kgreenjinx
Member
Good discussion going on. So now I am getting a little confused here. How critical is a deep cycle if power will be shut off 10 minutes after engine is killed?
Auxillary Optima yellow top battery 03 expy xlt
- Thread starter kgreenjinx
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dougmcp
Full Access Members
True deep cycle batteries have fewer heavy plates with lots of lead on them and have a better ability to be cycled deeply and recharged without affecting their lifespan. Starting batteries have lots of thin plates that will give a great burst of power but do not recover well from deep discharges.
A full charge on a 12v battery is 12.73v and a deep discharge is considered to be about 80% which is 11.66v.
Deep cycle batteries are never rated in cranking amps but in amp hours at a certain discharge rate.
You can buy a 12v deep cycle battery from manufacturers like Trojan (T-1275) or US Battery (US 12V XC) that a rated at about 270 minutes at 25amps or 90 minutes at 55amps.
A 2000w inverter if used to it's max output uses 160 amps.
Even if you use an inverter at only 1/2 of it's rated output (80 amps) you would get less than an hour out of it before it shut down in the low voltage mode.
A full charge on a 12v battery is 12.73v and a deep discharge is considered to be about 80% which is 11.66v.
Deep cycle batteries are never rated in cranking amps but in amp hours at a certain discharge rate.
You can buy a 12v deep cycle battery from manufacturers like Trojan (T-1275) or US Battery (US 12V XC) that a rated at about 270 minutes at 25amps or 90 minutes at 55amps.
A 2000w inverter if used to it's max output uses 160 amps.
Even if you use an inverter at only 1/2 of it's rated output (80 amps) you would get less than an hour out of it before it shut down in the low voltage mode.
markanthony
Full Access Members
I have ran optima for years, with NO problems. The red top has lasted bout 8 years with a small stereo ( 400 Watts ) being discharged and recharged many times with out an issue. I have not upgraded to yellow tops in all my cars as old red tops go out after years of use. I do agree that they have gone down hill in quality.
In my wife's old Cherokee with a three year old battery, survived a good impact. The lights were left on for four days, the keys were in the run position. Took out the red top and put it in her new car. We had a little issue with it discharging over a few hours. Can not say if it was battery age or the accident.
In my wife's old Cherokee with a three year old battery, survived a good impact. The lights were left on for four days, the keys were in the run position. Took out the red top and put it in her new car. We had a little issue with it discharging over a few hours. Can not say if it was battery age or the accident.
Thermo
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Jinx, what you ask has a lot of variables as I see it. Personally, I tend to overdesign things. So, I am going a little conservative here. But, a starting battery is just that, good for starting the truck and nothing else. If you are discharging it, you have other issues. I like to think of the starting battery as my garantee to go home after the day. Would it make sense to have only 1 battery in the truck, run some big things off of the battery that will lead to its draining to only not be able to start the truck to go home? Hence why you will find that I am a big advocate of dual battery setups if you are planning on lots of use of battery power only. if the engine is running, then the batteries are not an issue since they are there only for large current surges (if you are hitting this point, then you need a larger alternator).
As for survivability from discharges, starting batteries will handle minor discharges (less than 20% of capacity) with relative ease. But, you start going much more than that and you can plan on the battery having a shortened life span. Will it do it. Of course. But, how often do you want to be replacing batteries? Ironically, if you have a deep cycle (a battery meant to be cycled between full and zero capacity over and over), if you don't cycle it, you can ruin it. They require a deep discharge atleast monthly to maintain their health. Will they survive without these deep discharges. Sure. But, you are again shortening their lives by not discharging them.
If you are interested in trying to figure out the amount of discharging you would be doing, let me know. I would just need to know the wattage rating of some of your typical components and then I can give you how to figure it out. If you know how to figure out amp-hours, then you can figure this out yourself.
I don't want to go in way over your head, but sometimes what appear to be a good idea can be done other ways cheaper or must be done a very specific way to garantee you get what you are after.
As for survivability from discharges, starting batteries will handle minor discharges (less than 20% of capacity) with relative ease. But, you start going much more than that and you can plan on the battery having a shortened life span. Will it do it. Of course. But, how often do you want to be replacing batteries? Ironically, if you have a deep cycle (a battery meant to be cycled between full and zero capacity over and over), if you don't cycle it, you can ruin it. They require a deep discharge atleast monthly to maintain their health. Will they survive without these deep discharges. Sure. But, you are again shortening their lives by not discharging them.
If you are interested in trying to figure out the amount of discharging you would be doing, let me know. I would just need to know the wattage rating of some of your typical components and then I can give you how to figure it out. If you know how to figure out amp-hours, then you can figure this out yourself.
I don't want to go in way over your head, but sometimes what appear to be a good idea can be done other ways cheaper or must be done a very specific way to garantee you get what you are after.
