AGM & TPPL - CHARGING TEST

[Canuckjetboater]

Start is an Interstate, 1000 CA, group 24. House is a Sportsman (I think, can’t see all the letters in the pic) deep cycle by Mid State Batteries. 615 CA, group 24.

Not sure this is relevant but I got the boat in July 2017 and the Interstate totally failed in the first couple of weeks. But it’s been fine ever since it was replaced.

@Dave burke .....thank you for the information. While I love my supercharger I envy the fact that you have two engines which will support a second (house) battery AND charge them both. Oh man, I would have two TPPLs....

 

[Dave burke]

Lol, I hear you. I’ll definitely get TPPLs when I have to replace my current ones.

Actually, that brings me to another thought... I have a 2009 Sea-Doo Speedster with a 155 HP Rotax engine. I regularly have to charge that battery and even at that, it struggles to start the engine. I’ve been told there may be a short or corrosion somewhere but I can’t anything. Maybe the stator isnt strong enough to charge the battery. Think a TPPL solve my problem?

 

[Mainah]

This topic interests me so I wanted to learn more. While it is also comparing to lithium I found this article useful TPPL vs. Li-ion Battery . Most useful was providing plate thickness as this gave me a better mental picture. It does echo some of my concerns with claimed specs and I had not read it prior. I will concede that Interstate g31 agm-7 likely does not have plates as thin as 1mm are more likely of the high quality 2mm lower to no recycled content variety which is still on the thin side but certainly not as thin as true TPPL. Interstate does market what appears to be a true or at least somehow closer to true g31 as well (Not what I have). I did find conflicting information along the way closer to my original thinking but that was of course on competitors sites who don't market true TPPL (perhaps where I may have come upon the info in the first place years ago or they copied from somewhere I read it). It does appear there are advantages that I was not aware of that do translate into some true field environment improvements over even other high quality AGM (at a $$$ premium of course). I

@Canuckjetboater - It will be interesting to hear about results given the lower output of the magnetos. I do recommend turning on the radio for a short bit once docked and engine(s) have been turned off so the surface charge can run off and you can record a more accurate voltage reflecting the SoC. Have you considered a solar option for float charging (don't go cheap or small on this and select a good dedicated charge controller)? Thanks for bringing up this TPPL topic.

I landed on three easy steps to help determine the right batteries for someone.

1. Determine load requirements
2. Determine charging availability
3. Select Battery type and size that best fits 1 and 2 for the operating environment and available space

 

[Canuckjetboater]

This topic interests me so I wanted to learn more. While it is also comparing to lithium I found this article useful TPPL vs. Li-ion Battery . Most useful was providing plate thickness as this gave me a better mental picture. It does echo some of my concerns with claimed specs and I had not read it prior. I will concede that Interstate g31 agm-7 likely does not have plates as thin as 1mm are more likely of the high quality 2mm lower to no recycled content variety which is still on the thin side but certainly not as thin as true TPPL. Interstate does market what appears to be a true or at least somehow closer to true g31 as well (Not what I have). I did find conflicting information along the way closer to my original thinking but that was of course on competitors sites who don't market true TPPL (perhaps where I may have come upon the info in the first place years ago or they copied from somewhere I read it). It does appear there are advantages that I was not aware of that do translate into some true field environment improvements over even other high quality AGM (at a $$$ premium of course). I

@Canuckjetboater - It will be interesting to hear about results given the lower output of the magnetos. I do recommend turning on the radio for a short bit once docked and engine(s) have been turned off so the surface charge can run off and you can record a more accurate voltage reflecting the SoC. Have you considered a solar option for float charging (don't go cheap or small on this and select a good dedicated charge controller)? Thanks for bringing up this TPPL topic.

I landed on three easy steps to help determine the right batteries for someone.

1. Determine load requirements
2. Determine charging availability
3. Select Battery type and size that best fits 1 and 2 for the operating environment and available space

@Mainah .....100% on the money, IMO. I had a super conversation a few years back with an electrical engineer at Penn-Deka. He showed me their information on the electrical discharge (that would be lack of discharge) of properly wired banks of three or more AGMs. I hesitate to repeat what he said (for fear of hyperbole) and will try to find the post I made on another forum or the link on Penn-Deka but the difference was staggering. The properties of the AGMs - unlike flooded-regular, were exponential versus arithmetic. TPPLs would be even more robust. He said you would begin to realize this synergy with two batteries wired together (properly) but the increases would grow exponentially with each battery added. Yes, I have and continue to look at potential solar chargers. My boat slip faces south so I would hang a solar charger from my bimini top for a lengthy exposure. Absolutely - must have dedicated controller that monitors and adjusts for battery status. Points 1-3 on the money. It is point two that be-devils me a bit. I can easily calculate my intended load and battery size required..... the question is - how can I charge them? If I had the alternator power or trailered the boat and charged at home I would buy two series 31 TPPLs (for a single engine) and three or four series 31 TPPls for a twin engine (they could easily be balanced side to side to level the boat) BUT I have to size my battery to my charging source :-( to ensure that it can fully charge my battery or risk sulfation and diminishing charging returns. As you are suggesting - a properly solar charger might fill the void. I don't miss the cost and work of my express cruisers but I do miss the massive charging power of the alternators and a bank of 5 S-31 AGMs that would by now be 5 or 6 S-31 TPPLs. Will post what happens.

 

[agannole93]

Not to revive an old thread, but any real life experience after almost a year since the experiments and thoughts put forth? On our 232 I am about to replace our starter battery, house battery and add an additional to the house in parallel and curious what the results yielded? I have two amps going in and about 1200w RMS on the sound system and trying to determine best setup. We tend to float for at least an hour or two at a time. I'm less concerned with full recharge as we trailer and can always have them hooked up to our Noco while at home. I've been leaning towards a couple of the cheaper Duracell group 27 or 31 AGM's unless feedback in the real life application suggests otherwise.