alt.energy.homepower

On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:03:12 -0600, z wrote:

>"Windsun" wrote in
>news:13rbumet8q27r35@:
>
>> Depends on if you want 3 year batteries or 6 year batteries. Big
>> difference in plate thickness.
>
>Aha! See the battery guy said 'oh they're pretty much the same', and my
>sceptical eye figured that was BS.

I think a bit of BS may be wafting off that advice too. Something tells me that he's
not had the two brands sitting side by side to compare. In any event, the "3 years
vs 6 years" stuff is pure BS since battery life is measured in cycles and not
calendar days.

There is a very easy way to do a first order comparison of the two. Weight. Or more
exactly, watt-hours per pound.

Thicker plates mean less active material per unit volume and more inactive lead. That
means that the battery is heavier for the same storage capacity and thus the
watt-hours per pound is lower. Weight doesn't matter for a stationary application so
this is OK.

I don't have any experience with "brand x" but I do with Trojan. Hard to go wrong
there. First thing I'd do is shop around for better pricing. Be aware, however,
that the ChiComs have driven the price of lead up just like they have all other
metals in the last year. I used to know that I could get a T106 for a bit under
$100. Now I'm not sure.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address

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