Lee is totally correct.
If you discharge your battery it directly reflects how long it will
last.
The shallower the discharge the longer the battery will last.
Its actually best if you never approach 50 percent.
Take a look at the following chart from East Penn's factory:
Does depth of discharge affect recharge cycle life?
Yes! The harder any battery has to work, the sooner it will fail.
You may experience longer or shorter life based upon application,
charging regimen, temperature, rest periods, type of equipment,
age of battery, etc.
As you can see, the shallower the average discharge, the longer
the life. This is why it’s important to size a battery system to
deliver at least twice the average power required, to assure shallow
discharges.
These relate to AGM & GEL battery banks:
Typical VRLA Battery Cycling Ability
vs. % of typical Depth of Discharge
Typical # of Life Cycles for Battery:
Capacity Withdrawn Gel AGM
100% 450 150
80% 600 200
50% 1000 370
25% 2100 925
10% 5700 3100
Hope this helps you decide how much to discharge your battery.
Ed
Ed Kelly (& Sue Kelly)
USSV Angel Louise - a Catalac catamaran - now lying Brunswick, GA
(heading for Melbourne first of the week)
Our Skype Phone (202) 657-6357
Email: EdKelly ("at" symbol) netins.net
On Nov 15, 2008, at 9:37 AM, Lee Haefele wrote:
If you run your batteries all the way to dead, you will shortly need
new ones. I know a standard car battery is ruined in about 3 total
discharges. Suggest installing a battery monitor, so you know when
to charge and when it is economical to stop.
Lee Haefele
----- Original Message -----
From: Wally
To: [email protected]
Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 2:19 PM
Subject: [Liveaboard] Electrical systems install
Arild and I were batting this one around offlist yesterday. How the
boat is used has to be part of the equation. When travelling south on
the ICW, I start and run the engine daily. Usually, it isn't sunny
enough in the fall to recharge the starting battery, so, after
several days of this, I'd likely have a deficit in power,
demonstrated by the battery's inability to turn the engine over.
One solution would be to use jumper cables when - not if - this
occured, but that doesn't solve the recharging problem. So, for my
situation, isolation isn't a workable option.
Here's a tip some may not know - if your diesel has decompression
levers, if the battery is low and barely able to turn the engine
over, knock them down to turn the engine over at speed with the
batteries' remaining power, then flip them back one cylinder at a
time. The engine will run on one cylinder, then its power can turn
over and start the second one. Thanks to a Sea Tow captain in
Oriental for that one.
Wally
s/v Gypsy Wind
lying Annapolis, MD
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Internal Virus Database is out of date.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.175 / Virus Database: 270.8.6/1769 - Release Date:
11/5/2008 7:17 AM
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