Good Battery Deal??

[Ponchjoe]

Originally Posted by NCPW

Your original charger will not charge the USB batteries to 100% which will decrease their lifespan. Better to pick up a DPI charger and set it to the correct charge mode for the higher capacity USB batteries and get a good 5+ years out of them. Or pay a little more and stick with the Trojans and use your original charger.

Sounds like a catch 22, buy the longer run time batteries and a charger or buy the T105s and not need to. I do love the idea of a float charger as I use them on my Pontiac and camper batteries. I just wasn’t planning on spending $1k on batteries and a charger on this old thing.

[NCPW]

Decisions, decisions.

[Ponchjoe]

Who has the best price on that type of charger? Are there other brands out there?

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by Ponchjoe

Johnnie B, are you saying the charger may not be strong enough to take advantage of the US Battery? I have the original 87 Textron Charger.

US Battery has a different charge profile than Trojan Battery and most, if not all, of the old Ferroresonant Transformer type chargers, such as your original 87 Textron charger are based on the Trojan charging profile. In a nutshell, the US battery has a higher at-rest voltage when fully charged and needs to reach a higher on-charge voltage to obtain a full charge.

The legacy chargers shut off when the on-charge voltage climb into the 44V to 46V range while the US battery needs to have 45V to 46.8V, so there is some overlap and some legacy chargers are marginally acceptable.

However, the legacy chargers are also only marginally acceptable for Trojan (and all other brand) batteries since they do not fully charge batteries. Instead they shut off at a pre-selected voltage that is low enough not to overcharge older batteries and high enough to almost fully charge newer batteries.

Technically, a Lead-Acid battery is not fully charged until the on-charge voltage ceases to climb while a charging current is passing through it. Old charger designs shut off at a specific voltage while modern designs use dV/dT (change in Voltage over change in Time) technology to allow the battery to charge until the on-charge voltage stops increasing, or slows to a specified rate of change. (IE: US Battery specifies 4mv/cell per hour)

Bottom line is that if you want maximum performance and lifespan for batteries of any brand batteries, you need a charger that fully charges them and the old type chargers don't fully charge them.

Originally Posted by Ponchjoe

Who has the best price on that type of charger? Are there other brands out there?

Carts Unlimited typically has the best price on DPI chargers and also has the Yewey which will also fully charge different brands of batteries.
http://www.cartsunlimited.net/chargers-36-48v.html

Either would be a good choice.

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by DaveTM

I did a "peek" on the 'puter at what a local vendor is charging for Trojans. Here's what that web site shows:

Trojan T-105's 6-V $118 each, plus tax
Trojan T-145 Plus 6-V $201 each, plus tax

The price increase of the T-145's vs the T-105's is 70% HIGHER!!

I guess one must consider if the 70% price increase is worth a 20% longer run time.

The attached chart is based on an average daily discharge/recharge of 67.5AH, which takes a T-105 down to 70% SoC and a T-145 only down to 74% SoC.

The T-105 will have an estimated lifespan of 67 months and the T-145 will last 79 months.

A 48V set of eight T-105 batteries costs $944, so the monthly cost is $14.09.
A 48V set of eight T-145 batteries costs $1,608, so the monthly cost is $20.35.

You would have to get the T-145 batteries at $139.14 each to break even.

[DaveTM]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

The attached chart is based on an average daily discharge/recharge of 67.5AH, which takes a T-105 down to 70% SoC and a T-145 only down to 74% SoC.

The T-105 will have an estimated lifespan of 67 months and the T-145 will last 79 months.

A 48V set of eight T-105 batteries costs $944, so the monthly cost is $14.09.
A 48V set of eight T-145 batteries costs $1,608, so the monthly cost is $20.35.

You would have to get the T-145 batteries at $139.14 each to break even.

Well.....not all of us have them fancy charts 'n stuff. So...we can't be "lookin" all fancy on forums 'n stuff. Plus....havin fancy calculators and high priced spreadsheets!!

[JohnnieB]

Originally Posted by DaveTM

Well.....not all of us have them fancy charts 'n stuff. So...we can't be "lookin" all fancy on forums 'n stuff. Plus....havin fancy calculators and high priced spreadsheets!!

Not very many out there still use birch bark, crayons and abacuses.

[Ponchjoe]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Not very many out there still use birch bark, crayons and abacuses.

Or chalk boards...lol

[DaveTM]

Originally Posted by JohnnieB

Not very many out there still use birch bark, crayons and abacuses.

Well.....you know....high tech has it's limits. Birch bark is forever!!