Battery alternatives

[Alan White]

The 22 Ah lead acid I keep for my demisting hairdryer duties at the dark site, has sadly turned up its toes.
It fully charges, but rapidly discharges to 30% so not much use really.
Sad as only 2 years old.

So what alternatives for a portable supply do I have, like I say occasional high load use only.
Runs the 12 Volt Hairdryer for demisting duty.

 

[DaveL59]

how low were you running the battery as that's a pretty short lifespan?

Load rating that the hairdryer draws when running would help too, could be it's too much on a long use and causing the plates to warp?

Not sure that the LiPo types would really suit tho I could be wrong, LiFePo maybe if you want to spend that amount, would be a lot lighter and perhaps stand the drain/charge cycling better than lead ones. You might get away with a lower Ah rating too since the volts wont fall away as you drain the battery.

[omo]

You could put something like a Nevad PSU in the khazi for home use, look for a deep cycle battery instead of a normal car one

Edited July 15, 2020 by omo

[Alan White]

12 hours ago, omo said:

You could put something like a Nevad PSU in the khazi for home use, look for a deep cycle battery instead of a normal car one

Indeed I could, but this is my Dark Sky set up, need a very long extension leed.

 

[Alan White]

13 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

how low were you running the battery as that's a pretty short lifespan?

Load rating that the hairdryer draws when running would help too, could be it's too much on a long use and causing the plates to warp?

Not sure that the LiPo types would really suit tho I could be wrong, LiFePo maybe if you want to spend that amount, would be a lot lighter and perhaps stand the drain/charge cycling better than lead ones. You might get away with a lower Ah rating too since the volts wont fall away as you drain the battery.

The Hairdryer draws more than 10A, so its a big drain,it has a 15A fuse.
The run time is sometimes 1 minute sometimes up to 2 minutes, several times in a night.

The battery is used or was about 1 per month, the battery conditioner was put on it after us and 1 per month to maintain condition.
It has literally died during lockdown as no dark site visits.

 

[DaveL59]

may not help recovering it, but have you checked the electrolyte levels in the battery cells? Even sealed batteries can be opened and topped up, just a case of popping off the inspection panel and lifting the seals.

10A is quite a high drain but no more than a mobility buggy I guess. Was your battery one of the deep discharge mobility type?

[Alan White]

On 16/07/2020 at 08:27, DaveL59 said:

may not help recovering it, but have you checked the electrolyte levels in the battery cells? Even sealed batteries can be opened and topped up, just a case of popping off the inspection panel and lifting the seals.

10A is quite a high drain but no more than a mobility buggy I guess. Was your battery one of the deep discharge mobility type?

Yes it was one rated for deep discharge Golf Trolleys.
It is sealed shut, so access to the electrolyte will ruin the battery opening it sadly.
I think it may be junk now, sadly, hate writing things off.