help me with battery selection

[jbates58]

hi all

i am in a bit of a dilemma.

first off, a bit of info on my current setup, and what i want my new setup to be.

the current setup consists of a 660CCA (cant remember brand) as my cranking battery, and a 105AH Amp-Tech as my aux, they are seperated by a BEP marine VSR, cut in at 13.7V, cout out at 12.8V.

the new setup i want is (after some research) 2 centuary marine Pro 600's up front in permenant paralell as crankers (720CCA 50-60AH) giving a total of about 1400-1500 CCA, plenty of balls to turn the old girl over aswell as run the stezza, and other accessories (lights and crap). and a 120AH AGM in the back of the wagon as my aux for the fridge and stuff.

i have been ringing around getting prices and today, was told by some fella on the phone, that he has a Delcor 710CCA which he said is a calcium battery, and a fullriver 120AH AGM.

now, i was told that a calcium battery shouldnt be used under the bonnet of a gq, as the heat will end their life earlier;but the fella on the phone told me that all batteries theasedays are all calcuim based (even the centuary flodded cell batteries) is this true or false?

if it is true, then am i better off with the centuaries. of the delcor's? i like the sound of the marine pros, as they have a deep cycle capability, and if i ever need it, i can use them to power the fridge.

the AGM aux battery will be conected to the system via a Ctek D250S DC-DC charger i am unable to copy the specs from the pdf, but it is a dc-dc charger, it has its onw VSR inbuilt, so that it can engage and dis-engage when required, i am unable to copy the specs from the pdf but they can be found here: http://www.maurelma.ch/Produkte/Ladeger ... 50S_EN.pdf
it can keep the AGM at full power which the alternator wont be able to do from the 6M long cable from engine bay to wagon. i also have a 75AH in my camp trailer, that i am thinking of using another one of the ctek units on aswell because i find that after a long drive, the trailer batt drops from 12.6V (it has a ctek charger on permenently) to around 12.0V.


so, after that long rant, my basic questions are

will my setup work?
are all batteries produced theasedays calcium?
are Delcor batteries any good?
are full river batteries any good?
will the heat from and engine bay kill a calcium?

thats all the questions and info i can think of at the moment, but if i have anything else to add, i will.

cheers

jbaets58

[-Scott-]

the AGM aux battery will be conected to the system via a Ctek D250S DC-DC charger i am unable to copy the specs from the pdf, but it is a dc-dc charger, it has its onw VSR inbuilt, so that it can engage and dis-engage when required, i am unable to copy the specs from the pdf but they can be found here: http://www.maurelma.ch/Produkte/Ladeger ... 50S_EN.pdf
it can keep the AGM at full power which the alternator wont be able to do from the 6M long cable from engine bay to wagon.

Thanks for posting those specs - it looks like the type of device I've been wishing somebody would make, so I may just buy one.

Technically, the length of the cable from engine to wagon won't prevent the battery from reaching a full charge, but voltage drop will reduce the charging current (when compared with a short cable setup) and therefore reaching full charge will take longer. This CTEK unit should be a good solution to the issue. The 20A max charge current doesn't sound too impressive, but realistically it should be more than adequate. Remember that if it's putting out 20A at the end of the 6m cable it is probably drawing more than 20A from its DC supply - make sure that cable is sized reasonably.

i also have a 75AH in my camp trailer, that i am thinking of using another one of the ctek units on aswell because i find that after a long drive, the trailer batt drops from 12.6V (it has a ctek charger on permenently) to around 12.0V.

As mentioned above, the length of the cable should only affect the time taken to reach a full charge. It sounds like you have more current being drawn from the trailer battery than your system is able to deliver. However, one of these DC-DC CTEK units should solve the problem.

so, after that long rant, my basic questions are

will my setup work?
are all batteries produced theasedays calcium?
are Delcor batteries any good?
are full river batteries any good?
will the heat from and engine bay kill a calcium?

thats all the questions and info i can think of at the moment, but if i have anything else to add, i will.

cheers

jbaets58

Will your setup work? Based on what you've posted, I believe it will.

Calcium? As I understand it, all lead acid batteries contain calcium - but some significantly more than others. I believe the high calcium batteries require a higher charging voltage, but I'm not certain about that. Somebody else will educate us both.

I don't know about Delcor batteries, but I've had a FullRiver 85Ah battery under the bonnet of my Paj for 4 years now, and it's still going strong. It worked fine over the Jan LWE, but the vehicle was driven every day, so it didn't get worked hard. Note that my Paj isn't a daily driver, so it hasn't been exposed to as much heat in that 4 years as it otherwise might.

I've never heard or read that "calcium" batteries are more susceptible to heat than "normal" lead acid batteries, but I guess they could be. Again, I expect somebody will educate us both.