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Old 08-04-2022, 04:51 PM   #41
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8D and Group 31 batteries from batteries plus have the following specs:

Duracell SLI31SA FLA 950CCA Group 31 13"x6.75"x9.5" 57#
Duracell SLI31SC FLA 650CCA Group 31 13"x6.75"x9.5" 51#
Duracell SLI8DB FLA 1100CCA Group 8D 20.75"x11"x10" 118#


I have two battery bays that will each take 3 group 31's or 1 8D with 31's installed, 1 in each bay.
I'm removing the front bay and putting both 31's in the rear bay once I rebuild the floor and slide mechanism (the only place with rust issues on my bus).
Even with both batteries in one tray I'll be pulling out a tray that's 4 pounds lighter than with 1 8D and only have to do it once to get to all my batteries. And if I have to pull them out, I'm lifting half the weight twice.

A major consideration to those of us considered "senior citizens". I could do it, now, but what about in 5 or 10 years? We may not be full time for another 5 for reasons of medical insurance costs and want to go 5 on the road exploring. That will put me at 71. Do I want to..... will I even be able to..... pull a 118 pound battery out of the box when I'm 71? Rather humbling for someone who used to load 500 and 1000 pound bombs by hand with just one other person!

It could also affect resale value. Chronologically challenged men may look at the big 8D and go looking for a rig with more reasonable brick sizes.

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Old 08-04-2022, 06:22 PM   #42
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I dont like 8D batteries... group 31's I can move around pretty easily.. 8D's nah not so much.. not my skinny body... so i run banks of group 31's rather than any 8D's..
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Old 08-04-2022, 07:16 PM   #43
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yall can not bash a battery because you cant easily move them?
but i can say that i aint tall but have been moving heavy stuff for years for heavy equipment through mud so an 8d battery doesnt hurt me? YET?
the bigger batteries lipo batteries dont hurt yet.
but it is catching up quickly.
i have 2 8d on my big bus butt it is an 86 detroit v8 and my shorty 6.0 gas has a single group 31 in it now.
i call walmart batteries neverstart instead of everstart.
an actual auto parts supplier will be a better choice.
vehicle start batteries are different from house.
i probably read the entire thread but to simplify?
mine is opinion
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Old 08-05-2022, 11:45 AM   #44
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8D,,,

I wonder if having two 8D batteries in my bus is what has kept me from having them stolen... Too heavy to steal.

so that means I could park six group 31's in that tray........

william
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Old 08-05-2022, 06:56 PM   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by magnakansas View Post
I wonder if having two 8D batteries in my bus is what has kept me from having them stolen... Too heavy to steal.

so that means I could park six group 31's in that tray........

william

They steal entire ATM's by ripping them and their cages out of the weaker surroundings. Just so they can break into it at their leisure and out of sight in some garage or storage unit. If they want your batteries, they'll get them.
In a more civilized society....where we could actually secure our stuff with REAL security instead of locks which are easily defeated..... I'd put an electrical system in the battery box with about 200 volts and 10 amps, with an appropriate warning sign of course. That will keep the batteries in their box. The Sheriff might have some questions but hey, the door said "Danger High Voltage Risk of Electrocution" right on it.


Just don't forget it's in there.
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Old 08-06-2022, 11:53 AM   #46
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Ham, I agree wholeheartedly with the future planning you touched on. I've tried to consider the impact aging and perhaps unforeseen injury / illness may have on our ability to operate and maintain the bus well into the future, and have designed many aspects of our build with that in mind. Great point about the weight of 31s vs 8Ds. I figure the availability of 31s would also be an advantage. Pretty much any auto parts store will likely have 31s in stock. Can the same be said of 8s? No experience but my gut says no?

Regarding security, yeah, I wouldn't rely on weight. If anything one battery vs 2 would be twice as quick to disconnect & remove. That being said, security is kinda my thing. I'll detail as much as I can later in our build thread, but anyone trying to take anything out of our bus, or even get near it undetected, had better be bringing their a-game. And no, that doesn't include illegal booby traps, though I agree with the sentiment anything that happens to a thief is what they deserve. In my perfect world that third battery slot would be for a claymore
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Old 08-06-2022, 02:30 PM   #47
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Not Optima. I've been bitten once and am scarred for life.
I'd normally never consider deep cycle for starting batteries - hence my lack of experience with them - but I think it might be a good idea now as the sound level of music required to overcome my tinnitus requires significant juice.
I've only got 2 batteries & don't want a third, so hopefully something that doesn't compromise much, if any, in the CCA dept.
I guess what I'm looking for is a dual-purpose battery? Just starting to read up now, but hoping for experienced recommendations.
Current batteries are 990CCA, 1185CA, in group 31. I wish to meet or exceed these numbers if possible, or at least be in the ballpark.
Why would you require a more expensive battery over it's lifetime, it's also a much heavier battery, and it offers serious voltage sag under load,, when LIFEPO is cheaper over the lifepan since you need 6-9 AGM's to match the lifespan of a LIFEPO battery, and virtually no voltage sag throughout a typical the charge/discharge cycle?
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Old 08-06-2022, 05:36 PM   #48
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Originally Posted by FreeEnergy4All View Post
Why would you require a more expensive battery over it's lifetime, it's also a much heavier battery, and it offers serious voltage sag under load,, when LIFEPO is cheaper over the lifepan since you need 6-9 AGM's to match the lifespan of a LIFEPO battery, and virtually no voltage sag throughout a typical the charge/discharge cycle?
We're using lfp for our house bank, but there are concerns with using it for a starting battery that I don't want to research in-depth at the moment, nor take the steps to mitigate assuming it is a practical alternative. I've simply got too much going on at the moment.
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Old 08-08-2022, 12:27 AM   #49
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2002.
We acquired a pallet of Concord Lifeline 105ah AGM batteries.
.
Two went in the engine compartment of our 1991.5 Dodge Cummins 4x4.
Everybody -- everybody -- told us the heat would kill the AGMs.
That was the theory.
.
Real-World:
We received twelve (12) years of reliable starting juice from them.
We pulled them from the Dodge engine compartment, and built a rack in the pick-up bed so they could juice our camp lights.
.
An aside:
We installed the other eight in our ExpeditionVehicle.
Nearly two decades full-time live-aboard.
Our cost-per-use passed zero-zero-zero sometime in 2005.
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Old 08-08-2022, 03:46 PM   #50
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeEnergy4All View Post
Why would you require a more expensive battery over it's lifetime, it's also a much heavier battery, and it offers serious voltage sag under load,, when LIFEPO is cheaper over the lifepan since you need 6-9 AGM's to match the lifespan of a LIFEPO battery, and virtually no voltage sag throughout a typical the charge/discharge cycle?
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry batteries are great, so long as you can keep them relatively air-conditioned, and don't expose them to temperature extremes. 20% or more of their lifespan can be shaved off if they repeated get too cold or too hot. Since I live in an area that winds up with both, I'll go with the cheaper and older AGM PbSO4 chemistry batteries, and not sweat the difference.

There's also something to be said about the 'green-ness' of using a conventional and common battery over one that requires rare-earth metals which don't as-of-yet have a successful recycling plan or program in place, and don't require some kind of slave and/or child labor to mine and produce.
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Old 08-08-2022, 04:52 PM   #51
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Albatross View Post
Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry batteries are great, so long as you can keep them relatively air-conditioned, and don't expose them to temperature extremes. 20% or more of their lifespan can be shaved off if they repeated get too cold or too hot. Since I live in an area that winds up with both, I'll go with the cheaper and older AGM PbSO4 chemistry batteries, and not sweat the difference.

There's also something to be said about the 'green-ness' of using a conventional and common battery over one that requires rare-earth metals which don't as-of-yet have a successful recycling plan or program in place, and don't require some kind of slave and/or child labor to mine and produce.

when I was a tween I remember buying battery refresh kits at the auto parts stores whcih replaced the liquids in the battery.. you flushed it out and then installed the new fluids.. I actually got a couple more years out of an otherwise useless battery doing that on a couple vehicles.. recycling at its best... I think you could only do that once but still an extra 2 years was 2 more years that battery wasnt in the scrap heap
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Old 08-08-2022, 05:19 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
when I was a tween I remember buying battery refresh kits at the auto parts stores whcih replaced the liquids in the battery.. you flushed it out and then installed the new fluids.. I actually got a couple more years out of an otherwise useless battery doing that on a couple vehicles.. recycling at its best... I think you could only do that once but still an extra 2 years was 2 more years that battery wasnt in the scrap heap
Yeah, the lead generally doesn't go bad, although depending on when/where the battery 'was cooked' in the charging cycle, you can have too much PbO2, I think, and you wind up with a weaker-than-normal battery.

I've also seen buffer solutions from 'pro'/gimmick level to homemade that you can add to the battery which essentially reduce the overall strength of the battery in the theoretical exchange of giving longer life.

Honestly, the way things are going these days, though, I'd just as soon take the old batteries in myself, and reclaim the H2SO4 for some-kind-of-fun-with-the-fedbois and use the lead inside to make ammo. But that's a lot of smokeless powder I'd have to buy, too.
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