG]

Mario,
Why complicate the system with more batteries? Just use the house bank to run the inverter. I have a 3300watt Outback inverter hooked to my house bank and it works great. You don't need extra batteries. You don't need different voltages and you don't need anything other than the original lead acid 8v batts.

MikeP is set up that way. Mine is set up that way. Jcrlaw's 58YF is set up that way. We all run our inverters overnight without a problem. If you want more info, call or PM myself or Mike or John (Jcrlaw). It's the most simple solution and it's the cheapest.

LOL, I guess I'm over engineering this! Maybe as soon as I put in new batteries I'll have better performance from my inverter use. The reason why I wanted to go with a agm or gell was strictly for ease of maintance.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

If you have a good smart charger, then lead-acid battery maintenance is really minimal. I add water about every other month-that's it.

 

[q240z]

I bought my 8v golf carts from Sam's Club for about $65 each last year. They each weighed 15# or so more than the Exides that they replaced and have worked flawlessly so far.

 

[doc g]

The best are Lifelines. They recharge quicker, won't get hurt by overdischarging (deep cycle) as easily as lead acid and have no maintenance . They are very expensive. Thier website has some good info. Here's the link http://www.lifelinebatteries.com/ . I would use these only if you have a dedicated inverter bank.........Pat

 

[spindrift]

Mario:

I am researching this issue as well. Glass mats in 8 volt are not available. However, you can buy gel cell 8 volt golfcart batteries. They are the same case size at the 170 amp Trojans wet cells but have a reduced capacity of 150 amps. They are available from ebatteriestogo.com. They are not on the website, you have to speak via telephone.

I have used gels before on another boat (Prevailers). You have to be careful of the charge rate as they cannot be charged at the higher rate of a wet cell. Thus, you would have to purchase an adjustable DC voltage regulator for your alternators. I had good luck with the Ample Power brand (bad luck with Balmar). I had these in a 12 volt system so you would have to speak to the Ample Power folks to see if they can build a 32 volt regulator for you... I bet they can.

There is a substantial difference in price as the gels are @$250 each with the wet cells costing $115 each. However, if you are doing this because you are safety minded (the gels are definitely safer and will run when fully submerged) then they might provide you with peace of mind.

Regarding charging the gels via shore power, most invertors ( I have used Trace but Sky could advise you on the brand he is using) can be adjusted for charge rate and maximum charge level.

An interesting note on gels running when wet. One of my sailing buddies was doing Mack race on the lakes in the late 80s on a J -35. The boat began taking on water and sunk. The crew (all were safe) went in to the liferaft and noted that the lights on the J-35 where visible (the boat had gel cell batteries) as the boat went under water and slowly sank to the bottom of Lake Huron. Now, that's what I call a reliable battery!

Cheers
DWM

 

[Boatsb]

The lights would be out in 10 seconds or less in salt water.

 

[Fanfare]

For what it's worth, I had a 1992 Mazda Miata which came with a 12v AGM battery as original equipment. When I sold it for another in December of 2004, nearly 13 years later, it still had that battery. The only time it failed me is the time I missed a click and accidentally left the parking lights on all day.

Still, last time I did the math, Interstate 8Ds seemed the most practical for the Hatt. I get about 4 years out of them, and their guys come and change them for me.

 

[spindrift]

Scott

Thanks for the input.

Thank you for brining this to my attention.

DWM

 

[partgypsy]

When I bought my boat, the 32 volt system was hooked up to 3 x 12v 8d's. or 36 volts. They are pretty much shot a year later... in part due to my forgetting that our charger does not turn off and boiling them near dry. What is the down side of using 36 volts of battery on the 32v system?
Also, a couple of posters mentioned using their inverters on the 32 volt batteries. Do these take 32 volt or 12 volt input?
Also, does anyone know the recommended cranking amps needed on the DD's (8v53's)?

Thanks

 

[SKYCHENEY]

This thread is a good debate over 36v vs 32v:

http://www.samsmarine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5616&highlight=batteries

 

[Boatsb]

When I bought my boat, the 32 volt system was hooked up to 3 x 12v 8d's. or 36 volts. They are pretty much shot a year later... in part due to my forgetting that our charger does not turn off and boiling them near dry. What is the down side of using 36 volts of battery on the 32v system?
Also, a couple of posters mentioned using their inverters on the 32 volt batteries. Do these take 32 volt or 12 volt input?
Also, does anyone know the recommended cranking amps needed on the DD's (8v53's)?

Thanks

I never heard of 32 volt 8v53's you may have 3 12 volt batteries in parallel not series.