Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 05:09:52 EDT
Reply-To: RAlanen@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Battery Woes/Choice
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
In a message dated 22/05/2008 10:05:04 P.M. Central Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:
I've been spending a lot of time lately charging, testing and retesting
reserve battery capacity of my odyssey 1200. As one person mentioned last week,
the best thing about odyssey batteries is their advertisement;)
In terms of reserve capacity (AH) I"m told the better way of determining
actual AH rating is to take the reserve time (in mins) x 25 amps and divide this
figure by 60. In the case of the odyssey that's about 33 AH. It's rated at
44AH. That figure assumes you're going to run the battery all the way down to
11 volts or less, which from what I've learned is not a good thing to do-- at
least if you want your battery to last any length of time.
The figures I've heard are ideally 50% discharge, but as much as 65%. A
resting voltage of no less than 12.2 or so. I just did a test last night running
my Vitrifrigo C51 for about 13 hours. The best I can figure, this
refrigerator runs about three minutes out of every 10, so I rounded that off to 20
minutes out of an hour. That works out to about 11.2 AH. In theory, the odyssey
battery should be able to handle that, but my resting voltage this morning
was at 11.8. This does not even include lights, stereo or my Atwood furnace
that I need to run. I'm thinking I probably now need a 100AH or better auxiliary
battery.
So, looking for some options here:
1:) I can simply flip a switch that I have installed and link together my
starting battery and reserve battery. The danger of courses is running the
starting battery down too much and being stranded.
2:) install a second battery and link it to the odyssey under the rear bench
seat
3:) Buy a whole new 100AH capacity battery and install it under the rear
seat and eliminate the odyssey or use it as a starting battery.
Since all my wiring is now behind the rear driver's seat, I'd like to do
this as painless as possible.
So, suggestions for a good battery to buy, whether it be a simple flooded
style that would not be deeply discharged or go with one of the expensive
optimas or other AGM's. I'm located in Alaska, so shipping is a consideration as
well.
I think I've heard more than one person using a standard flooded battery
with good success, purchased at Sears or Wally world for quick exchange if
needed.
I need to get something done quickly here, so any help would be appreciated.
While I love this new refrigerator, it has definitely caused share of
problems with battery usage!
Troy and any others interested in this subject. I have said this before and
here I go again. I use, have used and continue to use, for myself and all
my customers, a Group 41, 42, 48 or 49, standard automotive battery as the aux
battery under the drivers seat. I prefer the Kirkland battery from COSTCO
because, first it is $82.35, price including taxes, paid last week at COSTCO
in OTTAWA for a Group 41. Secondly because it is guaranteed, no questions
asked, no tests, for 3 years. And thirdly that guarantee is good at ALL COSTCO
locations in Canada, USA and Mexico. I spent this past winter in Mexico,
5-1/2 months, _ZamoraBlog_ (http://poolio.net/zamorablog/) , stealth camping,
using my aux battery, solar panel charger, WAECO 12v ~ 120v fridge setup,
radio, lights and the battery is still performing flawlessly. BUT, when it grows
week, as it will certainly do, I will just drop into a COSTCO and exchange
it for a new one and keep on truckin'. This is my plan until someone comes up
with a proper deep cycle battery of good AH rating that fits in that hole
under the drivers seat.
Cheers,
Frank Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) )
_Frank Condelli & Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
- Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/exhaust.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm) a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June12 ~ 15, 2008
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