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Long life of a deep cycle battery?


Kirk W

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The following comes from another RV forum. What I am wondering is if you find the statements to be believable?

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My house battery dated August 1987 just passed the load test. I plan to keep using it until it no longer passes the load test.

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 It is a nicad. The cells are 43B050AC01. Mfg date 0887. Today’s price $799.00 each cell. With tax over $8000.00
Per battery. My cost in 1988 was $20.00 for all ten cells. $2.00 each. Delta policy was if a battery was less than a year old and failed, replace the bad cell. If over one year replace all cells. The battery was about fourteen months old and three cells burned up. (Thermal runaway) I tested all the cells (22 cells) took the ten best cells and made my battery.   I tested it with a ATD5495 battery load tester.

 

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I have never boondocked in cold temperatures. I always had power in the winter. It does provide hours of lighting and water pump power without depleating.
I have used the battery in four different motorhomes. 1978 Argosy, 1985 345 Airstream, 1995 Airstream, and now in my 1998 Pace Arrow.

Each quote is from a different post but from the same person about the same battery. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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10 hours ago, Pat & Pete said:

Hmm , kinda pricey . But , whether they are that long lasting ??? 

https://www.skygeek.com/saft-021930-000-nicad-battery-cell-43b050ac01.html 

The thread Kirk is talking about reached a conclusion eventually.

 A proper load test is at 1/2 the battery CCA for 15 seconds, voltage must remain above 9.5 during test; which means there is not an accurate load test for a deep cycle battery that is not CCA rated. I doubt the load test accuracy simply because of the required carbon block pile size required for accurate load testing.

For instance a 1,000 CCA battery requires a 500A load for 15 seconds, that generates a lot of heat and could be very dangerous for a layperson. There is no way to convert AH to CCA, it would be like trying to convert MPG to MPH.

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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I have to agree with my Neighbor Ray, however, quoting from the source below there is a way to "APPROXIMATE" AH BASED ON CCA even though NOT exact or perfect by any means, ONLY a "rule of thumb"  !!!  Still if buying a battery for RV use I prefer a full true Deep Cycle (NOT a dual purpose hybrid RV/Marine) that are typically rated in Amp Hours of energy storage versus CCA for a Starting Battery 

"There is no correlation between CCA and Ah. Therefore you can’t convert it directly to get the exact value.

However, you can get a rule of thumb value for most batteries, even if it’s not an exact value, depending on the battery.

The rule of thumb for converting CCA to Ah is dividing the CCA by 7.25. For instance, if your battery is marked with a 1450 CCA, it represents 200 Ah.

A battery of this rating should last for 25 hours while producing power of 8 amps.

Understanding your rate of use and your voltage level will help you make the right battery choices, even if you only have the CCA figures. Conversely, if you have the Ah ratings on your battery, you can calculate the CCA measurement to determine how suitable your battery is for cranking your engine in cold temperatures.

How to Convert CCA to AH/Amp Hours - Mechanic Base

 

Hope this helps, best wishes yall

John T  NOT a Solar expert NO warranty and the above is NOT my work

 

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Hobotech on u tube tests various "solar generators" (he makes fun of that term) - i.e. portable power station batteries. 

He has some kind of an instrument dealie that applies a set load to the battery and times the discharge to a certain state of charge remaining.

Seems simple enough, even for this 'lectrical dummy...

"Are we there yet?" asked no motorcycle rider, ever. 

 

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5 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

No comment on the 34 years and still good?

I find it hard to agree or disagree out loud with something that I can't verify but it sure doesn't jive with my experiences. When I first saw your post  my thought was I would have to see it to believe it and scrolled on to the next topic.

Randy

2001 Volvo VNL 42 Cummins ISX Autoshift

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This is a cheap method of testing a battery rated in AH. The load may be increased by using a higher wattage incandescent light bulb as necessary: https://www.instructables.com/AmpHourTest/

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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I guess the part that threw me Kirk, other than the longevity, was the part where he had 22 cells and then reduced it to 10. That voltage doesn't make sense. Unless he was saying someone else owned this battery and he harvested the cells for that reduced price and made his own battery at the needed voltage. Then I guess I find the story believable. I know that Lithium Titanate cells also have an extremely long life but other drawbacks. 

Dave and Lana Hasper

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Another factor not mentioned is weight. According to the stats on this website each cell weighs 4.5 lbs. He stated he kept the 10 best cells, that "battery"  weighs 450 lbs. The original battery had 22 cells.

Daveh; The nominal voltage for each cell is 1.2VDC https://www.skygeek.com/saft-021930-000-nicad-battery-cell-43b050ac01.html

Edited by Ray,IN

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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On 3/19/2021 at 9:22 AM, Ray,IN said:

Another factor not mentioned is weight. According to the stats on this website each cell weighs 4.5 lbs. He stated he kept the 10 best cells, that "battery"  weighs 450 lbs. The original battery had 22 cells.

Daveh; The nominal voltage for each cell is 1.2VDC https://www.skygeek.com/saft-021930-000-nicad-battery-cell-43b050ac01.html

Unless I am missing something, 4.5 lbs x 10 is 45 lbs, not 450 lbs.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

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13 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

Unless I am missing something, 4.5 lbs x 10 is 45 lbs, not 450 lbs.

Ya, I had a "senior moment". This conversation about aviation nicad batteries does have me thinking about their viability for the RV market. Of course I'm too old  to consider the expense to obtain the longevity and ease of use, however such a battery would be a good idea for a younger RVers. No cold weather problems, no problem with running them flat, and many more features.

As i investigated what I first considered an outrageous claim I found it to be a great alternative to a Lithium Ion battery..

 

2000 Winnebago Ultimate Freedom USQ40JD, ISC 8.3 Cummins 350, Spartan MM Chassis. USA IN 1SG retired;Good Sam Life member,FMCA ." And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.  John F. Kennedy 20 Jan 1961

 

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10 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

Ya, I had a "senior moment".

I figured as much, but it was very late and I was tired when I read your post, so I wasn’t 100% sure what was going on.  😉

I don’t know anything about the Nicd batteries and I haven’t yet had time to look at any of the information in this thread.  I will check into them when I get some free time.

2000 Kenworth T2000 w/ Cummins N14 and autoshift
2017 DRV Mobile Suite 40KSSB4 with factory mods, dealer mods and personal mods - now in the RV graveyard
2022 DRV Full House MX450 with customized floor plan
2018 Polaris RZR Turbo S (fits in the garage)
2016 Smart Car (fits in the garage or gets flat towed behind the DRV when the RZR is in the garage)
My First Solar Install Thread
My Second Solar Install Thread & Photos and Documents Related to the build
My MX450's solar, battery and inverter system - my biggest system yet!

chadheiser.com      West Coast HDT Rally Website

event.png    

AZCACOIDIAKSMNMOMTNENVNMNDOKSDTNTXUTWYxlg.jpg

 

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