Looks great, Mike. Can you add some commentary about battery chemistry or some such?
--- Mike <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What the differences in batteries? Isn't a battery a > battery? Why > should I spend $160 for an Optima Yellow Top when my > local auto parts > store has a battery with more power for half the > price? > > Lots of questions there and the answers are more > complex than they > first seem. Let's try to break it down a little. > > Battery Types: > Just as you don't buy a Prius to tow a trailer and > you don't buy a > pickup because of its great gas mileage, you don't > buy a starting > battery for your electric motorcycle. Let's start > by dividing types > into two categories, Application and Construction. > > Application can be further broken down into three > sub-categories: > starting (or automotive), marine, and deep-cycle. > Construction can > be broken down into three sub-categories too: > flooded, gelled, and > absorbed glass matt (AGM). > > Application: > Let's look closer at the Application sub-categories > starting with > automotive. These are most often called starting > batteries because > that's what they do. These simply turn your car on > and can deliver a > lot of power for very short periods of time and they > can not stand to > be discharged very much (between 2 and 5 percent). > Think about it > like this, as soon as you turn your key, huge > amounts of power go the > starter in your car. Once the car is started it > charges the battery. > Lots of power but can't be run down very much. > > Marine batteries are the bastard children of > starting and deep cycle > batteries. They don't put out as much power as a > starting battery but > they can be discharged quite a bit more (up to about > 50%). > > Deep Cycle batteries are what we want in our > electric motorcycles. > These are designed to be discharged to almost empty > (about 80%) but > they put out about 20% less power than a starting > battery. Do not let > that last part fool you. These still put out enough > power to kill you > if you don't treat them with respect. > > Construction: > No let's take a look at how some batteries are > constructed. We'll > first look at flooded. These are probably what most > people think of > when they think big batteries because most starting > batteries are > flooded. Not all flooded batteries are starting > batteries however. > Floodies (in lingo) can be marine and deep cycle > too. They have lead > plates hanging in liquid acid. Flooded batteries can > slosh around and > spill their acid and they generally have to be kept > upright to avoid > such unpleasant events. Some, but not all, flooded > batteries require > maintenance to keep the acid PH at the right level. > > Gelled batteries contain acid that's had Silica Gel > mixed in. This > turns the acid into Jell-o like substance that > you'll never see Cosby > trying to sell on TV. A big advantage gelled has > over flooded is that > gel stuff doesn't leak out. On the downside, you > can't charge them > very quickly. If you have a gelled deep cycle > battery in your > electric motorcycle and try to charge it too fast > the gel can break > down, 'cook off' and toast itself. > > Absorbed Glass Mat or AGM are what most of use > because they can be > positioned in pretty much any conceivable position > and can be charged > in a hurry. The acid in an AGM is held in a > Boron-Slicate glass mat. > This is nice because you can't spill them like you > can a flooded but > its still a liquid so you don't have to worry about > damaging the gel. > Sound pretty good? The problem is price. AGMs run > as much as 3 times > what floodeds do. > > So no, not all batteries are the same. Each has a > tole to play and > forcing one into a role for which it wasn't designed > can be as > painful as watching George Lazenby play James Bond > in 'On Her > Majesty's Secret Service'. > > Below are some links with much more detail that I've > provided: > > The Ultimate FAQ for Deep Cycle Battery Basics and > Information - > http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm > Car and Deep Cycle Battery Faq - > http://www.batteryfaq.org/ > Electric Vehicle Battery Information - > http://www.madkatz.com/ev/battery.html > > -- > > The Electric Motorcycle Portal > http://www.electricmotorcycles.net/ > > Electric Motorcycle Listserv > http://www.electricmotorcycles.net/listserv > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
