Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Question for the electrical engineers here...

I didn't know it was an UPS inverter. Guess it all lands on your battery's now.

I think Cecil tied an old battery with a new one and the old one ate the new one up.

Let him verify that tho!

I kinda like the Tripp-Lite rig's, and will probably void the warranty once I hook into it

Nope I knew better than that Phil. Both new batteries. The problem was I was stupid and didn't bother to keep them topped off.

Someone did that, but I can't remember where. Had an old battery on an inverter and it wasn't kicking out enough so he bought a new battery of different make and AH and hooked it up with the old. Everyone told him not to do that, but he did.

Must have been on another forum. It was a few years ago.

Best way to kill a new battery, besides shotgun, is to parallel it with an old battery.

Cecil, no problem driving over there. I need to bring the trailer and get cages anyway.

I'll remember to bring whatever I have to test batteries.

Good point about the acid. I'll call NAPA and see if they have any. I don't know where else around here other than an auto parts store to get sulphuric acid.

Hooking multi-cell batteries directly in parallel, such as car batteries, deep-discharge, etc., is not healthy for the batteries. If one begins to develop a weak cell, it will continually pull current from the good battery, eventually damaging it also.

Here is a good explanation: Battery Isolation

This is done all the time in RVs, boats, golf carts, etc. The diodes are regularly available at boat or RV service centers.

Good info Ken.

Been playing around with the battery backup stuff today, and with all the BS I want to mess with, it looks like I'll need six of these: Lifeline GPL-8DL

Closest place to get them is toward esshups place in MISHAWAKA, Indiana.

I'll bet they ain't cheap, and I don't even want to physically pick one up!

I'll call tomorrow and get prices, then we can all have sticker shock at the same time

Mishawaka is 1/2 hr to 40 min from here. You can stop there when you come down here on the 19th.

I'll get prices first. Some of the non-official online places are asking 650-700 bucks each Then you have to order them. I am sure the markup is pretty high at these places.

See what happens!

Holy Cow! 825 bucks at one place online. ON SALE!!!

Then you gotta figure in shipping probably. It's not like shipping a pound of feathers!

Isn't muriatic acid sulphuric acid?

Not sure I want to mess them. The one I topped off with distilled water and put on the charger won't charge. I need something dependable in case of a power outage. If it works now but not later that's no good.

Sulfuric acid is much stronger and an oxidizer. Muriatic acid is kinda a wimp. Then you have blotter acid, which makes watching fireworks a bit more interesting

Best price so far is 629.00 each and shipping is 19.00 each with a minimum quantity of two batteries. These have to go truck freight, and shipped to a facility with a loading dock or fork lift.

There is a place in Texas that is 590.00 each, but I didn't get shipping prices from them.

The two places in Indiana. One stocks them at 720.22 each. The other one who is a distributor, who never sold one yet said he had another brand that is a replacement for the Lifeline batteries. The sales pitch is that Harley Davidson uses these. I asked who the manufacturer was and suddenly he had a speech impediment. 3 times I asked, and got enough out to find out they are made in India. Looked up the specs on the battery, and I would need several more, and probably have to replace them every couple of years. Not gonna happen! He never did give me a price tho.

Muriatic acid is hydrochloric acid, not sulferic. It can be quite potent with high concentrations, but it vents very easily as gas. Sulferic acid sticks around. Of course it is my dad who is the chemist and is really into batteries, not I.

BTW there is a rechargeable battery type based on iron that is a "forever" battery. Typically used in remote locations like mountain tops and such. A low energy density, but are rated in some cases for over 100 years of constant cycle. http://www.nickel-iron-battery.com/

Liquidsquid,

Didn't see a price for those on the site. Any idea ballpark what they are?

Like anything else, it depends on capacity, etc. First site I found:
http://ironedison.com/nickel-iron-ni-fe-battery

Glass mat is the battery you want if you do not want to check on it or touch it again.

Cheers Don.

Ouch!

I've got a sealed deep cycle battery on the inverter right now. It will have to do until I can get other batteries. I will be topping them off this time!

If you guys read the information on the link above about the pros and cons of each battery type, but most notably the "effective" capacity of each before damage occurs. The equivalent LeadAcid to achieve the same Watt Hour safe operating range should be about the same. The cost over time may be a wash, or cheaper for the nickel-iron batteries. That is if you intend to use then for the next 20 years or so, and monitor the levels in them regularly.

They do appear to be the better battery for those locations that you can only get to very rarely, say a camp or a remote installation of a solar aerator or pump.

Pricy for the chemistry though, by all rights these should be cheap! No expensive materials inside at all. Probably expensive due to low sales volumes.