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groingo
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 14:25
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Ok people, have been gathering information and am looking for anyone who has actual experience with dry vs wet and their overall performance and how they may compare to wet.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 29 Dec 2012 15:44
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What exactly is the dry cell battery you refer to? My mind jumps to D, C and AA size things. Do you mean AGM batteries? They are dry as far as not leaking if cracked open, but I don't call them a dry battery.
If you mean AGM, they can be quite useful, more so if the user is the type of person to neglect maintenance. They can be mounted indoors more safely. They can be on their side or upside down. They have low internal resistance; don't heat as much in charging. They also self discharge more slowly than a flooded battery.
I have used AGM batteries as my vehicle batteries since the early 90's as they stand up to rough off road use and don't mind being tilted greatly. And of course I've used wet flooded cell batteries off grid.
You can not use a hydrometer to check charge; that's a down for me.
They cost much more than flooded wet cell batteries for same amp-hour capacity.
AGM are not Gel Cells. Avoid a battery sold or described as a gel cell. They require different charge rates; slower than a flooded battery and at different voltages. Gel calls can be killed very quickly.
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bobrok
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# Posted: 30 Dec 2012 15:49 - Edited by: bobrok
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We have, as Don describes them, AGM batteries at our camp. They were put in when the camp was constructed in 1998 and, although they are very old by now they still function well enough so that I'm not even thinking of replacing them ($$$$) anytime soon.
They sit indoors year 'round, hooked up to the solar panel/charger, and even at this age are still good (as long as the sun recharges them daily) for a week's worth of CFL usage (2-3 bulbs at once) and even a couple of hours per night of TV (digital TV, the old CRT tube TV definitely was a battery killer)
In bad weather with no daylight recharging I can still expect a good 3 days usage from them as described above.
We have a configuration equvalent to 4 12 volt batteries powering thru an inverter for AC throughout the camp.
Hope this helps.
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Moving Pictures
Member
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# Posted: 1 Jan 2013 19:11
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The most efficient form of energy storage, after gosh-knows-how many years, is the flooded lead-acid battery.
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