Hi all.I was wondering how many years do you guys get on your house batterys. mine are shot after 5 years. 4 golf cart.
Just replaced my first set of eight Trojan T-105s. I was a little disappointed. They only lasted 13 years. And in that time, the price more than doubled!!
Battery life has been discussed several times before, and it always seems that there is a wide range of lifetimes. Some starting batteries only go 3 years, others go into the double digits. House batteries seem to do better. How much load is on them, how deep a discharge, temperature, brand, style, and charging quality causes the differences, in my opinion (and maybe luck).
7 yrs 4 - 6 volt US batteries deep cycle.
A battery's life is measured in cycles (discharge and recharge) I was told so some people use the batteries more and the life is shorten,the better the battery the longer the life with more cycles unless you have a failure BTDT ;D
Like Luvr said battery life is defined in cycles depending on percent of discharge - lifelines might have 5000 cycles at 10% discharge but only 1000 cycles at 50% discharge - FWIW
10 years on my old gulf cart batteries
dave
Ours last about 7 - 8 years
(4) 6 volt deep cycles from Sam's
Frank
Quote from: niles500 on July 25, 2016, 10:29:26 PM
Like Luvr said battery life is defined in cycles depending on percent of discharge - lifelines might have 5000 cycles at 10% discharge but only 1000 cycles at 50% discharge - FWIW
Which explains why there is such a difference between the lives of identical batteries. It might be handy if a battery discharge meter existed to monitor the battery's use, or a device to limit the discharge level, or set off a warning.
fuel gauge for batteries
http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=Battery-Monitor-TriMetric-TM%252d2030A (http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=Battery-Monitor-TriMetric-TM%252d2030A)
dave
Lifeline AGM batteries have a pro-rated 5 year warranty. My 2-8D's went 7 years-and in that 7 years what did I do to them (except keep them properly charged) absolutely nothing-no adding water, no cleaning of terminals-as though they weren't even there. Although-AGM batteries are twice as expensive as wet batteries. Good Luck, TomC
Quote from: TomC on July 26, 2016, 05:07:06 PM
Lifeline AGM batteries have a pro-rated 5 year warranty. My 2-8D's went 7 years-and in that 7 years what did I do to them (except keep them properly charged) absolutely nothing-no adding water, no cleaning of terminals-as though they weren't even there. Although-AGM batteries are twice as expensive as wet batteries. Good Luck, TomC
Think about it 7 years on 2-8D Lifeline battery that is $200.00 per year for 2 batteries some people couldn't afford that
We full-time and discharge our batteries down to half about 90 - 125 times a year. At least one time they went completely flat (down to 8.5v) because we had gone to NYC and the circuit that they were plugged into blew.
We have close to 3 years on them and keep them tied to the start batts.
They are (4) 6v AGM GC batts. They will still perform to about 90% of what they were when I first bought them.
If I get 5 years out of them I'd be happy with that. Paid 800 for all 4.
If you keep your batts on the drip charger for 11 months out of the year and take care of them they will last forever. Well - maybe not forever but should easily go 10 years.
-Sean
Quote from: luvrbus on July 26, 2016, 05:38:41 PM
Think about it 7 years on 2-8D Lifeline battery that is $200.00 per year for 2 batteries some people couldn't afford that
There is an ugly truth to bus ownership that people should know before they buy a bus. Owning a bus costs money and there is no way around it. A bus has components that age out even if the bus sits in the garage. Tires and batteries come to mind. A bus needs insurance, and if people priced insurance on a per mile basis, some might find it exceeds the cost of fuel per mile. Then there is the fuel. Today it is relatively cheap, but we have seen $5 per gallon and it will get there again.
It really sucks that it costs a lot to own a bus, but the good news is the more the bus is used the lower the cost per mile. If it is a hangar queen the cost per mile approaches infinity.
With batteries I just have a hard time justifying the cost of amps and amp hours.I am stuck with 6-8D AGM with out redoing the battery compartment. I could have gotten the same amp hours for $.50 to $.75 per amp instead of $3.00 per amp it came out to be under $800.00 for golf cart batteries vs $4900.00 for the AGM that is a huge difference for batteries that have about the same life span ??? just food for thought 30 minutes every 3 months to service wet cells I could have done that for the $4100.00 difference in price
Quote from: luvrbus on July 27, 2016, 08:19:32 AM
With batteries I just have a hard time justifying the cost of amps and amp hours.I am stuck with 6-8D AGM with out redoing the battery compartment. I could have gotten the same amp hours for $.50 to $.75 per amp instead of $3.00 per amp it came out to be under $800.00 for golf cart batteries vs $4900.00 for the AGM that is a huge difference for batteries that have about the same life span ??? just food for thought 30 minutes every 3 months to service wet cells I could have done that for the $4100.00 difference in price
I could make a heck of a lot of renovations to the battery compartment for $4000 savings!
Shocking!
Quote from: gumpy on July 27, 2016, 09:56:51 AM
I could make a heck of a lot of renovations to the battery compartment for $4000 savings!
;D not this battery compartment it involves to much work for me
Just bear in mind that you cannot check the Specific Gravity of any type of sealed battery such as AGM or gelcell. With good ol' flooded lead-acid batteries you can easily check their SG every month, and top up with more water if needed - this can greatly prolong their life.
If your space constraints require AGMs they're your only option, but if you have space to access FLA batteries they will be the lowest cost per watt per year.
John
Jon expressed my sentiments exactly. He could also have thrown in depreciation, or devaluation if you want to call it that. That's why I'm getting out of this silly game, too spendy for me after 25 years working on buses. I do like them though but as they say, a want is not a need. BTDT.
Yes AGM batteries are 2-3 times more expensive then wet batteries. And yes it is easy to check the water in the wet batteries 4 times a year-less if you use Thermoil. But AGM batteries have much more than that to offer. Since they are sealed, (as long as you don't over charge them) they don't out gas-which means your terminals will never get dirty-I didn't clean mine in the 7 years. Because they don't outgas, you can mount them inside. You can also mount them in any position-up, laying on their side-just not upside down. And because the internal workings of the AGM allow for charging twice as fast as wet batteries. Personally-they are worth the extra money. Good Luck, TomC
TomC I am not trying to give you a hard time but LifeLine has changed the way to install their batteries they now want a space around each battery and install in a well vented area and it says on my instruction sheet do not install in a confined area like living quarters you can read it on their web site,they changed the whole ball game at the end of 2015
OK-I'll check it out.
Thanks for all the replies. ;D