When I spoke to Interstate, they told me their deep cycle batteries were not the best for the high temperatures found in the DR because they are electrolyte starved.
Trojans would last longer for most people.
- Thread starter bob saunders
- Start date
Inversor batteries
Trojans would last longer for most people.
I bought TRACE batteries once. They were crap for me.
TRACE, when they existed in the USA, never made batteries, but someone did use their name long after they were purchased by Xantrex and then Xantrex was purchased by Snyder. I suspect they were made locally in the DR by a local company that adopted the TRACE name.
The other day I noticed that the MEGATONE store, an inverter/charger solar company was gone from their former store in Puerto Plata.
My most recent inverters were from MEGATONE.
Incorrect, why would you say that? Batteries for an inverter can be hooked up either in series or parallel.
As long as your inverter accepts different voltages. That's why the new digital sinewave are so nice - No switches to adjust
6volt have thicker plates better service longer lasting..sure you can use 12 volt..but should you..
One advantage you get by using 2 6-volt batteries is that you can get double the watt hours over the 12-volt model; other than that there are 12 volt batteries that are built with thicker plates for the frequent recharging required, same quality as the 6 volt battery. The lifetime of the 12 volt AMC gel battery is 10 years.
Have you have personal experience with the AMC gel batteries. In ours hot temperatures the disadvantage I find with the lead acid batteries is the maintenance required to add water even with the right charge rate. What about the gel batteries? Do they do well in hot environments, of course with the right charge rate. Also can you discharge them more or less than the lead acid?
I dont have any personal experience with AMC Gel batteries but my MIL has had them for three years with no issues at all and CB is buying them for his new house in Jarabacoa and I know that he buys nothing without a lot of research. My inversors are all installed in areas where they don't get sun and also get breeze and it makes no difference as far as I can tell on how often I have to add water.
Wake up, thread! Wake up!
So, here we are, one year later, and my Trace batteries are giving up the ghost after 5 years. I was hoping they'd last longer since I barely use them.
When we discussed this a year ago, I was seriously thinking about a 24V lithium battery, but now I'm not so sure.
Has anyone gone down the Lithium road since last year?
So, here we are, one year later, and my Trace batteries are giving up the ghost after 5 years. I was hoping they'd last longer since I barely use them.
When we discussed this a year ago, I was seriously thinking about a 24V lithium battery, but now I'm not so sure.
Has anyone gone down the Lithium road since last year?
Watching the replies. Surprised you need them in SC. We packed away our inverter almost 2 years ago because we had practically 24/7 electric at Playa Najayo. Now we’re told the blackouts have returned, not as bad as before, but sounds like we may have to pull the inverter out of mothballs and buy new batteries too 😩
I use a 24v lithium daily charged by solar during the day and discharged at night for several years now. Still good and as power as day 1 so yes you can use this instead of 4-6v led acid batteries for the old inverters without a problem. Saying this I would change my lithium batteries from 24 to 48v for a larger solar system should I ever find someone who would like my old ones.
There should be no need to change your old charger. If you can set it for gel which is a slightly lower setting than led acid this is good for Lithium. Which in most cases are 27.2v / 28.8v Bulk/float and all that other good technobable that some may want to discuss
And since you have a supplier I assume for the new lithum battery just do as they suggest since that is what they do every day.
It may cost you double, it is good for 20 years (Of daily use) so the money you have already spent in those 5 years those 2set of barely used batteries.
I keep mine installed and connected in case of emergencies. The blackouts are few and far between but only last an hour or so.
I maintain mine religiously and add water as needed on a weekly basis. I don't know how long they last when the electric goes but I had my first "shut down" a couple of weeks ago so it was either a really long outage or the batteries are going.
They need water almost every week so I'm guessing they're on their last legs.
My inverter has dip switches to set the charge rate. The lowest is 10% and that's where I'm at.
My worry is I see batteries for sale that are called lithium/gel. I don't think that's accurate.
They did not last as long as the Trojan, but could have been change in maintenance as well over the years. Went back to Red Trojan and make sure water is always filled. As they last many years I guess hard to tell.
I know, not much help, but happy weekend.
Is yours similar to this:
Even if it the charge doesn't last as long as 4 Trojans, it would be nice to have something maintenance free for a change.
Good point. Our batteries never last because there’s no one to maintain them when we’re not there. A cousin used to come from SD on weekends but Covid got him. We need maintenance free. Or we need to disconnect when we leave (but no one listens to me about that) 😊